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Risks to shared water resources in the Murray–Darling Basin are reviewed after the report by CSIRO on the same topic in 2006. CSIRO outlined six major risks to shared water resources in the Basin. Herein, six groups of researchers have reviewed the risks of climate change, forest growth, groundwater, water infrastructure, water quality, and governance. These reviews bring an updated understanding of risk assessment and management that can contribute to the forthcoming reviews of the Water Act and Basin Plan in 2024–26. Drawing on these six papers, the authors synthesise knowledge of the risks to shared water resources and identify policy and management options and information gaps. We find that few risk factors have decreased in significance. Most risks remain and new risks are identified. Water managers must plan for a significant decrease in water availability and governments need to actively manage these risks under conditions of increasing uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Murray–Darling Basin Plan, a major initiative to return water from irrigators to the environment, has been lauded as world-class water reform. The enabling legislation for the Basin Plan, the Water Act, gains its constitutional legitimacy from international treaties such as the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. This Act mandated that water be returned from consumptive uses to the environment. An allocation of 2,750 GL/yr was set but has been reduced by the 'Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment Mechanism' (SDLAM), intended to achieve equivalent environmental benefits with less water. We present a synthesis of changes in decision contexts that have led to water reforms being 'watered down'. We analysed the policy discourse of water reform to assess whether SDLAM projects will achieve outcomes congruent with Australia's international treaty obligations. We found little or no alignment between the purpose of the SDLAM projects and the principles of the treaties and the Water Act. As water scarcity increases under climate change, attempting to conserve wetlands (including rivers) with less water while maintaining or increasing irrigation diversions is likely to prove maladaptive. A major reframing of environmental water policy and management is required to enable meaningful and effective adaptation to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how the state-led 'freshening the coastal zones' policy has been implemented in pursuit of sustainable development in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. Drawing on a case study of the Ba Lai irrigation scheme in a coastal district of Ben Tre Province, the paper argues that the state's ideology of 'freshwater over saltwater' results in contested land-use policies that, in turn, drive forced transformation of resource-based livelihoods. By unraveling the political ecology of these social-political dynamics, the study shows how contemporary land-use approaches have modified coastalscapes, evidenced by the continued expansion of freshwater-based agricultural systems. These agriculture-favored development policies have negatively affected agrarian communities' options to sustain their traditional livelihoods (e.g. shrimp farming), which otherwise help yield higher incomes. This paper raises doubts about the 'freshening coastal zones' policy in addressing saltwater intrusion at the delta scale, while recognizing the equal role of saltwater in supporting coastal livelihoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide, floodplains have been alienated from river channels for flood protection and water resource development, but several recent programs have restored connectivity, generating considerable ecological and , socio-economic benefits. In Australia, under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, water purchased from irrigators is used to restore wetlands. Maximising ecological benefits with limited water requires constraints relaxation, whereby high flow volumes for ecologically effective floods are released from headwater dams and allowed to flood public and private land en route to wetlands downstream, requiring infrastructure works and rights to inundate private land. We examined five focal areas in the Basin Constraints Management Strategy to determine ecosystem services benefits generated by floods on land between dams and target wetlands We found multiple examples where significant co-benefits could be realised but had not been identified. Accordingly, the assessment of costs and benefits was primarily focussed on costs. We categorised ecosystem services for each focal area as of low, medium or high importance andassigned monetary values where possible. Regulating and cultural services, rather than provisioning services, ranked highest across all focus areas, including groundwater recharge, regulation of riparian habitat quality, aesthetic appreciation, recreation and tourism, Indigenous and community values. The business cases seek to maximise costs and thus the transfer of public funds in compensation to landholders. However, there are important public policy considerations of equity, accountability and transparency, including proof of damage prior to compensation, as well as offsetting losses against ecosystem services benefits. We consider that an ecosystem services approach could greatly improve acceptance of constraints relaxation amongst landholders and the development of novel policy options and instruments that can help advance the implementation of the Basin Plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meeting growing demand for water and food in Africa, and other parts of the Global South, presents a significant and critical challenge over the next 50 years. This paper draws on an ongoing project in Africa to outline the research-for-development work that is urgently required to facilitate a paradigm shift in agricultural water management. Such work should lead to increased productivity and profitability of agricultural water use to allow agriculture to release some water to meet the growing needs of other sectors, while still meeting food security needs and contributing to a prosperous rural population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the results of the Transforming Irrigation in Southern Africa project, we assess positive transitions in smallholder irrigation schemes. The project's theory of change is evaluated. Soil monitoring tools and agricultural innovation platforms were introduced in five irrigation schemes in Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. The synergies between these interventions increased both crop yields and profitability. This empowered farmers, improved equity, and accelerated social learning and innovation. The resulting, iterative