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How should the world deal with the problem of insufficient water infrastructure financing? Here we attempt to answer this question in the context of Asia. We estimate investment needs in water infrastructure to meet the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals to be in the range of US$120–330 billion/year until 2030, compared with current investment of US$40–50 billion/year. Closing this financing gap is not just a matter of spending more, but also spending with greater quality and efficiency considering competing national policy goals and the distinctive characteristics of water infrastructure that make its financing more challenging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Editorial. Discusses the importance of water resources development in the United States. Legal challenges to the conventional criteria used by regulatory agencies to evaluate water change applications; Impact of an increase in surface water price on agricultural water use; Water conservation.

Community management has been widely criticized, yet it continues to play a significant role in rural drinking water supply. In India, as with other ‘emerging’ economies, the management model must now adapt to meet the policy demand for ever-increasing technical sophistication. Given this context, the paper reviews the history and concepts of community management to propose three typologies that better account for the changing role of the community and external support entities found in successful cases. It argues that external support entities must be prepared to take greater responsibility for providing ongoing support to communities for ensuring continuous service delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses on how science can support policymaking. Topics discussed include collaboration of policy makers with academics to conduct empirical research on economic, social and environmental issues that would inform relevant policies with broad-sweeping impact; and the role of academic journals in disseminating knowledge, framing policy discussions and having societal impacts.

Water pricing policy is determined by multiple, though conflicting objectives. This paper analyzes flat water charges for households based on property values, using Trinidad as a case study. A major finding is that this tariff is economically inefficient and encourages water wastage which becomes environmentally unsustainable. Also, while social equity is a main objective in using this method of water pricing, in reality this is compromised. A key contribution of this paper is that water supply is regular in many countries where flat rates are used, but Trinidad consumers suffer from water shortages. The politics of water pricing and poor governance explain this anomaly in service, economic inefficiency, social inequity, and environmentally unsustainable water management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The safety of medium- and large-scale dams is addressed in many countries, but limited attention is paid to problems associated with smaller farm dams, particularly potential cumulative threats posed in larger catchments. Farmers in Australia often overlook the common law obligation to review and design dams in line with current standards. The result is downstream communities, property and environment placed at risk. This paper demonstrates the significance of this problem with case studies undertaken in policy-absent South Australia, policy-driven Victoria and policy-strong New South Wales, including empirical evidence on attitudes and responses of landholders and key policy actors. This demonstrates need for supervision of small dams. Tasmania is included as a case study as it represents a policy-model state on how this can be best achieved in line with international best-practice. The four cases provide useful comparative lessons. Policy guidelines applicable to any jurisdiction are included; their application is illustrated with the case studies. The paper considers the policy implications of these lessons for Australia in particular and the world in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the main messages as well as the key recommendations presented during the OECD workshop on information base and water resource management decision making, in Zaragoza, Spain, May 2010. Findings include fundamental issues to which further attention should be paid. There is an information imbalance in many countries, with implementation of water policy initiatives often supported by little data or information. There is also the limitation of many countries to collect water information due to lack of resources and loss of expertise to collect, analyze and interpret water data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern water policy requires new kinds of economic information in order to improve the ability of stakeholders and water authorities to analyze the whole set of alternatives available, to provide transparency and to assess and adapt water decisions to the emerging water management challenges. Considering this, we present an overview of the main drivers of economic information in the European water policy agenda as defined by the Water Framework Directive. After a brief introduction, the paper explains how basic economic statistics have been used to carry out the economic analysis of water use for the preparation of river basin management plans. We present the strategies used to enhance the usefulness of the economic information already available. The paper ends with a reflection on what parts of the economic information gaps have been satisfactorily dealt with and what the remaining gaps are. