September 2001
THE ECONOMICS OF HOUSEHOLD DEMAND FOR WATER: THE CASE OF KANDY MUNICIPALITY, SRI LANKA (pp. 277-288)
Herath M. Gunatilakea, Chennat Gopalakrishnanb and Inoka Chandrasenaa
aUniversity of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka; bDepartment of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA
Contact: Chennat Gopalakrishnan, e-mail: chennat@hawaii.edu
Abstract: This study estimates the demand for domestic water in a fast-growing city of a developing country. Monthly data for 40 randomly selected households for a six-year period were used for the estimation. There were three price hikes during the study period, which provided adequate variation in the prices for an econometric estimation. A log–log model was selected as a proper specification for the demand function. Marginal price, difference price, income, and household size were used as the independent variables. After correcting the data for auto-correlation and heteroscedasticity, the final model was estimated. Results show all the expected signs with statistical significance. Price elasticity (marginal) and income elasticity for water in the study area are estimated to be 2 0.34 and 0.08, respectively. Thus, our findings conform the previous findings that water is neither price- nor income-elastic. Given these responses, a price hike may not help conserve water in the study area. However, very low price responsiveness can be used to increase water revenues of the municipality.
INSTITUTIONS FOR INTEGRATED RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT IN LATIN AMERICA (pp. 289-301)
Cecilia Tortajada, Third World Centre for Water Management, Atizapán, Estado de Mexico, Mexico, and Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
Abstract: Latin America is moving towards the concept of river basin management. However, one cannot prejudge the results of this shift, since integrated river basin management is a very complex subject, as are its institutional arrangements. On the basis of the present analysis, it can be said that nearly all of the river basin organizations in Latin America need significant evolution before they can become effective units for management and planning. Further decentralization in terms of authority, decision-making and financial and human resources and the enhancement of institutional capacities are prerequisites if these institutions are to become viable units for efficient water resources management in the future.
DIVERTING WATER: REVISITING THE SARDAR SAROVAR PROJECT (pp. 303-314)
William F. Fisher, International Development Community Planning and Environment, Clark University, USA
E-mail: wfisher@clarku.edu
Abstract: This article considers lessons to be learned from the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP). Despite persistent attempts to portray the SSP as a technical solution to a technical problem, it is clear that many aspects of the project—from the consideration of alternatives, through the evaluation of costs and benets, to the persistent delays in consulting with affected peoples—have been highly politicized. Drawing upon our increased awareness of the politicized nature of water resource projects, this article stresses the importance of three key issue areas: the collection and distribution of information; project accountability; and participation by affected peoples.
RESETTLEMENT IN THE SARDAR SAROVAR PROJECT: A CAUSE VITIATED (pp. 315-328)
Anil Patel, Arch-VAHINI, P.O. Mangrol, Tal. Rajpipla, Dist-Narmada, India
Abstract: The rights of poor people of developing countries are a delicate and controversial issue. The state resents any western intervention for human rights, more so when it concerns developmental work. For a change, the state of Gujarat relented in the face of local international NGO pressure to effect better resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R) policy. The state retreated from a haughty position of being the solely legitimate guardian of tribal interests. The triumph was short lived, however. A new national–international alliance emerged and turned R&R into a means to stall the project. The World Bank Independent Review strengthened the manoeuvre immensely. The state reverted to its old corrupt ways. The R&R remains precarious and the viability of the project is endangered.
THE WORLD COMMISSION ON DAMS AND THE NEED FOR A NEW DEVELOPMENT PARADIGM (pp. 329-341)
Thayer Scudder, Humanities & Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA
Abstract: Responding to the unanimous recommendation of a multi-stakeholder workshop, the creation of the World Commission on Dams (WCD) was formally announced in February 1998. Financially supported by 53 public, private and civil society agencies, the twelve Commissioners released the WCD Final Report in London in November 2000. In this article a former Commissioner discusses the “WCD process” from its origin to the present. The contents of the final report are described, with special attention paid to the significance of the WCD’s rights and risks approach as a first step toward a new development paradigm for an increasingly global, 21st century society.
