NMPI Projects: FoResilience

Fostering Resilience through evidence-based water policies: the role of river basin authorities

Project summary

A great of deal of investment both financial and otherwise has been made into scientific water resources research over the last couple of decades. There is no doubt immense contributions have been made to global efforts to holistically manage water resources especially considering the threat posed by climate change. Models have played a significant role in this effort especially in computer-based simulation research. Recently, the effective impact of numerical models in the development of robust climate-proofing policies to foster resilience has been questioned. There is a growing list of literature that seems to suggest “a disconnect” between the modeling sciences and the policy world. River Basin Authorities (RBA) present a unique opportunity as test-beds where numerical model output can be stress-tested and their influence on policies as well as other management options assessed.

River basin authorities or their equivalent will be studied during the lifespan of the project. In the initial stages of the work, three river basin management entities will be selected in a case study format. They include the Yellow River Basin Commission (YRBC) in China, the Rhine River Commission (RRC) in Western Europe and the Volta Basin Authority (VBA) in West Africa. In the fourth river basin, the Arkansas in the United States, basin management is undertaken within a sectorial framework without a centralized decision-making entity. The latter provides a control for the proposed methodology. Key water management issues will be identified to form the basis of the subject matter to be addressed in each of the river basins. The first such issue to go under the microscope is basin-scale minimum flow requirements for ecosystem sustenance. Environmental flows are important to riparian ecosystems and human livelihoods especially in developing and transition basins. Proposed plans to improve the assessment of “adequate” flow requirements are evaluated and the willingness to incorporate the latter into long-term water management policy will be assessed. The objective at this early stage of the study is to uncover the latent ability of natural ecosystems to contribute to river basin resilience as well as the influence numerical models used to study minimum flows have on medium to long-term basin wide policies. The work is also expected to yield novel tools and methods to assess the influence of issue-specific numerical models on river basin policy processes giving different developmental, infrastructural and socio-economic settings. The study is also an attempt to contribute to the work in the realm of numerical model uptake for effective and efficient policy development.

Climate change is expected to affect the three regions understudy to varying degrees. Economic growth and populations pressures are also different, not to mention institutional inertia, culture and local capacity. The common denominator remains the urgent need for evidence-based climate-proofing policies to build resilience in the target basins.

Principal investigators

Yahua WANG, Tsinghua University, School of Public Policy and Management, China

Desmond Yaw MANFUL, University of Stuttgart, Institute of Landscape Planning & Ecology, Germany

Presentations