Smallholder irrigation is an important pathway towards better livelihoods and food security in sub-Saharan Africa. This article assesses the contribution of farmer-friendly soil and water monitoring tools, and agricultural innovation platforms, towards household income and food security in two small-scale irrigation schemes in Tanzania. Quantitative and qualitative data from farmer’s field books, household

Many small-scale irrigation schemes are dysfunctional, and learning, innovation and evaluation are required to facilitate sustainable transitions. Using quantitative and qualitative data from five irrigation schemes in sub-Saharan Africa, we analyze how learning and change arose in response to: soil monitoring tools, which triggered a deep learning cycle; and agricultural innovation platforms, which

Over four years, a research-for-development project was implemented at the 25 de Setembro irrigation scheme in Mozambique. The project introduced agricultural innovation platforms to overcome barriers to production such as input and output supply chains and poorly maintained irrigation canals. Soil moisture and nutrient monitoring tools were provided so that farmers could improve their irrigation and

This study advances methods of measuring access to water by providing a framework that can be operationalized by practitioners to inform decision and policy making. A modified WPI was developed and deployed in India, with results indicating significant differences between WPI and many indicator scores both between and within administrative territories. Spatial analyses identified significant clustering

ABSTRACT Relying on published literature, we reviewed water-energy-food issues in Lao PDR in the context of a policy shift to more sustainable ‘green growth’ and significantly increased infrastructure investment resulting from China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The BRI provides the prospect for the country to address its infrastructure deficit and transform from a ‘land-locked’ to a ‘land-linked’ country

In 2016, extreme drought and saline intrusion led to widespread damage and livelihood disruption for many people in the coastal region of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. Through an integrated multi-step approach of literature and stakeholder analysis, focus group discussions and interviews with local governments and farmers, an understanding of the local water governance systems and their functioning

Contingent valuation is used to elicit irrigators’ willingness to pay for soil moisture tools in irrigation schemes in Africa, with various econometric methods employed to mitigate potential bias. Key results include that there is a neighbourhood effect influencing adoption, and that being located downstream and spending more on irrigation water positively and statistically significantly influenced

Multiple-use water services (MUS) can enhance the benefits communities receive from the productive use of water. This article uses household surveys, water samples, focus groups and key informant interviews to examine the potential of MUS in northern Malawi. Specific attention is given to the role of existing rural water supply options and knowledge held by an established smallholder rice farmer group

This article focuses on a major water use in the Ganges Basin, the Ganges Kobadak Irrigation Project in Bangladesh. The objectives of this article are to assess the present and projected irrigation water requirements, the status of the Ganges River and groundwater resources in the project area, and water allocation strategies to fulfil dry-season irrigation requirements in the short, medium and long

ABSTRACT This study aims to identify governance conditions to realize urban bathing water sites using case study material from two cities in the Netherlands. Urban waters in Europe are increasingly considered an attractive feature for bathing, but research on the realization of urban bathing water sites has been limited. We find that it is important to account for the connectivity between water systems

ABSTRACT Employing the heuristic of intersectionality, this study analyzes household effects and responses to water shortage in Gaborone, Botswana, focusing on residents’ adaptive capacity and vulnerability. Using data collected through qualitative interviews, we find that households from all socio-economic backgrounds face various effects from water shortage and use numerous strategies to reduce exposure

Successful irrigated agriculture is underpinned by answering two critical questions: when and how much to irrigate. This article quantifies the role of the Chameleon and the Wetting Front Detector, monitoring tools facilitating decision-making and learning about soil-water-nutrient dynamics. Farmers retained nutrients in the root zone by reducing irrigation frequency, number of siphons, and event duration

This article explores the value of Ostrom’s socio-ecological systems framework and Meadows’s leverage point hierarchy, as structured diagnostics, to define systemic problems and avoid approaches based on linear thinking. These frameworks were applied as an ex post analysis of an irrigation scheme in Zimbabwe, drawing on the scheme’s baseline condition and the intervention outcomes. Strong leverage

Predictive hydroclimate information, coupled with reservoir system models, offers the potential to mitigate climate variability risks. Prior methodologies rely on sub-seasonal, dynamic/synthetic forecasts at short timescales, which challenge application in practice. Here, coupling a local-scale seasonal, statistical streamflow forecast with a reservoir model addresses this gap, to explore hydropower

