scholarly journals When do institutions work? A comparison of two water disputes over the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna river basins

Water Policy ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 308-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Xie ◽  
Muhammad Mizanur Rahaman ◽  
Wei Shen
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Foreign Relations ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Institutional Arrangements ◽  
Environmental Agreements ◽  
Building Trust ◽  
Institutional Cooperation ◽  
Water Management Institutions ◽  
Management Institutions ◽  
The Ganges

Abstract This article investigates the motives and incentives that drive countries' diplomatic efforts in water disputes. It aims to identify links between the formation of water management institutions (WMIs) and the outcomes of such institutional cooperation. Three features have been identified as key to the effectiveness of WMIs: (1) the development of trust; (2) sanctions aimed at curbing cheating; and (3) the balancing of different countries’ interests over shared waters. This article conducts a comparative analysis of the formation of institutional arrangements among three riparian states by focusing on two cases: water interactions between China and India, and between India and Bangladesh. It argues that India, China and Bangladesh have exhibited different preferences in regard to their participation in WMIs. The two cases illustrate how different WMIs are formed and also how, in proportion to variations in the level of competition over water quantity, diplomatic cooperation through environmental agreements can lead to different outcomes with varying degrees of success. This article concludes that in the context of the global South, where foreign relations are unstable and countries’ reliance on river basins varied, building trust and balancing interests over water management are especially important to the formation of effective institutional arrangements.

scholarly journals Are General Circulation Models Ready for Operational Streamflow Forecasting for Water Management in the Ganges and Brahmaputra River Basins?

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 195-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Safat Sikder ◽  
Xiaodong Chen ◽  
Faisal Hossain ◽  
Jason B. Roberts ◽  
Franklin Robertson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Hydrologic Model ◽  
Streamflow Forecasting ◽  
Management Decisions ◽  
Brahmaputra River ◽  
Ganges Basin ◽  
Monthly Scale ◽  
Brahmaputra Basin ◽  
The Ganges

Abstract This study asks the question of whether GCMs are ready to be operationalized for streamflow forecasting in South Asian river basins, and if so, at what temporal scales and for which water management decisions are they likely to be relevant? The authors focused on the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna basins for which there is a gridded hydrologic model calibrated for the 2002–10 period. The North American Multimodel Ensemble (NMME) suite of eight GCM hindcasts was applied to generate precipitation forecasts for each month of the 1982–2012 (30 year) period at up to 6 months of lead time, which were then downscaled according to the bias-corrected statistical downscaling (BCSD) procedure to daily time steps. A global retrospective forcing dataset was used for this downscaling procedure. The study clearly revealed that a regionally consistent forcing for BCSD, which is currently unavailable for the region, is one of the primary conditions to realize reasonable skill in streamflow forecasting. In terms of relative RMSE (normalized by reference flow obtained from the global retrospective forcings used in downscaling), streamflow forecast uncertainty (RMSE) was found to be 38%–50% at monthly scale and 22%–35% at seasonal (3 monthly) scale. The Ganges River (regulated) experienced higher uncertainty than the Brahmaputra River (unregulated). In terms of anomaly correlation coefficient (ACC), the streamflow forecasting at seasonal (3 monthly) scale was found to have less uncertainty (>0.3) than at monthly scale (<0.25). The forecast skill in the Brahmaputra basin showed more improvement when the time horizon was aggregated from monthly to seasonal than the Ganges basin. Finally, the skill assessment for the individual seasons revealed that the flow forecasting using NMME data had less uncertainty during monsoon season (July–September) in the Brahmaputra basin and in postmonsoon season (October–December) in the Ganges basin. Overall, the study indicated that GCMs can have value for management decisions only at seasonal or annual water balance applications at best if appropriate historical forcings are used in downscaling. The take-home message of this study is that GCMs are not yet ready for prime-time operationalization for a wide variety of multiscale water management decisions for the Ganges and Brahmaputra River basins.

Empirical assessment of water management institutions in northern China

2010 ◽  
Vol 98 (2) ◽  
pp. 361-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiuqiong Huang ◽  
Jinxia Wang ◽  
K. William Easter ◽  
Scott Rozelle
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Empirical Assessment ◽  
Water Management Institutions ◽  
Management Institutions

Reflections on evolving water management institutions and institutional bricolage: a case of irrigation schemes in Iringa Rural and Kilombero districts, Tanzania

Water Policy ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. B. Mosha ◽  
P. Vedeld ◽  
G. C. Kajembe ◽  
A. K. P. R. Tarimo ◽  
J. Z. Katani
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Formal Institutions ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Water Users ◽  
Water Institutions ◽  
Focus Group Data ◽  
Water Management Institutions ◽  
The Government ◽  
Management Institutions

Over the past 40+ years, evolution of water institutions responsible for allocation and distribution of water has been enormous. This paper analyzes the evolution of both formal and informal water management institutions and how they affect today's processes of allocating and distributing water in farmer-managed irrigation schemes (FMISs). It also assesses how farmers translate and modify introduced formal institutions in the rights of the existing informal institution while trying to solve water management challenges based on the local conditions. In-depth and focus group data for the study were collected using a checklist of questions administered to 40 informants, one group discussion per village in Itunundu, Mboliboli, Mkula and Magombera villages, Tanzania. The basic argument of this paper is that water institutions have changed over time. Drawing from study findings, the evolution process of water institutions might be understood as an outcome of the government efforts to address emerging challenges with respect to increasing water demand and multi-use. However, institutional evolution is accompanied by some negatives outcomes, as they weaken social norms and threaten sound water management. The experiences from the irrigation schemes highlight the need to include locally evolved institutions while re-crafting formal institutions. Such interventions may well have significant outcomes for efficient, equity and power relations among water users.

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