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Models are widely used to research hydrological change and risk. However, the power embedded in the modelling process and outcomes is often concealed by claiming their neutrality. Our review shows that in the scientific literature relatively little attention is given to the influence of models on development processes and outcomes in water governance. At the same time, an emerging body of work offering critical insights into the political implications of hydrological models and a nuanced understanding of their application in context has begun to flourish. Drawing on this work, we call for power-sensitive modelling which includes the following considerations: take a holistic approach to modelling beyond programming and coding; foster accountability; work towards just and equitable water distributions; be transparent about the expectations and choices made; and democratise modelling by giving space to and being mindful of representations of multiple bodies of knowledge and multiple stakeholders and by incorporating marginalised people and nature into the modelling process. Our call should not be understood as a suggestion to do away with modelling altogether, but rather as an invitation to interrogate how quantitative models may help to foster transformative pathways towards more just and equitable water distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depuis plus de trois décennies, le modèle de gestion participative de l’irrigation promu par gouvernements et bailleurs de fond rencontre de nombreuses difficultés. Partant du constat que la gestion de l’irrigation présente des dimensions tant techniques que sociales, nous mobilisons les champs de la political ecology et des études des sciences et techniques et montrons qu’une politique publique prend de multiples facettes à l’aune des conditions matérielles qu’elle rencontre. Une comparaison de quatre périmètres irrigués au Cambodge illustre le fait que l’émergence d’associations d’usagers de l’eau comme acteurs de la gestion des périmètres irrigués dépend de l’existence de « points d’ancrage », c’est-à-dire d’éléments d’infrastructures de distribution et de partage de l’eau sur lesquels ces associations peuvent exercer leur contrôle et ainsi « s’inscrire » dans le paysage sociotechnique de l’irrigation.

Au cours d'un atelier, qui a eu lieu à Montpellier en décembre 2015, destiné à partager des expériences de recherche sur un objet hydroagricole, le petit barrage, une vingtaine de chercheurs d'horizons disciplinaires variés ont interrogé leurs pratiques et conceptions de l'interdisciplinarité entre sciences de la nature et sciences de la société. Cette expérience exploratoire a mis en lumière deux postures interdisciplinaires différentes. La première repose sur la recherche d'interfaces et de complémentarités entre les disciplines pour documenter ensemble des objets complexes. La seconde se construit plutôt dans l'exploration des limites des disciplines pour identifier de nouveaux fronts de recherche à l'intersection des approches en présence. Alors que l'interdisciplinarité est souvent déclinée au singulier, cet atelier nous invite à la penser au pluriel à travers les différentes pratiques qui nourrissent le processus de construction de l'interaction entre personnes.

Hydrological models are widely used to research hydrological change and risk. Yet, the power embedded in the modelling process and outcomes are often concealed by claiming its neutrality. Our systematic review shows that in scientific literature relatively little attention is given to the power of models to influence development processes and outcomes in water governance. The review also shows that there is much to learn from those who are willing to be openly reflexive on the 20 influence of models. In agreement with this emerging body of work, we call for power-sensitive modelling, which means that people are critical about how models are made and with what implications, taking into account that: i) The choice for and use of models for water management happens in a political context and has political consequences; ii) Models are the result of choices made by modellers and -- since they have political consequences -- these need to be made as explicit as possible as opposed to being "blackboxed"; iii) To consider the ethical implications of the choices of modellers, commissioners, and users, 25 and to improve accountability, models and their power need to be understood by connecting the inner workings of a model with a contextual understanding of its development and use, iv) Action is taken upon these implications by democratising modelling processes. Our call should not be understood as a suggestion to do away with modelling altogether, but rather as an invitation to interrogate how quantitative models may help to foster transformative pathways towards more just and equitable water distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Khmer, the word prek designates a connection between things. In Kandal province in Cambodia, preks crisscross the landscape, connecting rivers with floodplains, supporting rich ecologies and a variety of livelihoods. Drawing on science and technology studies (STS) and critical water research, this paper explores prek(s) as a multiplicity. Rather than taking the prek as a passive object around which various practices occur, we examine how prek(s) are enacted as ontologically different: as irrigation infrastructure, as pathway to rice intensification, as device for Cambodian state-making, and as climate-friendly agricultural development. After analyzing interference patterns between enactments and their scale-making effects in- and outside the Mekong floodplains, we make explicit our own ontological politics. Focused on sustaining multiple uses and ecosystems, "our" prek is a socionatural mosaic landscape where many human and more-than-human actors and practices can coexist. This ontological politics, we suggest, has implications for planetary environmental knowledges and delta management far beyond Kandal's landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In closing river basins where nearly all available water is committed to existing uses, downstream irrigation projects are expected to experience water shortages more frequently. Understanding the scope for resilience and adaptation of large surface irrigation systems is vital to the development of management strategies designed to mitigate the impact of river basin closure on food production and the livelihoods of farmers. A multilevel analysis (farm-level surveys and regional assessment through remote-sensing techniques and statistics) of the dynamics of irrigation and land use in the Nagarjuna Sagar project (South India) in times of changing water availability (2000-2006) highlights that during low-flow years, there is large-scale adoption of rainfed or supplementary irrigated crops that have lower land productivity but higher water productivity, and that a large fraction of land is fallowed. Cropping pattern changes during the drought reveal short-term coping strategies rather than long-term evolutions: after the shock, farmers reverted to their usual cropping patterns during years with adequate canal supplies. For the sequence of water supply fluctuations observed from 2000 to 2006, the Nagarjuna Sagar irrigation system shows a high level of sensitivity to short-term perturbations, but long-term resilience if flows recover. Management strategies accounting for local-level adaptability will be necessary to mitigate the impacts of low-flow years but there is scope for improvement of the performance of the system. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)IR.1943-4774.0000225 CE Database subject headings: Irrigation systems; Water shortage; Water supply; Agriculture; Productivity; India. Author keywords: Irrigation system; Water scarcity; Management; Resilience; Coping strategies; Productivity; India.

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-8947.2009.01255.x Byline: N.C. Narayanan (1), Jean-Philippe Venot (2) Keywords: Natural resources; Environmental degradation; Polycentricity; Conflicts; Politics; India Abstract: Abstract In densely populated coastal wetlands with rich biodiversity, multiple, but generally competing, economic activities are common. This paper adopts a polycentric perspective to the study of wetlands management in India to assess the scope for sustainable and equitable use of these remarkable and threatened ecosystems. The analytical framework proves to be useful and highlights that the intertwined processes of environmental and social changes result from, and shape, governance patterns. The three wetlands studied share commonalities in their trajectories: high population pressure, the enclosure of the commons and subsequent capitalization of resources and social marginalization, conflicting interests and intense local politics, a disconnect between global conservation discourses and local concerns, weak institutional arrangements, and global economic forces. The intense politics of access, control and use of natural resources challenge the implementation of a true polycentric regime in the Indian context due to a tendency to bureaucratization and a lack of participation, and existing limits to democratic citizenship. Creating a democratic space where multiple voices can be considered in the decision-making process remains a challenge. The paper concludes that inclusion of power and politics in the study of governance of natural resources should be of prime concern for researchers and decision makers. Author Affiliation: (1)Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, India (2)International Water Management Institute, Accra, Ghana