This article presents a qualitative systematic review of English-language academic articles on approaches adopted by the Chinese government to overcome fragmentation and disconnection in water governance. We find that the Chinese government has deployed technical, institutional and discursive instruments, ranging from ‘hard’ to ‘soft’ ways, to improve connectivity between different administrative levels

Least developed countries, with their unique governance and political-economic conditions, face uncommon and under-researched transboundary hydropolitical issues. We analyze the impact of power and political change on the adoption of the Transaqua water transfer megaproject in Central Africa using process tracing and analysis of documents, interviews and fieldwork. We present the key actors and their

Agricultural production in sub-Saharan Africa has, in recent times, remained lower than the rest of the world. Many attribute this to factors inherent to Africa and its people, such as climate, soil quality, slavery and disease. This article traces the role of agriculture through history and argues that these are not the main reasons. Before the arrival of European traders, complex agricultural systems

In spite of groundwater’s growing importance, the 2008 Draft Articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers have yet to be fully adopted by the international community. As states contemplate the future of the draft articles, this article aims to reassess them through the lens of the legal principle of reciprocity. To do so, this article provides a framework for the analysis of law via reciprocity, followed

Water has been a ‘natural’ management priority for Nestlé since its beginnings, more than 150 years ago. Farmers need water to grow food, factories need water to operate, and consumers need water to prepare their dishes. Water touches every part of Nestlé’s value chain. This article describes how Nestlé’s management has made water a priority for the company over time. Nestlé has become a leading company

By 2060, 70% of Singapore’s total water demand will be used for non-domestic purposes. Effective management of this demand will allow the national water agency, PUB, to achieve significant leverage and take strides in water sustainability as land use nears capacity limits in Singapore. Uptake of water conservation projects was sluggish in the initial years due to the high upfront capital and manpower

ABSTRACT This article focuses on the emerging role of citizens and their increasing contributions to local pluvial flood risk management in the Netherlands. A qualitative research approach is followed with semi-structured interviews, and analysis of policy documents and media reports. A typology of physical resources and actions, knowledge and advocacy activities shows evidence of locally focused citizen

China has made substantial progress in transforming water governance to respond to water crises and to support rapid socio-economic development. We aim to critically and comprehensively analyze important innovations in managerial approaches, as well as new developments and associated challenges in water policies, by bringing together cutting-edge research and best practices on water resources management

In 2015, increases in the domestic water tariff in Saudi Arabia were met with significant opposition. Although the increases were needed to address the technical and financial sustainability of the service in the context of extreme scarcity and high costs, insufficient effort was made to explain the changes and prepare the public. This paper examines the trade-offs surrounding the design of a domestic

Hybridization of ‘green’ and engineered infrastructure, informed by protecting or restoring catchment processes, can resolve interconnected demands on catchment ecosystems, potentially also reversing historic degradation of socio-ecological systems. Pressures are acute in water-scarce, developing regions with episodic rainfall, exacerbated by historic presumptions favouring engineered management. Comparing

ABSTRACT This article synthesizes the literature on Dutch flood risk governance to analyze how external conditions shaped past and present dynamics of cross-sector collaboration for integrated flood risk management in the Netherlands. It traces the extent to which policy and legal frameworks, socio-economic circumstances, political realities, power relations and conflict situations have influenced

The Campoalegre River basin and its sub-basins present water-use conflicts. This study seeks to analyze these conflicts using a disaggregated quantitative approach, so as to better understand existing and potential water stress. We find that the estimated future flows are not sufficient to meet future demand, which will create significant water stress, particularly in certain sub-basins. A tool is

In this study, a normalized quadratic cost function was employed to estimate total factor productivity for the water sector in England and Wales over the period 1993–2016. Productivity was then decomposed into technical change and scale effect. Technical change is further broken down into pure technical change, non-neutral technical change, and effects due to scale-augmenting technical change. The

The Mekong River is important for South-East Asia, where it is shared by six countries and serves 70 million people. Its sensitive ecology is essential for the region’s well-being. Managing the river for economic development while protecting this ecology is challenging. This article investigates the institutions in place for governing the Mekong, as how they interact is significant for the region’s

The Three Gorges Project has benefited shipping development in the upper Yangtze River by improving the waterway channel and thus increasing ship load and port handling capacity. However, the Three Gorges lockage freight volume exceeded the designed capacity in 2011 (19 years sooner than expected), becoming a bottleneck for shipping development. For the predicted freight volume, building of a second

