"With an average annual rainfall of 1,170 mm, India is one of the wettest countries in the world. Still, even with its rich natural water resources, with more than 300,000 square meters of bodies of water, the country is plagued by environmental issues such as water pollution from raw sewage and runoff of agricultural pesticides (Sharma, 2005). Another major problem is that tap water is not potable throughout the country. This implies that people, especially those from the lower income bracket, cannot avail of clean drinking water, since these have to be bought. Repugnant as it may sound, it is a reality that millions of Indians queue up everyday at public taps for one of life's most precious commodity — water." -ADB

Thursday 31 December 2009

The Top 35 Environmental Blogs and The Top 25 General Blogs from TIME


Read more: http://specials.time.com/environment/special.html#ixzz0bNgaxCbR
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Tuesday 29 December 2009

Water resources assessment-Managing the resources



Source:WMO Site

Managing the resources

gauging stationManagement of water resources is a complex decision-making process. If supplies were available at all times and in all places in adequate quantity and quality to meet the demand, the decision-making would be a simple matter. This is far from the case given the Global changes, such as unprecedented rise in population, rising standards of living, increasing climate variability and change and growing environmental concerns, taking place. Given the resource constraint, Governments and national agencies have to establish clearly-defined policies based on the knowledge of the resource itself and the demands for food production, domestic needs and industrial activity, hydropower generation and the needs of the ecosystems. The demands from various sectors and sections of society have to be met in an, equitable, just, economic and sustainable manner. To achieve this objective an integrated multi-disciplinary approach is essential.

Integrated Water Resources Management

Since the International Conference on Water and Environment (Dublin, 1992) the principle of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) has been an accepted rationale to drive interventions and development in the water sector. IWRM is based on the recognition that the many different uses of finite water resources are interdependent and therefore they have to be addressed not with a disjointed, sectoral approach but rather in a holistic manner.
High irrigation demands and polluted drainage flows from agriculture mean less freshwater for drinking or industrial use; contaminated municipal and industrial wastewater pollutes rivers and threatens ecosystems; if water has to be left in a river to protect fisheries and ecosystems, less can be diverted to grow crops. There are plenty more examples to prove that unregulated use of scarce water resources is wasteful, inherently unsustainable and potentially conducive to conflicts.
IWRM is defined as a systematic process for the sustainable development, allocation and management, of water resource use, aimed at maximizing the social and economical benefits in an equitable manner among users without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems, and having in mind the complex interlinks between water and the surrounding land, ecosystems and socio-economic setting.
WMO through HWRP is contributing to the implementation of IWRM by promoting water resources assessment and hydrological prediction based on scientific and quality data collection and management. It promots use of standardized hydrological data collection and exchange which are essential, particularly in trans boundary basins. WMO is also actively promoting the implementation of the IWRM concept through a two major field level activities. On the one hand it provides technical guidance at national scale through projects that demonstrate on the field the benefits and advantages of IWRM adoption. PROMMA (also available in Spanish) and its successor PREMIA project in Mexico is one good example. At the global level it is promoting Integrated Flood Management within the context of IWRM through pilot projects in the countries and developing guidance material in the framework of  its Associated Programme on Flood Management, being implemented in collaboration with Global Water Partnership.

Water Resources Assessment

The first step to any form of water management and in particular IWRM is the knowledge of the status of the resource through a proper assessment of its present availability, distribution and variability in space and time and perspective evolution. National Hydrological Services (NHSs) play a role of paramount importance in the Water Resources Assessment (WRA) activities at national and regional / basin-wide scale. WMO is supporting NHSs by providing guidance and technical assistance to enhance their capacity to carry out water resources assessment on a continuous basis. Guidance in WRA matters is provided by the relevant manual and technical documents published by WMO as a part of the Quality Management Framework – Hydrology.
The baseline documents in this field are the “Handbook for Review of National Capabilities” jointly prepared by WMO and UNESCO and the “Manual on Water Resources Assessment” (under preparation).
Technical assistance is provided through many technical cooperation projects. WMO implemented the project Hydrometeorological Survey of the Equatorial Lakes (Vicoria, Kyoga and Albert) in Eastern Africa, as a basis for the Governments concerned to better assess and manage these precious resources. Project on Expansion and Improvement of Hydrometeorological and Hydrological Services implemented by WMO in the Central American Isthmus, brought together the seven countries of the region in a cooperative effort to monitor their freshwater resources and forecast flooding. More recently, the WHYCOS programme designed to support water management efforts by strengthening the national and regional capacity to provide a consistent flow of reliable water-related information is being implemented in different parts of the world. At the national level support is provided to developing countries to assess and evaluate their capabilities in WRA. Assessment of the Nigerian National Hydrological Service.
At the policy-making level, WMO works with national governments to develop appropriate action plans to ensure sustainable development of the resource. In this connection, high-level Regional Conferences on Water Resources have been convened by WMO in Africa (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 1995 - read the conference declaration) and in Latin America and the Caribbean (San José, Costa Rica 1996 - read the conference declaration). These were milestone events in launching a drive for self-sufficiency among developing countries in the two regions.