AFTERMATH, OVERVIEW AND AN APPRAISAL OF PAST EVENTS LEADING TO SOME OF THE IMBALANCES IN THE REPORT OF THE WORLD COMMISSION ON DAMS (pp. 343-351)
C.D. Thatte, New Delhi, India
E-mail: cdthatte@hotmail.com
Abstract: As soon as the composition of the World Commission on Dams (WCD) was declared, it was not difficult for most of the developing countries to visualize the possible nature of the report it was to generate, despite all the talk about its so-called ‘participatory’ and ‘transparent’ consultation process. Even the gullible were disillusioned when the report was launched with a great fanfare. This article looks into the myth of WCD’s claim of a so-called consensus report, of bringing proponents and opponents of dams together and the ‘knowledge base’ that was supposed to have been generated. It discusses the inherent weakness in the process of consultations of WCD and the genesis of imbalances in the report that are so obvious, thereby leaving no choice with the developing countries but to reject it.
MODELLING UNCERTAINTY IN FLOOD STUDIES (pp. 353-363)
Ralph Wurbs, Silvana Toneatti and Joe Sherwin, Civil Engineering Department, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA
Abstract: Estimates of average annual damage (AAD) are a key central component of the hydrologic, hydraulic, and economic information developed in the evaluation of flood damage reduction plans. AAD or the expected value of annual damage, in dollars or other monetary units, is a probability-weighted average of the economic losses associated with the full range of possible flood magnitudes. Economic benefits are assessed as the reduction in AAD which would result from implementation of a particular plan. Traditional methodologies for performing hydrologic, hydraulic, and economic studies and estimating AAD have recently been expanded to explicitly incorporate analysis of the uncertainties inherent in the data collection and modelling effort. This paper presents a strategy for modelling uncertainties in the estimation of AAD for ungauged urban floodplains.
INTEGRATED RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT IN THE MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL RIVER BASINS: THE CASE OF THE MEKONG RIVER BASIN (pp. 365-377)
Jonathan L. Chenowetha, Hector M. Malanoa and Juliet F. Birdb
aDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering; bDepartment of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Melbourne, Australia
Abstract: Achieving integrated river basin management in large multi-jurisdictional river basins is a difficult task. In the Mekong River basin some of the countries have begun to implement a cooperative framework, which indicates a desire to achieve a form of integrated management. Significant progress has been made but results still fall short of the ideal. The primary reasons for this includes the lack of institutional capacity of the multi-jurisdictional cooperative authority and its counterpart organizations in each of the participating countries, together with a lack of political drive to develop integrated management as a priority.
PROBLEMS OF SUSTAINABLE GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT IN AN AREA OF OVER-EXPLOITATION: THE UPPER GUADIANA CATCHMENT, CENTRAL SPAIN (pp. 379-396)
J. Bromleya, J. Crucesb, M. Acremana, L. Martínezb and M.R. Llamasc
aCentre for Ecology and Hydrology, Crowmarsh Gifford, UK; bUniversity of Cantabria, Santander, Spain; cComplutense University, Madrid, Spain
Abstract: The problem of achieving sustainable groundwater management in areas of over-exploitation is examined by using the upper Guadiana basin in central Spain as an example. Here, since the early 1970s, high rates of abstraction to provide water for irrigation have lowered the water table by up to 50 m, causing the main rivers to run dry and an internationally renowned wetland to become desiccated. Conflict between farmers, regulators and conservationists has created a difficult problem that legal action, subsidies and engineering solutions have so far failed to combat. Faced with conflicting demands, it is suggested that integrated catchment management provides the best way forward. The various issues that need to be addressed with this type of management system are outlined.