ABSTRACT This article investigates water security in Nepal from the perspective of the water-energy-agriculture (food) nexus, focusing on pathways to water security that originate in actions and policies related to other sectors. It identifies promoting development of Nepal’s hydropower potential to provide energy for pumping as way to improve water security in agriculture. Renewable groundwater reserves

China has emerged as one of the world’s most active markets for public–private partnerships (PPP) in the water sector, while the pace of such development globally has slowed in recent years. This article investigates the dynamics of the development of PPP projects in the Chinese water sector through comparative case studies. Our findings suggest that the unwavering pursuit of PPPs as a policy instrument

ABSTRACT Traditional concerns regarding Hong Kong’s water security have centred on water quantity, quality and pricing. In contrast, this article embraces an integrative conceptualization of water security from a governance perspective. A technocratic and supply-oriented water system may overlook challenges stemming from scalar mismatches at the territorial, institutional and discursive levels, as

China is developing a complicated three-aspect water use control system. Spatially, the system includes river basin, province, prefecture, county, permit, and individual users; temporally, it consists of annual average and annual/seasonal frameworks; and in terms of management objectives, it combines abstraction, consumption and use. Technical consistency is required in volume, space, timing, management

While governments in Canada have a duty to act honourably in the development of legislative actions that may affect Aboriginal or treaty rights, Indigenous peoples’ input and knowledge have largely been excluded from the process. The Ontario provincial government recently sought to remedy this failure by engaging with Indigenous groups in the development and implementation of the Great Lakes Protection

Against a backdrop of economic and population growth, unpredictable climate patterns and rising costs, it is imperative for Singapore to complement supply-side solutions with demand-management strategies on a systemic level to ensure an efficient, adequate and sustainable supply of water for all.

Following the call of the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in its recent Water Efficiency and Behaviour Change Rapid Evidence Assessment 2018, this article seeks to understand the key barriers to effective information-based interventions to encourage household water efficiency in England and Wales and their implications. We review the evidence on information provision to conserve

Despite the various water management explorations in China over the past three decades, China’s water problems remain challenging. Recently the Chinese government introduced the river chief system, a collaborative water governance approach, as an update to the previous water management system. We analyze this reform by establishing an analytical framework based on collaborative governance theory. The

This article investigates China's role as the world's largest builder of and investor in large dams, focussing on the Greater Mekong Sub-Region in South-East Asia. It addresses the role Chinese actors play in dam-building as well as the environmental, social, economic and political implications by drawing on case studies from Cambodia and Vietnam. The article finds that China's dam-building is perceived

Cape Town recently suffered severe water shortages triggered by a multi-year drought. These shortages were aggravated by reliance on demand management to balance supply and demand in the rapidly growing city. This article considers the interaction between the supply-side planning system and the less systematic approach used to plan and manage what is characterized as the demand-side system. Political

Urban water governance in China has received increasing academic and policy attention owing to frequent urban water crises. Drawing on documentary analysis and field investigations, this article analyzes the administrative system and recent policy developments vis-à-vis urban water governance in China. It demonstrates the main problems of, and mechanisms for, interdepartmental and interjurisdictional

There has been a growing interest in understanding the enabling conditions for the adoption of irrigation pricing reform worldwide. We enrich the literature on policy diffusion by comparing the effects of different mobilization patterns in northern China, showing how differences in incentives have hampered or fostered the spread of a collect-and-refund policy in Taocheng District. We find that the

Why do international regime complexes develop? Are hard-law regimes effective in integrating regime complexes for international water resources management? Are there other alternatives? This article introduces international regime complexes and argues that these form a superior alternative to hard law and traditional global integrated regimes for many global policy issues. Failure of hard law to overcome

Understanding the patterns and driving factors of water use is vital for developing adequate and sustainable water management strategies. This study examines the relations of provincial freshwater use in China to economic development and natural water availability in both space and time. The panel data model fitting results indicate that temporal variability of per capita total and sectoral water use

Water rights trading and water-saving management contracts are important market-oriented means to promote water conservation. This study integrates them together for a joint analysis, and puts forward a new way to optimize market-oriented water-saving services in China. This is to establish a water-saving management contracts-based water rights trading mechanism, that is, to allow trading of water

The agricultural expansion in Abu Dhabi Emirate has increased the pressure on the emirate’s groundwater reserves, with projections that they will be completely depleted within a few decades. This study quantitatively examines the impacts of current farming practices on the sustainability of groundwater resources. Participants from 344 farms were surveyed. The study found that 76% of the farms rely