Reproduced here from WMO Site for educational and learning purpose only.

line
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Final Report on the "Expert meeting on water manager needs for climate information in water resources planning (Geneva, 18-20 December 2006)

Water and Climate



Final Report on the "Expert meeting on water manager needs for climate information in water resources planning (Geneva, 18-20 December 2006)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Recognizing that climate information is presently not widely used by water managers, the expert meeting aimed to identify the current state of climate information that potentially could be used by water managers and looked into the perception of water managers with regard to the use of climate information that would suit their requirements. The meeting also served as a scoping platform to identify current uses of climate information in water management and to provide an overview at which scales climate information has the greatest potential for use now and the near future. Likewise, gaps and deficiencies in present knowledge and research were identified. The meeting showed that climate predictions and seasonal climate outlooks at present have the highest potential to be more readily used while predictions of climate variability and change, while inherently useful, are not yet ready to be applied from an engineering point of view and other techniques, such as using multi-model ensembles and downscaling techniques are required to improve prediction skills to reduce large uncertainties. The expert meeting concluded that all possible information should be processed in such a way that it would allow the development of adaptation processes and activities even though there are large uncertainties still prevailing. Major outcomes of the expert meeting were:
• Participants encouraged the development of demonstration projects based on a project
proposal developed by WMO “Bringing Climate Information to Water Managers” and
• Participants developed an agenda and work plan for a WMO initiative on “Improvement in
Water Resources Planning through the Use of Climate Information”.
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Top 10 environmental moments of the decade

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Sunday 27 December 2009

"The Global Financial and Economic Crisis and the Water Sector", "Climate Change and Water Resource Policies Among Major Donor Organizations" & "The Role of Large Scale Artificial Water Storage in the Water-Food-Energy Developement Nexus".

SIWI has published three new reports that will serve as advisory documents for the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).


The Global Financial and Economic Crisis and the Water Sector
Authors: Jim Winpenny, Andy Bullock, Jakob Granit, Rebecca Löfgren
Download: full report, executive summary.
Climate Change and Water Resource Policies Among Major Donor Organizations

Authors: Jakob Granit, Andreas Lindström
Download: full report.
The Role of Large Scale Artificial Water Storage in the Water-Food-Energy Developement Nexus
Authors: Jakob Granit, Andreas Lindström
Download: full report, executive summary.
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Water: At the Tipping Point? Water Front Magazine-SIWI ,Stockholm-Dec 2009

Highlights:

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Saturday 26 December 2009

Charting our water future-Mckinsey

Executive Summary


2030 Water Resources Group—a consortium of mostly private companies from several important sectors of the world economy—has made it their business to put together this report. The report’s central message is that any strategy to achieve water resource security must be a joint effort—integrated with broader economic decision-making—by governments, investors, NGOs, and water users in agriculture, industry and cities.

Charting our water future is a report of the 2030 Water Resources Group, which was formed in 2008 to contribute new insights to the increasingly critical issue of water resource scarcity. Members include McKinsey & Company, the World Bank Group, and a consortium of business partners: The Barilla Group, The Coca Cola Company, Nestlé SA, New Holland Agriculture, SAB Miller PLC, Standard Chartered and Syngenta AG.


Growing competition for scarce water resources is a growing business risk, a major economic threat, and a challenge for the sustainability of communities and the ecosystems upon which they rely. It is an issue that has serious implications for the stability of countries in which businesses operate, and for industries whose value chains are exposed to water scarcity.
  • The ever-expanding water demand of the world’s growing population and economy, combined with the impacts of climate change, are already making water scarcity a reality in many parts of the world—and with it we are witnessing severe damage to livelihoods, human health, and ecosystems. In just 20 years, this report shows, demand for water will be 40 percent higher than it is today, and more than 50 percent higher in the most rapidly developing countries.
  • The report also finds that the future “water gap” can be closed. Even in rapidly developing, water-scarce countries, there is a set of measures—to boost efficiency, augment supply, or lessen the water-intensity of the economy—that in principle could meet human and environmental water needs at affordable cost. The report shows how “crop per drop” can be increased dramatically in agriculture, which today consumes 70 percent of the world’s water. This has also been the message the United Nations Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation has kept on conveying to decision-makers: that water requires more political attention and strategic thinking.
  • This report provides, however, is a toolkit that stakeholders can use to compare the impact, cost and achievability of a range of different measures and technologies, so providing the fact base needed to underpin solutions.
The report offers case studies from four countries with drastically different water issues, which will collectively account for 40 percent of the world’s population, 30 percent of global GDP and 42 percent of projected water demand in 2030: China, India, South Africa and Brazil. The report’s methodology identifies supply- and demand-side measures that could constitute a more cost effective approach to closing the water gap and achieve savings in each country.


