Water Management Futures

Possible essays: case study of contemporary dam building expansion in one major drainage basin, case study of one recent IDBM plan, case study of the future possibilities of one wetland area

Wetlands + Importance

Wetlands + Importance

Low lying areas with grassy vegetation, usually transition zones between water and land

Water, vegetation, animals, flood plains, carbon sink, linear oasis

Also called swamps, bogs, fens, marshes

Loss of Wetlands

Increased demand for agricultural land, landfill dumps, aquaculture, population growth, infrastructure development, river management, invasion of non-native species, pollution, peat extraction

Ramsar Convention

UN convention signed in Iran, 1971 calling to conserve wetlands

• wise use of all wetlands through national plans, policies, and preservation

• ensure effective management

• international cooperation on trans-national wetlands

Mississippi IDBM(Case Study): Facts

31 US states + 2 Canadian provinces, 4th longest river, 40% of the contiguous USA, 40 million people in the basin

An Integrated Drainage Basin Management Plan is a plan to holistically manage a drainage basin considering uses, problems, sources, and stakeholders

Mississippi IDBM(Case Study): Stakeholders

Farming → 60% of the basin

Water → 7 billion gallons extracted daily, 80% for irrigation

Trade + Transport

Energy → 29 large HEP plants

Fishing, Aquaculture

Tourism

Ecosystems

Waste Disposal → 278 facilities

Culture

Mississippi IDBM(Case Study): America’s Watershed Initiative

• Maintain supply of clean water

• Flood control + risk reduction

• Support local, state, and national economies

• Healthy + productive ecosystems

• Recreation

• Transport highway

Mississippi IDBM(Case Study): WWF 7 Key Elements

• Visions(long-term)

• Integration(cross-sector)

• Scale(whole drainage basin)

• Timing

• Participation

• Capacity(maximised)

• Knowledge

Mississippi IDBM(Case Study): Results

C- grade in 2020

improvements inhunting and fishing licenses, floodplain population, and infrastructure maintenance and condition

BUT more frequent and extreme flooding, aging infrastructure, chemical pollution, nutrient runoff, and continued urbanization and agricultural intensification.

water quality is rated as very poor, with concerns for the nation’s drinking water supply

flood control and risk reduction remains an urgent area of concern

Three Gorges Dam(Case Study): Details

Yangtze River, China, 2.3km long, 185m tall, holds 20 billion tons of water, produces 85 billion killowatt hours a year

Three Gorges Dam(Case Study): Positives

Social: increased access to water, reduced risk of flooding

Economic: HEP production, tourism, increased shipping, less economic loss from flood damages, 40,000 employed during construction, 1,000 employed now, jobs in construction

Environmental: less flooding

Political: prestige project

Three Gorges Dam(Case Study): Negatives

Social: forced relocation of 1.3 million, lost cultural sites(1,000+ agricultural sites)

Economic: cost to build($28.6B), lost 60,500 acres of farmland, lost tourism to 3 Gorges

Environmental: destroys habitats, species lost, lost water from evaporation

Political: relocated angry, target during conflict

GERD(Case Study): Background

Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, located just across border from Sudan, larger than Greater London, $5 billion predicted cost, funded by government bonds and private donations, started generating power 20th February 2022

Electricity(5,150 megawatts/year, excess to sell)

Water(irrigation, drinking)

Fishing(stocked with fish)

Tourism

GERD(Case Study): Impacts on Egypt

10 years → -14% water, -18% agriculture for Egypt

7 years → -22% water, -33% agriculture for Egypt

5 years → -36% water, -50% agriculture for Egypt

Restrict access to water for 85 million Egyptians

Less sediment to the delta

GERD(Case Study): Impacts on Sudan

Cheap energy, controls flooding

Restricted water access, allied with Egypt

Lake Naivasha(Case Study): Details

North-west of Nairobi, Kenya, 150km2, fed by Malewa + Gilgil Rivers + seasonally by Karati, papyrus, hippos, birds and fish

Lake Naivasha(Case Study): Pressures

non-sustainable use of water for irrigation(water level reduced by 4m, water table reduced by 25m), Lake Naivasha is in a rain-shadow area(almost completely dried up in 1980s)

massive industry on the lake shore, chemicals from industry + human waste, 300,000 people migrate for jobs from Osarian

Methyl Bromide found in water, copper, lead, cadmium found in fish

Papyrus almost fully disappeared

Lake Naivasha(Case Study): Oserian

Dutch flower company, 1 million stems a day picked and sent to NE, 6,000 people employed with education, housing, and healthcare, Foreign Direct Investment

13% of Kenya’s export revenue, heavily dependent on foreign exchange, 35% of EU flower imports

Lake Naivasha(Case Study): LNRA

Lake Naivasha Riparian Association, a group of landowners by the lake who try to protect the lake and educate people on sustainable water management

Comprehensive management plan adopted July 1996, committing the members to monitoring all activities on the riparian land, protecting the papyrus belt as well as a buffer zone above it, minimising water usage, banning land reclamation and construction or intensive agriculture anywhere within the 1906 lake boundaries

Today, the LNRA includes 150 smallholders, ranchers, flower growers, tour operators, safari camps, the Kenya Wildlife Service, the Kenya Power Company, and the Naivasha municipal council

Lake Naivasha(Case Study): PES

Payment for Environmental Services, began in 2006, implemented in 2008

deliver sustainable natural resource management and improved livelihoods and serves as a pilot and learning model for further expansion and replication

landowners are incentivised to undertake land use transformation that comply with agreed-upon developments by financial rewards by beneficiaries

Lake Naivasha(Case Study): WWF

The World Wildlife Fund pledged $10 million as a project to restore forest ecosystems and reduce land degradation in the basin catchment for increased protection of Lake Naivasha’s water resources, biodiversity, and associated ecosystem services to support the local and national economy