cycles of change improved governance, sustainability and socio-economic outcomes. The challenges of scaling these interventions up and out are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 willingness to pay for tools. The result suggests that although focusing on economic incentives and promoting farmer learning by those using the tools may promote greater adoption, there is likely to still be a need for co-investment by other bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian government's proposal to expand the Snowy Hydro Scheme to include a second pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) system, and support for feasibility studies for PHES in Tasmania, offer an opportunity to incorporate more intermittent renewable energy generation into the National Energy Market. However, the infrastructure construction required for PHES expansion may have negative effects for biodiversity in subalpine and alpine areas. To identify the potential effects of PHES on biodiversity in Kosciuszko National Park (KNP), this systematic literature review assesses: (i) the key environmental disturbances likely to arise from PHES construction; and (ii) the specific impacts of these construction processes on biodiversity in subalpine and alpine environments. We find that the effects of PHES construction-related disturbances are likely to be negative for subalpine and alpine biodiversity, with impacts including the proliferation of exotic flora, habitat loss resulting from vegetation clearing, altered landscape hydrology and reduced water quality. Management recommendations to limit these impacts are provided and further research is recommended to assess: (i) the effects of PHES on fish populations in alpine reservoirs; (ii) the utility of spoil as artificial habitat for endemic fauna; and (iii) the chemical and physical impacts of spoil dumping in alpine reservoirs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Narratives emerging from the interaction between science and policy set the common language for understanding complex environmental issues. We explore discourses of contestation over a major environmental policy, the Murray–Darling Basin Plan, intended to re-allocate irrigation water to restore the environment in south-eastern Australia. We examine three areas of scientific knowledge and decision-making at the science-policy interface: (1) water accounting and availability; (2) perspectives on ecological change and (3) issues of trust and the management of environmental water. Engagement and communication between scientists, bureaucrats and the public forms the basis for understanding contestation: over different sets of values, expectations of what scientists can deliver, perceptions of risk and uncertainty, interpretation of conflicting messages and economic development versus conservation. The Basin Plan was shaped by institutional processes not designed to account for such differences and has inadvertently promoted contestation through exclusion of world views that do not fit those of the decision makers. We consider how the Basin Plan can be re-framed by changing the values, rules and knowledge that set the decision context. These changes enable the Basin Plan to be re-conceptualised from a problem to be solved to an idea that can mobilise imaginative engagement by agents with diverse perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant expansion of irrigated agriculture is planned in Africa, though existing smallholder schemes perform poorly. Research at six schemes in Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe shows that a range of problems are exacerbated by poor management, with limited market linkages leading to underutilization and a lack of profit. Improving sustainability of these complex systems will require: multiple interventions at different scales; investing in people and institutions as much as hardware; clarity in governments’ objectives for their smallholder irrigation schemes; appropriate business models to enable farmers; and better market linkages. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses on the productivity and profitability of small-scale communal irrigation systems in Sub-Saharan Africa. It explores the six irrigation schemes of Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe in south-eastern Africa that provide tools to farmers which enables them to measure soil water and fertility and develop their own agronomic practices.

African governments have ambitious plans to expand irrigated agriculture, though existing smallholder schemes have largely failed to use land and water sustainably or become profitable. Six government-owned irrigation schemes in Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe were assessed to identify common policy barriers and opportunities for higher productivity among smallholder farmers. Issues like insecure land tenure systems, unclear institutional arrangements and poor access to markets have contributed to limited profitability. Reform of currently insecure land tenure, strengthening farmer organizations and reforming policies are recommended so that governments step back from scheme management and foster market linkages to enable more profitable irrigated agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

One solution considered by researchers and policymakers to address environmental degradation is to explore change within environmental institutions. Three main approaches exist looking at how institutions change in response to social–environmental issues: institutional design, institutional fit, and institutional bricolage. While all three approaches are relevant, they face challenges when it comes to actually supporting the institutional change process. This article advances the idea that rather than trying to craft blueprint institutions through interventions, such interventions could act as “institutional corridors” to create favorable conditions for “institutional bricolage” to occur. A participatory planning process in the Rwenzori region in Uganda is used as an example. There, five strategies were used for the process to act as an institutional corridor. They were facilitated by four procedural elements and constrained by two external factors. The article concludes by providing concrete ideas about how practitioners can experiment with intervention designs to facilitate institutional bricolage. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article revisits four Australian framework policies with implications for ecologically sustainable development to consider lessons for climate change adaptation. The competition, disaster resilience, sustainable development and water policies examined underline the difficulty in developing and implementing effective policy frameworks. We find that to succeed, a national policy in this federation needs: a coalition of stakeholders advocating for their implementation; medium to long-term bipartisan support; a focus on a perceived urgent national issue; significant socio-economic benefits; a focus on a limited number of core principles and systemic legislative reform with incremental implementation over many years; the allocation by the federal government of substantial funds for state implementation; requirements to report to the Council of Australian Governments; and support from central government agencies rather than marginalisation in the environment portfolio. These qualities are not inherent in the 1992 National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development and this explains why it is now moribund. These findings suggest that it will be particularly hard to develop and difficult to implement an effective national climate change adaptation policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Responding to the threat of climate change, conserving freshwater ecosystems and securing adequate energy and water supplies are among the greatest challenges facing modern societies. Yet recognition of the interdependencies between climate, energy and water policy—with resulting synergies and trade-offs—remains limited, leaving societies and governments alike vulnerable to the dangers of conflicted or unintended policy outcomes from sectoral decisions. In this paper, we analyse current Australian climate, energy and water policies to identify the risks of perverse outcomes between the three policy sectors. In doing so we categorise the conflicts and synergies between particular energy generation, carbon sequestration and water supply policies to improve understandings of the challenges facing decision makers in Australia and internationally. Four types of interventions are identified that would enable integration and optimisation of policies, namely: better cross-sectoral knowledge to inform decisions; the identification of technologies with co-benefits; markets with broader cross-sectoral participation (including linking water and carbon markets); and better-integrated governance institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses how to design a green climate fund to raise a $100 billion per year to help developing countries mitigate and adapt to climate change, which was first proposed by developed countries during the 2009 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The authors argue that one of the most important issues facing individuals in the 21st century is the ability to confront and respond to climate change and that developing countries will be negatively impacted by climate change more quickly than industrialized countries. Topics include a global approach with local implementation of climate change mitigation strategies, problems with development financing, and climate change governance and politics.

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]

This paper describes an empirical case study of enhanced water management in the São João River basin on the southeast coast of Brazil between 1999 and 2008. The autonomous adaptation measures applied are assessed to derive lessons for more effective climate change adaptation. In response to severe eutrophication of their coastal lakes, effective, local multistakeholder institutions were established under the auspices of the Consórcio Intermunicipal Lagos São João from 1999 to improve basin management. Having significantly reduced the pollution problem, other environmental challenges are now being addressed. In managing environmental problems with multiple causes and effects, engaging multiple stakeholders and communicating the need to change environmental management, these local institutions have established the types of capacities needed for climate change adaptation. Factors contributing to the strengthening of this adaptive capacity include: engagement of local non-governmental organizations, companies and municipal governments; leadership and development of a collective identity; enabling national and state water laws; an ability to raise funds; and implementation of an iterative, adaptive management approach to environmental management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autonomous adaptation in the water sector is assessed to derive lessons for more successful climate change adaptation from six empirical, consistently designed river management case studies based on projects of WWF. They show that when adaptation measures are considered in the context of common problems in water management, many practical ways of building resilience to climate change through mainstream programs are evident. The cases are mainly from developing countries - India, China, Mexico, Brazil, the lower Danube basin and Tanzania - where efforts to reduce environmental degradation and enhance livelihoods have directly helped to reduce vulnerability to natural hazards and climate change. The key lessons include: the benefits of concurrent measures for improving livelihoods and reducing physical vulnerability; the need to enhance and fund local institutions to mainstream adaptation programmes; and the value in implementing 'no and low regrets' measures despite uncertainties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yangtze is the largest river basin in China and home to over 400 million people. In recent history, and especially during 1950s-1970s, extensive lakes and floodplains were reclaimed as polders for agriculture and rural development. Consequently, the flood retention capacity was decreased, many lakes were disconnected from the main channel of the Yangtze by embankments and sluice gates, and eutrophication was common. It is anticipated that there will be a greater frequency of extreme floods and droughts in the basin according to climate change scenarios. WWF commenced a programme in 2002 in partnership with government agencies and local communities to reconnect three lakes (Zhangdu, Hong and Tian-e-zhou) in Hubei Province to the river by opening sluice gates seasonally and improving lake management. The resilience of the lake environment to climate change and the livelihoods of local people were enhanced. The measures assessed here highlight: (a) the need for adaptation programmes to concurrently improve livelihoods and reduce exposure to physical risks; (b) the need to build the capacity of people and institutions; and (c) the value of decentralized adaptation as compared with new infrastructure investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses various reports published within the issue, including one on the benefits of floodplain restoration in the central Yangtze River basin in China, one on the enhancement of water security in Rio Conchos basin in northern Mexico, and one on adaptive management capacities in a river basin consortium in Rio São João, Brazil.