Read the executive summary (PDF—1.2 MB)
Read the full report (PDF—5.3 MB)
NOTE:Watch the Flash Video at http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/Water/Charting_our_water_future.aspx

Further Readings
Water Security in India Conference
 ==========================
Also see the 102 page Book-INDIA’S WATER ECONOMY-BRACING FOR A TURBULENT FUTURE

Author is John Briscoe ,Professor of the Practice of Environmental Health,Harvard.
=================
More Readings:
Adapting Water Management to Climate Change-SIWI Pdf
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Water Resources Publications(2009)-Asit K Biswas


1. Publications available in English Language
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Friday 25 December 2009

Turkey is privatizing 52 of its state owned and operated hydropower plants due Feb 2010!

Turkish Hydropower Generation ready for Privitization

Turkey is privatizing 52 of its state owned and operated hydropower plants due Feb 2010! Great opportunity to enter very promising Turkish renewable market.

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-196273-state-speeds-up-privatization-efforts.html

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Thursday 24 December 2009

GE, WRI, GOLDMAN SACHS JOIN TO MEASURE WATER RISKS

 
GE, WRI, GOLDMAN SACHS JOIN TO MEASURE WATER RISKS

In partnership with Goldman Sachs (New York, NY), the World Resources Institute (WRI) (Washington, DC) and GE Power & Water (Trevose, PA) have launched an initiative to measure the water-related risks faced by corporations and their investors. GE, WRI, and Goldman Sachs will develop a Water Index to provide a standardized method for identifying and mitigating water-related risks such as resource availability, water quality, and regulatory exposure. “In many regions around the world, water scarcity from climate change and pollution is starting to impact a company’s performance, yet few analysts account for water-related risks,” said WRI President Jonathan Lash. “WRI hopes that investors will begin ‘pricing in’ these under-appreciated risks, driving investments to support more hydrologically efficient designs and technologies.”

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Tuesday 22 December 2009

NPV ,Supreme Court, MoEF and the Projects


It is an undisputed fact that the forest in this country is an
important and vital component to sustain the life support system on
this planet. For various reasons, our forest is being slowly depleted.
At the same time, as part of our developmental activities, some areas
of the forest have to be used for non-forest purposes. The economic
development shall not be at the cost of complete degradation of the
forest or the environment and eco-system provided by the green area
of the forest. Therefore, it was considered whether the user agency
of such land which is required for developmental activities to
compensate for the diversion of the forest and on the
recommendations of the Central Empowered Committee (hereinafter
being referred to as "CEC"), it was decided by this Court that the user
agency shall be required to make payment of net present value(NPV)
of such diverted land so as to utilize this for getting back in the long
run which are lost by such diversion. A scheme was submitted by
Ministry of Environment and Forests(MOEF) alongwith an affidavit
dated 22.3.2002. The CEC considered all relevant aspects including
the scheme submitted by MOEF and filed a report on 9.8.2002.
These reports were accepted by this Court. This Court in T.N.
Godavarman Thirumulpad Vs. Union of India 2006(1) SCC 1
finally directed that the question as to what amount of NPV is
required to be paid and to achieve these objectives, it was directed
that the question is to be examined by experts. A Committee
comprising of three experts including Mrs. Kanchan Chopra was
appointed and this Court gave the following directions:-
(i)         to identify and define parameters (scientific, biometric and
social) on the basis of which each of the categories of values
of forest land should be estimated.
(ii)        To formulate a practical methodology applicable to different
biogeographical zones of India for estimation of the values in
monetary terms in respect of each of the above categories of
forest values.
(iii)       To illustratively apply this methodology to obtain actual
numerical values for different forest types for each
biogeographical zone in the country.
(iv)       To determine on the basis of established principles of public
finance, who should pay the costs of restoration and/or
compensation with respect to each category of values of
forests.
(v)        Which projects deserve to be exempted from payment of
NPV.

On the basis of the directions issued by this Court, a Committee
consisting of Mrs. Kanchan Chopra gave a report and the same was
examined by the CEC. 