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses technical performance in the water industry in the Southern European region of Andalusia, while accounting for sustainability in the management of water. This allows the opportunity cost of producing sustainability to be evaluated. Given the low cost of raw water in Spain in relation to the estimated opportunity cost of saving this natural resource, wasting water becomes a profitable strategy for utility managers from a private perspective. However, this managerial strategy has a huge social cost in an area of Europe where the sustainable management of water is a pressing need. The conclusion is that environmental policy aimed at discouraging this wasteful behaviour is urgently needed. For this reason, a suitable mix of environmental taxes on water abstraction and institutional reforms is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flood management is changing in many countries across the globe. In spite of the different institutional paths taken in these countries, various common shifts in the governance arrangements for flood management can be observed, most notably decentralization and the increasing influence of the private sector. The central argument of this paper is that a new conceptualization of the public-private divide in flood management, which is based on the dimensions of collectivity and visibility, is helpful in understanding and judging these shifts. Modern flood risk management asks for new cooperative arrangements between state, market and civil society in which the visibility and collectivity dimensions are reunited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a new index to test water resource sustainability in regions where groundwater is the main source of water supply. The Spatial Water Use efficiency Index (SWUI) is a geographical information system (GIS) environment index which expresses the ratio of potential available water volume (groundwater recharge minus water needs) to the respective water needs. Its low and/or negative values indicate water stress. SWUI is applied in the island of Crete, Greece, where water needs are mainly covered by groundwater abstractions. The annual water mass balance is estimated using the RIBASIM (River Basin Simulation) model. The total freshwater needs in the Cretan region reach 535 hm3annually according to the model's simulation. SWUI with values ranging from − 0.8 to 214.3 has proved to be an important visual tool towards depicting the low efficiency of the east part of the island to cover water demand and a useful decision-making tool in the sustainability evaluation of groundwater aquifers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary problems in water quality and availability in Jordan stem from poor long-term planning. This paper looks at past and current policies related to water management, considers their weaknesses, and suggests means of improving the management and planning aspects and the need for desalination infrastructure. The major water issues in Jordan can be attributed to both policy implementation failure and a lack of on-the-ground application of regulations. This study indicates that desalination of Red Sea water can be a long-term viable option to meet the growing domestic water needs within Jordan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India has developed a national biofuel policy to increase energy security, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and stimulate rural development. In this policy, the government has set blending targets for mixing ethanol and biodiesel with gasoline and diesel, respectively. In India, ethanol is produced from irrigated sugar-cane while biodiesel is produced from jatropha, which is said to require no irrigation. This paper analyzes the possible impacts of an increase in sugar-cane and jatropha production on water management and use. It finds that India's biofuel policy is likely to place additional pressure on scarce water resources. Although the development of biofuels may be necessary, care must be taken to anticipate its likely impacts on water resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how a resettlement programme in northwestern Vietnam has affected the livelihood assets, strategies and outcomes of the resettled and host households. Data were collected using informal interviews, followed by a structured survey of 56 resettled and 52 host households. Results show a significant decline in natural capital for the resettled households and a lesser decline for the host households; however, both groups have partially compensated for this through land use intensification. The net income of the host households did not change significantly after resettlement, whereas the farm revenues of the resettled households fell dramatically, but, due to the compensation payments made to them, their net household income actually increased. Most compensation money has been consumed rather than invested in livelihood assets; livelihood outcomes might therefore deteriorate when the compensation payments end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analysis of the issues discussed at a special international workshop on water governance. While it is generally accepted that good governance for the water sector is essential, it is also clear that its implementation requires qualitative and quantitative factors, which may vary from one country to another. In order to objectively assess the opportunities and constraints of implementing good water governance practices, a group of selected international experts were invited to address this complex issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes the discussions held during a brainstorming session on water governance organized as part of the First Global Water Policy Dialogue of the Institute of Water Policy of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore, and the Third World Centre for Water Management, Mexico. The objective was to formulate a priority research agenda on water governance which would focus on vital issues ahead such as linkages and drivers of change in the water sector and the type of institutions and instruments that are and will be needed in order to face the increasing challenges in the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water policies involve very wide-ranging problems. The paper considers the possibility, or the capability, of arriving at agreements that can sustain water management policies at various decision-making levels and with regard to a range of issues relating to water. Different types of problems and obstacles that the model attempts to overcome, as well as the main conditioning factors that are likely to be encountered, are analysed. The proposed model of consultative participation is based on the experience of the Aragon Water Commission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on partnerships across the state-society divide in the management of bulk water in the state of Ceará, in Northeast Brazil. It examines the creation of Users' Commissions in two