Water cooperation and diplomacy processes often rely on the tools and capacities that academic and research institutions can offer. However, groups of scientific experts in the field of water cooperation and diplomacy are often small and relatively discrete, suggesting that greater sharing of knowledge and interconnection of expertise could generate further impetus for development of this important

Endowed with over 40,000 MW of economic hydropower potential relative to its nascent domestic demand, Nepal can export electricity to its power-deficit neighbours in the BBIN (Bhutan, Bangladesh, India and Nepal) region as a strategic economic opportunity. The untapped hydro potential in Nepal, coupled with BBIN’s complementary seasonal demand patterns, difference in peak load timing, and rapidly growing

ABSTRACT Agricultural water use in Tajikistan is largely based on mechanized irrigation pumps. The farming community cannot afford the cost of the energy used for pumping, resulting in large debts to the service provider. We propose limiting pumping facilities for five years in exchange for energy export to neighbouring countries. The energy export could cover the annual pumping expenditures, pay off

Sustainable Development Goal 6 seeks to address the increasing and unmet demand for water in many urban areas already struggling with inadequate water quality and supply. With climate change posing new threats, and both population growth and rural urban migration exacerbating existing issues, measures to reduce water demand sit alongside increasing water supply to address the problem. This article

ABSTRACT Securing urban freshwater supplies is a major challenge for policy makers globally. This study investigated the determinants of household water conservation to identify the relative contribution of psychosocial and behavioural determinants. Using a survey of 1196 households across the UK, we found that attitudes, norms and habits play an important role in determining intention to conserve

As cities will concentrate most of the world’s population and economic activities, so urban water demand will account for a large proportion of global water demand in the future. In contrast, recent empirical evidence indicates that water consumption in many cities of the developed world is declining. In this article, this decline in consumption is studied for the major Spanish cities, and some of

One of the effects of industrial relocation is environmental deterioration, as more contaminating stages of production which involve greater use of natural resources are relocated to developing countries. Through the case of Tehuacán, we look at the impact of the global on local political-institutional and social-environmental factors. The establishment of textile maquilas intensified contamination

This article explores how Palestinian-led, donor-supported water projects have transformed societal interactions concerning water since 1994. It distinguishes spatial, institutional and sectoral trajectories of water and explores the impacts on each type of trajectory. It demonstrates that the overall impact of these projects is more than the sum of the individual projects. All together, they entail

ABSTRACT Community management is often seen as part of the solution to increase access to drinking water and wastewater management where municipal services are lacking. This article intends to increase the knowledge regarding self-organized community-managed water and wastewater systems in urban and peri-urban areas. A theory-building case-study approach, including three different neighbourhoods in

Adaptive governance has been proposed by many scholars as an approach to sustainable resource management, and has subsequently been applied in many countries. While the conceptual origins of adaptive governance have largely emerged from the global North, there has been little critical attention to the utility of adaptive governance concepts in the global South. Through a qualitative meta-analysis of

The applications of payments for ecosystem/environmental services (PES) are diverse. However, the changing characteristics of these applications in different contexts have not been adequately elucidated. This article provides a conceptual analysis of China’s water eco-compensation mechanism (ECM), a notion reported in the PES literature, through the lens of public–private, state–market, central–local

Water resources can play significant roles in development pathways for water-endowed, low-income countries like Nepal. This article describes three visions for water resource development in the Karnali and Mahakali Basins of Western Nepal: state-led development, demand-driven development and preservation of ecosystem integrity. The analysis calls attention to water use trade-offs, including those resulting

Concern over increasing water scarcity has led to the introduction of the concept of agricultural water productivity and an emphasis on interventions to achieve ‘more crop per drop’. Yet, a strong debate continues on how the concept is to be defined and used. Drawing largely from the irrigation literature, the origins of the concept and its methodological developments are reviewed, and its use in applied

This study examines management approaches for hydropower generation and irrigation and domestic water supply for the Tekeze-Atbara, a transboundary river between Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan, in above- and below-normal hydrologic conditions, considering current and future water demand scenarios. Satellite data are used to substitute for unavailable or inaccessible ground meteorological and dam data

This study uses panel data from the North China Water Resources Survey in 2004 and 2016 to update the status of groundwater. In the past two decades, groundwater irrigation has spread to more villages, but declining groundwater tables and deterioration in water quality have become more serious. Some policy measures (well-drilling permits, water quotas, water resources fees) have been implemented in