The report contains detailed study of the relevant factors.  The
Forest Survey of India, has since last two decades, been undertaking
forest cover mapping of the country using satellite data obtained by
the NRSA, Hyderabad.  The methodology of mapping involves the
geo-rectification of the satellite imagery using the Survey of India
toposheets followed by the digital interpretation of the same and
extensive ground truthing.  It was found that the forest cover maps
depicts mainly three tree canopy density classes, viz., very dense,
moderately dense and open.  There were other classifications in the
Forest of India and "Champion and Seth" have classified the forests
of India into 16 major groups.  The major basis of classification
included the climate, the soil and the past treatment as these factors
determine the vegetation type of a given locality.  CEC has classified
the forest taking in view the ecological role and value of the forests
and for the purpose of the report, 16 major forest types have been
further grouped into 6 ecological classes depending upon their
ecological functions.

Eco-Class I  - Consisting of Tropical Wet Evergreen   Forests,
Tropical Semi Evergreen Forests and Tropical Moist
Deciduous Forests
Eco- Class II    -Consisting of Littoral and Swamp Forests
Eco-Class III    -Consisting of Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests
Eco-Class IV   -Consisting of Tropical Thorn Forests and Tropical
Dry Evergreen Forests
Eco-Class V     -Consisting of Sub-tropical Broad Leaved Hill
Forests, Sub-Tropical Pine Forests and Sub
Tropical Dry Evergreen Forests
Eco-Class VI   -Consisting of Montane Wet Temperate Forests,
Himalayan Moist Temperate Forests, Himalayan
Dry Temperate Forests, Sub Alpine Forest, Moist
Alpine Scrub and Dry Alpine Scrub
Based on the ecological importance of forest falling in different
eco-value and canopy density classes, relative weightage factors
have also been taken into consideration.  By using these relative
weightage factors, the equalized forest area in eco-value Class I and
very dense forest corresponding to forest falling in different eco-value
and density classes have been compiled.  For example, 17,997 sq.
km. of open forest of Eco-Class IV has been calculated to be
equivalent to 7,558 sq. km. of very dense forest of Eco-Value Class I. 
Accordingly, the entire forest area of the country has been calculated
and found to be equivalent to 5.2 lakh sq. km. forest area having
highest ecological significance as that of forest falling in eco-value
Class I with density above 70%. 

            The net present value per hectare of forest has been fixed
based on this data.  For calculating the average net percent value per
hectare of forest in India, the following monetary value of goods and
services provided by the forest have been considered:-
(i)         Value of timber and fuel wood
(ii)        Value of Non Timber Forest Products (NTFP)
(iii)       Value of fodder
(iv)       Value of Eco-tourism
(v)        Value of bio-prospecting
(vi)       Value of Ecological services of forest
(vii)      Value of Flagship Species
(viii)      Carbon Sequestration Value

Based on this, the NPV was fixed and the following
recommendations have been made:-

(i)         for non-forestry use/diversion of forest land, the NPV may be
directed to be deposited in the Compensatory Afforestation
Fund as per the rates given below:-
   (in Rs.)
Eco-Value
class
Very Dense
Forest
Dense
Forest
Open
Forest
Class I
10,43,000
9,39,000
7,30,000
Class II
10,43,000
9,39,000
7,30,000
Class III
8,87,000
8,03,000
6,26,000
Class IV
6,26,000
5,63,000
4,38,000
Class V
9,39,000
8,45,000
6,57,000
Class VI
9,91,000
8,97,000
6,99,000


(ii)        the use of forest land falling in National Parks / Wildlife
Sanctuaries will be permissible only in totally unavoidable
circumstances for public interest projects and after obtaining
permission from the Hon'ble Court.  Such permissions may
be considered on payment of an amount equal to ten times
in the case of National Parks and five times in the case of
Sanctuaries respectively of the NPV payable for such areas. 
The use of non-forest land falling within the National Parks
and Wildlife Sanctuaries may be permitted on payment of an
amount equal to the NPV payable for the adjoining forest
area.  In respect of non-forest land falling within marine
National Parks / Wildlife Sanctuaries, the amount may be
fixed at five times the NPV payable for the adjoining forest
area;
(iii)       these NPV rates may be made applicable with prospective
effect except in specific cases such as Lower Subhanshri
Project, mining leases of SECL, Field Firing Ranges,
wherein pursuant to the orders passed by this Hon'ble Court,
the approvals have been accorded on lump-sum payment /
no payment towards the NPV; and
(iv)       for preparation and supply of district level maps and GPS
equipments to the concerned State / UT Forest Departments
and the regional offices of the MoEF, the Ad-hoc CAMPA
may be asked to provide an amount of Rs.1.0 crore to the
Forest Survey of India out of the interest received by it.

