International Water Management, The Preservation of Ecosystems, and Human Well-Being

Global Perspectives Capstone

Kynan Witters Hicks

Courtesy of James F. Scott

Outline

• Motivation• Water: International Issue• Research Question• Thesis • Methods • Ways of Knowing • Case Studies • Arguments and Evidence • Proof of Thesis• Conclusion• Bibliography

Why Water?

21st century – Age of Water Scarcity

Motivation

It matters to us

Ecosystems Services

Direct: - Drinking water - Irrigation for agriculture- Hydroelectric power generation - Recreation- Spiritual value

Indirect: - Nutrient transportation and cycling - Habitat for flora and fauna (fish)- Climate control

Motivation

Alarming Facts

1. Degraded Ecosystems Services Approximately 60% of ecosystem services

examined are degraded or used unsustainably- United Nations Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

2. Valued Ecosystem Services Value of 17 ecosystem services for 16 biomes

average $33 trillion per year- Nature

Motivation

Conflict

Insecurity and Instability "water challenges - shortages, poor water quality,

floods, - will likely increase the risk of instability and state failure, [and] exacerbate regional tensions....“

- U.S. Intelligence Council, 2012

Motivation

Three-part challenge

1. Conserve freshwater resources and ecosystems

2. Provide for human well-being

3. Mitigate conflicts over water

Motivation

Crossing Political Boundaries

“The regions that have been shaped by this geography -- beyond nations -- will have to respond to this threat collectively or regionally.”- Sebastian Conrad and Presenjit Duara

Water: International Issue

Holistic International Management

1. 1966 Helsinki Rules on the Uses of the Waters of International Rivers

- International Law Association in Helsinki, Finland

2. 1997 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of the International Watercourses.

Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM)

Water: International Issue

Research Question

How can riparian nation-states sharing an international watercourse manage for sustainability across diverse geographical regions and political and socio-economic contexts in order to effectively provide for the welfare of people and the protection of ecosystems?

Research Question

Thesis The extent to which riparian nation-states sharing an international watercourse are able to effectively provide for the welfare of people and the protection of ecosystems depends upon:

(1) the environmental, political, and socio-economic contexts in which they are placed

(2) the degree to which they implement three pillars of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) for successful transboundary water sharing: participate actively and equitable, protect and preserve freshwater ecosystems, and include stakeholders in decision-making

Thesis

Independent Variables

Dependent Variable

Methods

Context Variables • Political

- Political integration and democratic decision-making in regional institutions, policy, and legislation- Individualism vs. cooperation among nation-states in decision-making - Water management structure - Water management in practice

• Socio-economic - Social and economic trends- Public norms and values- Stakeholder representation in policy - Stakeholder representation in practice

• Natural (Environmental) - Pollution from industrial, agricultural, and urban waste- Disruption of rivers’ natural hydrological flows- Destruction of wetlands, natural habitats, and/or fish populations

Methods

Ways of Knowing

Braided Approach:

• Interpretivism

• Annales

• Critical Inquiry

Ways of Knowing

Two Case StudiesCase Studies

Danube River Basin Mekong River Basin

Danube River Basin Case Studies

Danube River Basin • Pollution during the Cold War

• Formation of the European Union, 1951

• Water Framework Directive (WFD), 2000

• International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICDPR)

• Increase in democratic decision-making, government transparency, encouragement of public participation in planning

Case Studies

Mekong River BasinCase Studies

Mekong River Basin • 2nd wave of regionalism

• Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) & Mekong River Commission (MRC)

• Regional pressure to develop rapidly

• 85% of population live in rural areas, many having water related occupations

• Rapid occupational change in rural areas

Case Studies

Argument # 1

Danube Region • Extensive

Hydromorphological alterations (dams, channels, etc.)

• Extensive pollution

Mekong Region• Growing number of

Hydromorphological alterations (dams, channels, etc.)

• Mild pollution

Both regions face human-caused environmental challenges that are currently degrading and destroying freshwater ecosystems and,

consequently, threatening human well-being

Arguments and Evidence

Arguments and Evidence

Figure illustrates places along the length of the Danube River in which the DRB is at risk, possibly at risk, or not at risk from hydrological alterations, hazardous substances, nutrient pollution, and organic pollution. The country abbreviations are as follows: DE - Germany, AT - Austria, SK - Slovak Republic, HU - Hungary, HR - Croatia, RS - the Republic of Serbia, RO - Romania, - BG - BulgariaSource: International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), " Danube River Basin Strategy for Public Participation in River Basin Management Planning 2003-2009," 6.

Arguments and Evidence

Figure shows the cumulative active storage of dams and reservoirs that have been constructed in 6 countries It is predicted that the total storage capacity of reservoirs will significantly increase from about 52km3 to over 100km3 in 2022.

Source: Alebel Abebe Belay, Shah Md. Atiqul Haq, and Vuong Quoc Chien, "The Challenges of Integrated Management of Mekong River Basin in Terms of People's Livelihood," Journal of Water Resources & Protection 2, no. 1 (January 2010): 61.

