scholarly journals A Coupled Modeling Framework for Sustainable Watershed Management in Transboundary River Basins

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassaan F. Khan ◽  
Y.-C. Ethan Yang ◽  
Hua Xie ◽  
Claudia Ringler
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Watershed Management ◽  
Ecosystem Health ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Modeling Framework ◽  
Transboundary River ◽  
Systems Model ◽  
Transboundary River Basins ◽  
Water Uses

Abstract. There is a growing recognition among water resources managers that sustainable watershed management needs to not only account for the diverse ways humans benefit from the environment, but also incorporate the impact of human actions on the natural system. Coupled natural-human system modeling through explicit modeling of both natural and human behavior can help reveal the reciprocal interactions and coevolution of the natural and human systems. This study develops a spatially scalable, generalized modeling framework consisting of a process-based distributed hydrologic model (SWAT) and a decentralized water systems model (ABM) to simulate the impacts of water resources management decisions that affect the food-water-energy-environment (FWEE) nexus at a watershed scale. Agents within a river basin are geographically delineated based on both political and watershed boundaries and represent key stakeholders of ecosystem services. Agents decide about the priority across three primary water uses: food production, hydropower generation and ecosystem health within their geographical domains. Agents interact with the environment (streamflow) through the SWAT model and interact with other agents through a parameter representing willingness to cooperate. The innovative two-way coupling between the water systems model and SWAT enables this framework to fully explore the feedback of human decisions on the environmental dynamics and vice versa. This generalized ABM framework is tested in two key transboundary river basins, the Mekong River Basin in Southeast Asia and the Niger River Basin in West Africa, where water uses for ecosystem health compete with growing human demands on food and energy resources. We present modeling results for crop production, energy generation and violation of eco-hydrological indicators at both the agent and basin-wide levels to shed light on holistic FWEE management policies in these two basins.

scholarly journals A coupled modeling framework for sustainable watershed management in transboundary river basins

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (12) ◽  
pp. 6275-6288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassaan Furqan Khan ◽  
Y. C. Ethan Yang ◽  
Hua Xie ◽  
Claudia Ringler
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Watershed Management ◽  
Water Resource ◽  
Ecosystem Health ◽  
Water System ◽  
River Basins ◽  
System Model ◽  
Transboundary River ◽  
Transboundary River Basins ◽  
Water Uses

Abstract. There is a growing recognition among water resource managers that sustainable watershed management needs to not only account for the diverse ways humans benefit from the environment, but also incorporate the impact of human actions on the natural system. Coupled natural–human system modeling through explicit modeling of both natural and human behavior can help reveal the reciprocal interactions and co-evolution of the natural and human systems. This study develops a spatially scalable, generalized agent-based modeling (ABM) framework consisting of a process-based semi-distributed hydrologic model (SWAT) and a decentralized water system model to simulate the impacts of water resource management decisions that affect the food–water–energy–environment (FWEE) nexus at a watershed scale. Agents within a river basin are geographically delineated based on both political and watershed boundaries and represent key stakeholders of ecosystem services. Agents decide about the priority across three primary water uses: food production, hydropower generation and ecosystem health within their geographical domains. Agents interact with the environment (streamflow) through the SWAT model and interact with other agents through a parameter representing willingness to cooperate. The innovative two-way coupling between the water system model and SWAT enables this framework to fully explore the feedback of human decisions on the environmental dynamics and vice versa. To support non-technical stakeholder interactions, a web-based user interface has been developed that allows for role-play and participatory modeling. The generalized ABM framework is also tested in two key transboundary river basins, the Mekong River basin in Southeast Asia and the Niger River basin in West Africa, where water uses for ecosystem health compete with growing human demands on food and energy resources. We present modeling results for crop production, energy generation and violation of eco-hydrological indicators at both the agent and basin-wide levels to shed light on holistic FWEE management policies in these two basins.

Environmental Water Stress in Transboundary River Basins

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tales Carvalho-Resende
Keyword(s):  
Water Stress ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
Environmental Water ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Water Quantity ◽  
Natural Flow Regime ◽  
Transboundary River ◽  
Transboundary River Basins ◽  
Natural Flow ◽  
Water Uses

The Environmental Water Stress in Transboundary River Basins indicator focuses on the water quantity aspect and considers hydrological alterations from monthly dynamics of the natural flow regime due to anthropogenic water uses and dam operations. For more information, visit: http://twap-rivers.org/ Basin Stress Surface water Transboundary

scholarly journals Water assessment in transboundary river basins: the case of the Medjerda River Basin

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrianirina Sedera Rajosoa ◽  
Chérifa Abdelbaki ◽  
Khaldoon A. Mourad
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
Transboundary River ◽  
Transboundary River Basins ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Over Exploitation

AbstractWater resources in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA region) face over-exploitation and over-pollution due to population growth, climate change and the lack of advanced water governance approaches. These challenges become more serious in transboundary river basins and may lead to conflict between riparian countries. The main objective of this paper is to assess water resources and needs at the Medjerda River Basin (MRB), shared by Tunisia and Algeria using the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) system between 2020 and 2050. Four scenarios were built to assess the current and future status of the water supply and demands in both countries. The results show that water demands, and shortages are increasing, and some demand sites will face real water scarcity in the future due to climate change and development practices. Therefore, new allocation and management plans should be examined at the regional level based on real collaboration among all stakeholders.

scholarly journals Sharing water and benefits in transboundary river basins

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Arjoon ◽  
Amaury Tilmant ◽  
Markus Herrmann
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Sharing Rule ◽  
Efficient Manner ◽  
Transboundary River ◽  
Water Users ◽  
Transboundary River Basins ◽  
Equitable Sharing

Abstract. The equitable sharing of benefits in transboundary river basins is necessary to solve disputes among riparian countries and to reach a consensus on basin-wide development and management activities. Benefit sharing arrangements must be collaboratively developed to be perceived not only as efficient, but also as equitable in order to be considered acceptable to all riparian countries. The current literature mainly describes what is meant by the term benefit sharing in the the context of transboundary river basins and discusses this from a conceptual point of view, but falls short of providing practical, institutional arrangements that ensure maximum economic welfare as well as collaboratively developed methods for encouraging the equitable sharing of benefits. In this study we define an institutional arrangement that distributes welfare in a river basin by maximizing the economic benefits of water use and then sharing these benefits in an equitable manner using a method developed through stakeholder involvement.We describe a methodology in which (i) a hydrological model is used to allocate scarce water resources, in an economically efficient manner, to water users in a transboundary basin, (ii) water users are obliged to pay for water, and (iii) the total of these water charges are equitably redistributed as monetary compensation to users in an amount determined through the application of a sharing method developed by stakeholder input, thus based on a stakeholder vision of fairness, using an axiomatic approach. The whole system is overseen by a river basin authority. The methodology is applied to the Eastern Nile River basin as a case study. The described technique not only ensures economic efficiency, but may also lead to more equitable solutions in the sharing of benefits in transboundary river basins because the definition of the sharing rule is not in question, as would be the case if existing methods, such as game theory, were applied, with their inherent definitions of fairness.

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