of Ceará's river basins--the Lower Jaguaribe/Banabuiú and the Curú. It is argued that the presence of synergy across the state-society divide is critical to guarantee meaningful public participation. In turn, meaningful participation improves decision making at the river basin level and supports positive values in policy making such as decentralization, equity, accountability and transparency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Israel's water system is characterized by a very high degree of uncertainty, emanating from the semi-arid climatic position, and the dynamic population growth.The agricultural sector dominates water policy making, thereby giving preference to the sector that consumes roughly 70% of the available resources. Water for agriculture is priced too low, resulting in its inefficient use. This paper seeks to explain water policy making in Israel, as an attempt to cope with uncertainty. We show that the pattern has been to shift the burden of uncertainty from present consumers to future consumers. This pattern is explained by the following factors: the high vulnerability of Israel's water system, due to uncertainty in both supply and demand; the inclination of elected policy makers to give preference to short-term objectives over long-term objectives; the acceptance of uncertainty as a constraint rather than a policy variable; and the acceptance of a given level of agricultural activity as a permanent constraint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South African flood risk management policy changed radically after the end of apartheid (1994), with the Disaster Management Act of 2002 promoting a modern proactive approach. However, policy document research and two case studies show an implementation deficit. The ‘crises and catalysts’ theoretical framework used to analyze flood policy evolution needs more attention to implementation issues and the learning involved. Future flood policy change in South Africa or elsewhere should ensure that the process of learning is purposefully embedded within the structures, procedures and practices that are promoted to facilitate policy implementation, rather than being left to chance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Water-energy-food (WEF) entanglement is intensifying and technology is being presented as a crucial solution. But time and again the implemented alternative manifests results contrary to the objectives of design or management. To advance water security, transparent and complete input-output methodologies are needed. Here, a Sefficiency (sustainable efficiency) framework is used to reason through systemic analyses of options for WEF schemes by using water quantity within a comprehensive water balance, and quality and benefits in a multilevel water-use system. An energy regime (cost and normalized functions) and Sefficiency compute performance of four cases that show flaws both conceptually and practically in current policy and scientific tendencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In fact, during Polman's captaincy, it was the "gold standard" to which CEOs of nearly all other major companies aspired to. Recently, Paul Polman, who was the chief executive officer (CEO) of Unilever (one of the world's biggest multinational companies) between 2009 and 2019, and Andrew Winston, a specialist on sustainable business, wrote I Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take i ([15]). Application of good water management practices in India, or in all other developing countries, will be I net positive i for billions of people living in those countries. Net positive and water management The concept of I net positive i is not only good for businesses but also can and should be used for water management. [Extracted from the article]

Australia's rivers are among the most variable in the world and this has been a major challenge in catchments such as the Murray-Darling Basin where management has focused on increasing agricultural production while reducing risks from fluctuating water availability. Pressure for development and over-optimistic assessments of available water have resulted in over-allocation and increasing ecological decline, which has been severely exacerbated by record-breaking drought. In recent years, governments have agreed to radical policies such as the National Water Initiative 2004 and allocated substantial funds in response. Implementation is in gridlock, however, as the socio-economic implications have become clearer. Most debate is focused on the draft Murray-Darling Basin Plan due for release in mid-2010 before finalization in 2011. It will be the first Basin-wide plan and is intended to deal with inequities across borders and risks such as climate change and drought. Climate change scenarios for 2030 foresee a range of potential surface water availability outcomes, ranging from a 7% increase to a 37% decrease, yet greater water scarcity is being experienced in the current (2002+) drought with inflows reduced by 70% or more in extreme years. Contradictory policies are hindering the more open adaptation required to manage a drier future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mainstream opinions put forward the idea that changes in water policies should be moving toward Integrated Water Resources Management at the level of the river basin (or watersheds). For its implementation, participation by river basin organizations (river basin authorities, river basin committees, communities of users, multi-stakeholder platforms, etc.) and by stakeholders is promoted. Multi-Stakeholder Platforms (MSPs) are presented as neutral spaces for negotiations in order to solve water conflicts among different (multiple) actors, who are all invited to participate in the discussion. Evidence from this case study suggests that even where water is put forward as the main issue to be tackled, in the background there may be far more sensitive issues at stake that shape the arenas of negotiation of policy design and implementation. MSPs can be used to bring to the fore issues that are easy to address, but can also be the background for wider social and political complexities. This is pursued using technical language to justify political definitions of boundaries, stakeholders and processes of participation. The ‘Watershed as a unit of planning’ approach is also presented as a neutral way of using