Argument # 2

Danube Region • WFD provides legal and policy

structure

• ICDPR provides institutional structure

• Literature finds basin nations applying/working to apply water resource management based on internationally recognized principles

Mekong Region• Absence of legal and policy

structure

• GMS and MRC provide institutional structure

• Literature finds water management for ecosystem protection and social well-being largely non-existent

The establishment of legal, policy and institutional structures at the international level are critically important for sustainable

management

Arguments and Evidence

Argument # 3

Danube Region • Decentralization of

management

• Political will to participate in IWRM

• Challenges exist: lack of finance, rapidly shifting responsibilities, etc.

Mekong Region• Centralized management

• Strong political interest in large-scale infrastructural development

• Small scale examples of IWRM projects

Decentralization of water management and political will to participate in IWRM influences the ability of national and local agents

to practice sustainable management

Arguments and Evidence

Argument # 4

Danube Region • High and very high Human

Development Index (HDI)

• Increases in democratic decision-making, government accountability, and transparency

• Greater encouragement of public participation in planning

• Increase sensitivity and activism toward environmental problems

Mekong Region• Low and very low HDI levels

• Lack of democratic decision-making, transparency and government accountability

• Widespread poverty

• Majority of people largely disempowered to participate in planning/ decision-making

High levels of individual freedom and democracy and low levels of poverty facilitate stakeholder inclusion in planning/decision-

making and sustainable water management

Arguments and Evidence

Proof of Thesis

• Strong legal, policy, and institutional structures

• Decentralization of management • Increases in democracy, transparency

The extent to which riparian nation-states sharing an international watercourse are able to effectively provide for the welfare of people and the protection of ecosystems depends upon (1) the environmental, political, and socio-economic contexts in which they are placed and (2) the degree to which they implement three pillars of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) for successful transboundary water sharing: participate actively and equitable, protect and preserve ecosystems, and include stakeholders in decision-making.

• Relatively active participation in IWRM • Greater inclusion of stakeholders in

planning/ decision-making • Environmental protection projects

Proof of Thesis

Danube Region

Progress toward sustainable management

Proof of Thesis

• Absence of legal and policy structures• Weak institutional structures • Centralization of management • Widespread poverty, low levels of

democracy and transparency

The extent to which riparian nation-states sharing an international watercourse are able to effectively provide for the welfare of people and the protection of ecosystems depends upon (1) the environmental, political, and socio-economic contexts in which they are placed and (2) the degree to which they implement three pillars of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) for successful transboundary water sharing: participate actively and equitable, protect and preserve ecosystems, and include stakeholders in decision-making.

• Relatively inactive participation in IWRM

• Exclusion of stakeholders in planning/ decision-making

• Lack of environmental protection

Mekong Region

Unsustainable management

Proof of Thesis

ConclusionConclusion

Courtesy of James F. Scott

BibliographyBeach, Heather L., J. Joseph Hewitt, and Edy Kaufman. Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Resolution Theory, Practice, and Annotated References . Tokyo; New

York: United Nations University Press, 2000. PDF e-book. Belay, Alebel Abebe, Shah Md. Atiqul Haq, and Vuong Quoc Chien. "The Challenges of Integrated Management of Mekong River Basin in Terms of

People's Livelihood." Journal of Water Resource & Protection 2, no. 1 (January 2010): 61-68. Conrad, Sebastian, and Presenjit Duara. Viewing Regionalisms from East Asia. Washington D.C.: American Historical Association, 2013. Costanza et al., “The Value of the World’s Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital,” Nature, 15 May 1997, pp. 253-60. Cunningham, Mary Ann. "Eastern European Pollution." In Environmental Encyclopedia, 485-88. 4th ed. Vol. 1. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Detroit: Gale,

2011. Dinan, Desmond. Even Closer Union: An Introduction to European Integration. 3rd ed. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2005. Hensengerth, Oliver. "Transboundary River Cooperation and the Regional Public Good: The Case of the Mekong River." Contemporary Southeast Asia 31, no.

2 (August 2009): 326-49. International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR). "About Us" ICDPR. Last modified 2014. Accessed February 17, 2014.

http://www.icpdr.org/main/icpdr/about-us.International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICDPR. "Danube River Basin District Management Plan," (2009). Kaika, Maria. "The Water Framework Directive: A New Directive for a Changing Social, Political and Economic European Framework." European

Planning Studies 11, no. 3 (2003): 299-316. Kreamer, David K. "The Past, Present, and Future of Water Conflict and International Security." Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education 149,

no. 1 (December 2012): 87-95. Krongkaew, Medhi. "The development of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS): real promise or false hope?" Journal of Asian Economics 15 (2004): 977-98. Loures, Flavia, Dr. Alistair Rieu-Clarke, and Marie-Laure Vercambre. Everything you need to know about the UN Watercourses Convention. World Wildlife

Fund. 2010. Mekong River Commission. State of the Basin Report 2010. N.p.: n.p., 2010. O'Regan, Dermot, Caroline Sullivan, and John Bromley. Local governance in Integrated Water Resources Management in the Danube Basin: a working paper .

N.p.: LoGo Water, 2007. Solomon, Steven. Water: The Epic Struggle For Wealth, Power, and Civilization. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2010. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Southern African Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Edited by R. Biggs and R. J. Scholes. Pretoria, South Africa:

Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, 2004.

Bibliography