AN ECONOMIC MODEL FOR WATER ALLOCATION IN NORTH EASTERN SPAIN (pp. 397-408)
Jorge Bielsa and Rosa Duarte, Department of Economic Analysis, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
E-mails: jbielsa@posta.unizar.es, rduarte@posta.unizar.es
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to construct and apply a model for the allocation of water between two competing users, namely irrigation and hydropower. The model is applied in a case study of a specific water system located in North Eastern Spain. Starting with an irrigation–hydropower joint income function, we develop a constrained maximization process that takes into account the environmental, institutional and actual priority of the water rights. The resulting solution can be useful as a guide for potential bargains between users. Furthermore, we evaluate the results for different supply (precipitation) and water allotments (increase in irrigated land). The results show that there are sufficient incentives so as to reach agreements that lead to improvements in a Pareto sense without side payments.
NO EASY EXIT: PROPERTY RIGHTS, MARKETS, AND NEGOTIATIONS OVER WATER (pp. 409-425)
Alan Richardsa and Nirvikar Singhb
aDepartment of Environmental Studies; bDepartment of Economics, Social Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA
E-mails: boxjenk@cats.ucsc.edu (Singh), arr@cats.ucsc.edu (Richards)
Abstract: The role of water has featured prominently in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiation process, and in Arab-Israeli disputes in general. The allocation or reallocation of water rights is a particularly thorny problem. Recent work seeks to sidestep the issue of rights allocation by appealing to the Coase theorem, which provides conditions under which the efficient use of a good does not depend on the allocation of property rights. It instead emphasizes the small use value of the water in dispute, and concludes that a trade of ‘water for peace’ should be eminently possible. Here, we provide a critique of this conclusion, based on two central ideas. First, that the conditions of the Coase theorem are not satisfied, even approximately, and therefore the valuation of the use of water cannot be analytically separated from the allocation of property rights. Second, the existence of sub-national interests, and the need to have an agreement acceptable to important actors at this level, creates a further difficulty for negotiating a resolution of any dispute. Even if a trade at the national level can be agreed upon, domestic losers must be compensated enough to make it politically feasible for the national government.
RED ROUTES ON BLUE RIVERS: STRATEGIC WATER MANAGEMENT FOR THE RUAHA RIVER BASIN, TANZANIA (pp. 427-444)
Bruce A. Lankford, School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia, UK
Abstract: Allocation of water in river basins not only requires the setting of targets of water supply to different users, but also the establishment of appropriate strategies to achieve those targets. As an example of this, ‘red routes’—an idea taken from a plan used in the city of London to ensure free-flowing traffic on key arterial routes—is proposed for the Ruaha basin in Tanzania. The paper argues that allocation of water is best achieved by managing key rivers (red routes), rather than all rivers, and by concentrating on part of rather than the whole annual calendar. In this way, the principle of ‘zoning’ is employed to utilize comparative advantages found in some rivers and not in others. This strategic approach selects from the main theories of water management: command and control, technical, economic and community-based activities. It also uses, in part, a rural-livelihoods justification for re-allocation. This strategic approach ts the
hydrological situation of both use and supply of water and has clear objectives in mind, proposing management activities necessary to deliver the objectives.
WATER RIGHT REALLOCATION IN NEW MEXICO’S RIO GRANDE BASIN, 1975–1995 (pp. 445-460)
David D. Shively, Department of Geography, Central Michigan University, USA
E-mail: david.shively@cmich.edu
Abstract: The results of a spatiotemporal investigation of water right transfer activity are presented. The data demonstrate a robust level of transfer activity over the period 1975–1995, and nearly unidirectional change in water use to higher-value uses. Whereas activity is locally focused and constrained in an upstream administrative area, it is more geographically and operationally diffuse in the administrative area containing the Albuquerque Metropolitan Area. A larger number of conservation district related transfers suggests that the forces of structural economic change are stronger there, and that it is more likely to experience third-party effects than other areas.
CONFERENCE REPORTS
International Workshop on Regional Water Transfer within an Integrated Water Resources Management Perspective, Kalmar, Sweden, 20–23 August 2000
Conference on Water Law, University of Zaragoza, Spain, 14–16 March 2001
Second Asian Conference on Water and Wastewater Management, Teheran, Iran, 8–10 May 2001