a technical definition to set the boundaries for resource management. However, this study shows that the definition of boundaries is not necessarily as natural as it appears but is much more of a political decision that defines which resources are involved and which actors are considered or left out. The ‘multiple’ in MSPs is not only about ‘stakeholders’, but the different constructions of boundaries, scales and political interests, which include and exclude stakeholders. In the implementation of an MSP, the Multiple is rhetorical and not a representation of realties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes why China's national groundwater policy is implemented in a fragmented way. The question is addressed through a comparative case-study analysis of groundwater management in north-west China. The analysis focuses on the institutional context in which local government agencies responsible for groundwater management operate. It was found that direct pressure from the central government promotes policy implementation. Yet, the distribution of surface and groundwater management responsibilities over different government agencies also influences the importance attached to groundwater regulation. In a conjunctive-use setting the integration of surface water and groundwater management facilitates effective groundwater regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The governance of floods in urbanizing regions of Thailand is significantly constrained by institutional traps. Comparisons of the impacts and governance responses to major flood events in Chiang Mai, Ayutthaya and Bangkok in 2005-06 and 2011 suggests that there has been very little policy learning. Institutional traps remain as important now as they were more than a decade ago. Dominant policy narratives help maintain institutional traps by promoting solutions that reduce organizational risks, like the transfer of responsibilities to local communities, or reflect organizational interests and professional norms. Policy narratives will need to be challenged or transformed if progress in building urban resilience to floods is to be made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is very limited scientific evidence to support some of the ideas in the water sector that guide India’s government policies in these sectors. Further, the interdisciplinary perspective required for the design of economic instruments, institutions, and laws and regulations to implement existing policies is lacking in social scientists. This article discusses the growing debate on water management options for India, the tone and tenor of policy debate and the inconsistency. It summarizes 10 scholarly articles from various authors which reflect the multiplicity of views on water issues and solutions for water management in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses a meeting on innovation in water policy making organized at the Institute of Water Policy, National University of Singapore (NUS). Also includes approach of New Environmental Governance (NEG) towards environmental policy, and social conditions for technological change, engagement processes, or management paradigms.

Desalination technology, and reverse osmosis in particular, is used by several island authorities in Greece to address water scarcity. However, this is a highly energy-intensive technique, requiring the consumption of significant quantities of fossil fuels. The case of Syros Island is presented, to demonstrate the strong water–energy link in the operation of desalination plants. The article also discusses the use of renewable energy sources as a means for reducing the energy intensity of desalination. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article reviews the development of public–private partnerships (PPP) in water services in Asia over the last two decades and situates the Asian experience within the wider global context. Through a comparative analysis of PPP data from two different sources, the article highlights the critical issue of how ‘private’ is defined in understanding the extent of PPP in Asia, due to the important role played by enterprises under mixed public and private ownership. The article identifies cyclical patterns of development of PPP in the water sector across countries and the use of hybrid contractual and institutional arrangements for PPPs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Urban water security in Australia’s major cities is now very high, reflecting in part recent policy interventions. Important indirect potable water reuse projects were completed but no direct potable reuse project was undertaken and none seems likely in the near term. Governments have much to learn from decisions to build very large desalination and recycling plants, particularly around timing and scale. Future water reuse decisions are likely to have a much greater commercial focus. Policies and regulations giving more flexibility to decentralized provision of water-related services could result in further growth of climate-resilient water resources and non-potable reuse. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Thinking of the interconnections between water, food, energy and climate is nothing new in the Nile Basin; it has long been anchored in political struggles. For 200 years, Egypt's political economy has been defined by water use patterns and food security strategies that debunk the technocratic myth that rapid growth, interaction with global markets and technological modernization eliminate poor governance practices and allocative inefficiencies. In contrast, the prism of the nexus as a political commodity illuminates one of modern Egypt's most consequential dialectics: the interaction between the very particular nexus at the heart of the country's political economy, forged through factional strife and sustained by outside discourses and interests, and the economic and ecological ravages of this elite politics. Egyptian history serves as a warning. Today's conversation needs to be deconstructed in terms of how different forms of interconnectivity between water, energy and food are produced and experienced by different social groups. It reminds us to take interconnections not as given, but rather as contested and contestable outcomes from which opportunities for adaptation and transformation do not naturally emerge, but need to be struggled for. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews water policy in China since 1980. Four periods are considered: the 1980s, 1990–1998, 1998–2009 and after 2009. Based on an introduction of the broader context and the main water issues in each period, the key water policies are discussed and analyzed. Since 1980, China's water policies have experienced dramatic changes: trying to improve benefits in the face of criticism for low efficiency in the 1980s; allocating large investments acknowledging the important role of water for the economy of the country during 1990–1998; redefining the water–human relationship during 1998–2008; and providing the strictest water resources management as the definitive solution after 2009. The article presents a full range of policy solutions from infrastructure construction to non-structural instruments and from water resources development to water resources management. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The notions of virtual water and water footprints are gaining popularity among researchers and practitioners in the field of water resources. Many of the published articles include statements suggesting that public policies regarding water allocation, agriculture, or international trade should reflect consideration of virtual water and water footprints. Yet those notions lack a scientifically tested conceptual framework and they are too narrowly defined to inform policy decisions in a meaningful way. Consumers, firms, and public officials wishing to improve water resource management need and deserve much better information than is contained in estimates of virtual water and water footprints. A more thoughtful, comprehensive approach is needed to develop policies that will truly improve the management of water and other natural resources, while also enhancing livelihoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing complexity of environmental policy is a result of new and global environmental issues and IT developments. Global environmental impacts seem to result in new forms of governance and practices. This may require new or broader conceptual frameworks. Beside the disturbance chain (DPSIR), a well-structured process of data and information flows is also needed. Water mass and load balances also offer a lot of opportunities and may serve as a basic tool for policy measures, sustainable development or the development of complex indicators. It will be shown that balances relate in a stepwise pattern to a broad and high-level policy, making this process more efficient and effective. This approach is of practical use for integrated water management, although the description of this term should be restricted in favour of new terms dealing explicitly with governance aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management of transboundary water bodies has been a difficult process all over the world, especially in rivers where water allocation between the co-basin countries is an important issue. Discussion on the management of such water bodies in Latin America is significantly less confrontational and accusatory when compared to most similar Asian and African bodies. Information and data sharing in Latin America is also less of a problem compared to other parts of the developing world. Whereas considerable progress has been made in managing transboundary rivers, commensurate progress on aquifers is lacking. Methodology on how to reliably forecast the impacts of interventions on such water bodies has yet to be developed, especially because of national interests, multiplicity of institutions involved, and the capacities and modus operandi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of the free electricity policy on agriculture in the state of Andhra Pradesh (AP), India, is the main focus of this work. It is assumed that this policy has a very high political currency and there is, therefore, a difficultly in recalling it in the short-term. In this context, plausible reforms to this policy are explored with an objective to weed out the inefficiencies in this subsidy regime in the context of groundwater extraction and utilization. These reforms are aimed at reducing the ambit of beneficiaries of this subsidy based on their affordability and increasing the water productivity of agriculture in the state. Some examples exclude large farmers from this policy, offering free electricity conditional upon adopting the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) or adopting micro-irrigation or shifting cropping patterns. These alternate policies are evaluated based on the impact on groundwater extraction, fiscal costs, equity, political feasibility, issues in implementation etc. Finally, it is suggested that the government offers free electricity conditional upon adopting water-efficient cropping practices such as the SRI as a short-term step for increasing the effectiveness of this policy and mitigating its adverse impact on groundwater extraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Providing reliable and safe drinking water through a piped water system in Bangkok has enormous challenges owing to the city's physiographic and demographic characteristics. However, with its commitment to good corporate governance principles and practices, the implementation of required measures by the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (MWA) has resulted in significant improvements in water supply services in Bangkok. At present, almost 100% of the population are provided with reliable and safe tap water through the state-run utility which has achieved a remarkable financial performance. The article presents and discusses the factors responsible for the achievements by the MWA to draw lessons for public policy and good practices which can be replicated in other urban areas, especially in developing countries. Moreover, areas for further improvement are suggested for better performance and quality of water services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on the global impacts of natural resources pollution, due to increase of population and urbanization. He states that water resources became more polluted and suggest to develop water supplies of recycled water. He discusses public should be concern by government about water reuse policies for portable uses including agriculture, cooling water for power plants and toilet flushing.

Disaster policy tends to be in the domain of top-down security governance. However, international organizations are calling for more 'horizontal', participatory forms of planning for flood preparedness together with local stakeholders. But what modality of public involvement do they mean? A case study of decision making on emergency flood storage in the Netherlands, proposed in 2000, illustrates a rift over the degree of public consultation in decisions for emergency flood storage in an extreme event, concluding that the course of action taken was perhaps a 'missed opportunity'. The analysis leads to a typology and discussion of modalities of local participation in disaster governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People continue to build and live on land subject to flooding. People do this knowing that their property may be flooded, if not totally destroyed, by raging waters and accompanying debris, however, many do not fully understand and appreciate that risk. As a result, each year on average observes increasing property damage, more lives being threatened and increased degradation of floodplain ecological functions. It can be argued that with regard to floodplain development governmental policies are not preventing it, indeed, they may be facilitating it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The close link between water policy and spatial planning is well illustrated within the Autonomous Community of Aragon. The construction of dams and irrigation channels has spurred social and economic development in large tracts of Aragon, but other of its areas have suffered the consequences. The rapid urbanisation of Aragon, as in the rest of Spain, has added an important new element to the equation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outdated groundwater allocation policies have resulted in unrestrained abstraction of groundwater in the Great Lakes Basin. Continuing on this course will lead to more frequent conflicts and further degradation of the Basin's ecosystem. Alternative approaches must focus on achieving sustainable groundwater allocation. The authors present two alternative institutions, local collaborative planning for groundwater allocation, and a regional watershed board. Collaborative institutions responsible for local groundwater planning should be established according to practical geographical units, have access to sound scientific information, utilize adaptive management and engage in open deliberation. The regional watershed board should establish a comprehensive and unified inventory of all groundwater resources in the Basin, designate critical groundwater areas, monitor groundwater management by respective jurisdictions, and make recommendations on best practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The starting point of the policy analysis of the Tonle Sap Area in Cambodia was the Mekong Agreement of 1995. It specifies three development goals for the Mekong Basin: economic growth, poverty reduction and environmental sustainability. The possibilities to find combinations of sector policies for achieving these often conflicting goals were analysed systematically using a probabilistic, Bayesian network model. Four policy scenarios were constructed, one promoting each of the three development goals separately and one integrated, compromise scenario. The results indicate that a compromise policy is possible, being radically more balanced and acceptable than any of the policies that target only one of the three goals at a time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior to the old River Act of 1896, flood control measures in Japan were executed on the principle of a co-existence of the river and human activity. Until the 19th century, through the feudalistic period, the public sector did not have plans for completely controlling a large-scale flood, as it is almost impossible by only technological methods, in particular, to control a major flood in monsoon Asia. In practice, people in monsoon Asia live away from river courses and lowlands in order to alleviate flood damage. Farmers in those areas planted crops that could withstand inundation. The flood control strategy of the public sector laid emphasis an protecting the castle or city centre area, but not defending the whole area where people were living. In areas not protected by the public sector, people formed their own groups to fight against flood damage. They were skilful at flood fighting, and were, familiar with the characteristics of floods and the behaviour of inundation in their river basins. Thus a kind of public-private partnership existed at that time. Based on the River Act of 1896, the Japanese, government began historical flood control measures, with the aim of completely controlling even a huge flood. They constructed a high, continuous levee system, with broadening river width, and dredging of the river beds in key rivers in Japan. Almost all river improvement works had been finished by about 1930. The flood damage in alluvial plains decreased remarkably as a result of these major works. However, after the Second World War Japan suffered from severe flood damage almost every year. During the period of so-called high economic growth, from 1950 to 1970, Japanese engineers overcame water shortage and flood damage by constructing many dams with various river improvement works. Because of the high level of engineering required, it became unnecessary to co-operate with the private sector. Due to the continuously retire river works, the riparian environment and its ecosystems were destroyed everywhere. The private sector also played an important part in environmental protection. Environmental topics are different for each region and river, and therefore the public sector could not standardize plans for the whole of Japan. Here, the necessity of new partnerships between public and private sectors in the present flood control and environmental policy in Japan should be recognized. In reviewing these facts, the River Act was revised in 1997, by adding the terms "conservation of river environment" and "referring to the inhabitants' intentions". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses whether or not existing state regulatory agencies in the western United States can implement a real 'social welfare' criterion to evaluate water change applications. Impairment of other water rights; Lawsuits filed by 'stakeholders' who do not own water rights; Politicization of water allocations to the detriment of efficient market transfers.

Analyzes economic incentive policies encouraging agricultural water conservation. Conceptual model of a representative irrigated farm; Increase in the irrigator's cost of applied water; Comparison with the policy of subsidizing the cost of improved on-farm irrigation efficiency.

The author reflects on the various risk based policies and flood management in different countries around the world. He refers to the climate change and high rate of flood plain occupancy as the main reasons on the establishment of flood management strategies in many regions across the globe. He also addresses the substantive and institutional changes in flood policies domain, but focuses specifically on the public-private divide in flood management.