Ministry of Environment and Forests also has filed its response
and has accepted the recommendations made by CEC.  Various user
agencies have filed its objections.  We heard the learned senior
Counsel Mr. Nariman and other learned senior Counsel who
appeared before us.  The main contention raised is that the NPV
value was fixed on the basis of the net flow accruing over 20 years at
a 5% social discount rate.  This, according to the applicants, is too
low.  It has been contended that the Economic and Research
Department of the Asian Development Bank is of the view that a
survey of the social discount rate policies of individual countries show
significant variations and the developing countries apply higher social
discount rate.  The paper published by Asian Development Bank
shows that India should have a social discount rate of 12%.  It may
be noted that the Expert Committee under the leadership of              
Mrs. Kanchan Chopra recommended 5% social discount rate but the
CEC has reduced further and accepted 4% social discount rate.  It
may be noted that the CEC had made consultation with eminent
economists and it was of the view that the social discount rate should
be around 2% in India.  We do not find much force in the contention
advanced by the learned Counsel who appeared for the user agents. 
The 10% suggested by them cannot be applied to the present case
because 10% is the rate linked to assumptions about the opportunity
cost of capital.  One cannot apply that rate for social time preference
in evaluating the benefits from an environmental resource such as
forests.  In project evaluation, the horizon is compatible with the life of
the project whereas in forest matters, the horizon spans over several
generations.  Therefore, the rate of 10%, as suggested by the user
agency cannot be accepted.

Another contention raised by the applicant(FIMI) is that the
NPV is not fixed on site specific and, therefore, the fixation of the rate
is based on surmises and conjectures and the same rate cannot be
applied to the large extent of area covered by the forests.  This
question was elaborately considered by the CEC.  Considering the
large extent of this country and the forest being spread over in
various parts of the State, it is difficult to fix the NPV based on the
specific area.  It is not feasible to fix NPV in each and every individual
case.  The entire forest area in each of the State/UT is calculated by
considering the monetary value of the services provided by it.  The
average NPV per hectare of the forest area in the State has also
been calculated.  If NPV is to be calculated on the specific area, the
process would be time consuming and in most of the cases, it may be
beyond the capability of the Range Forest Officers or other officials
posted at the grassroot level.  Moreover, the NPV is linked with the
type of the forest and no useful purpose would be served by carrying
out NPV calculations in each case involving the diversion of forest
areas.

            We are of the view that the NPV now fixed is more scientific
and is based on all available data.  We accept the recommendations
and we make it clear that the NPV rate now fixed would hold good for
a period of three years and subject to variation after three years.  The
following exemptions have been recommended:-

(i)         public works such as schools, hospitals, children play
grounds of non-commercial nature and the public welfare
projects such as community centres in rural areas which
require forest land upto 2 ha;
(ii)        rural infrastructure and basic services such as the
construction of the overhead tanks, village roads, etc.
(iii)       the minor irrigation projects upto 10 ha. of storage area,
municipal water supply projects, drinking water supply
pipelines;
(iv)       activities necessary for the ecological management,
relocation of the villages from the sactruaries and the
national parks, regularization of pre-1980 eligible
encroachers;
(v)        housing for the rehabilitation of tribals; laying of the
underground optical fibre cables;
(vi)       laying of the pipelines for the underground gas
transportation;
(vii)      the district and rural roads;
(viii)      shifting cultivation;
(ix)       roads constructed by Defence in border areas;
(x)        construction of the transmission lines.
The above recommendations for exemptions are
accepted.  If, in any case, exemption is required by nature of
the peculiar circumstances of the case, the same would be
decided as and when necessary on a case to case basis.
Court Judgement on NPV
Latest orders are here


    ORDERS OF SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
1. SUPREME COURT ORDER DATED (22.09.2005)
2. ORDER REGARDING NPV on 28.03.2008
3. JUDGEMENT REGARDING NPV (28.03.2008)
4. Supreme Court Order Dated 02.05.2008 on Reconstitution of FAC at page 9
5. Supreme Court Order Dated 04.08.2006 on TWP from page 8 onwards
6. Supreme Court Order Dated 05.05.2006 on Constitution of CAMPA at page 6
7. Supreme Court Order Dated 14.12.2007 on TWP
8. Supreme Court Order Dated 15.09.2006 on Constitution of FAC at page 7 and Adhoc CAMPA page 5
9. Supreme Court Order Dated 23.11.2007 on TWP
10. Supreme Court Order Dated 27.01.2006 on CAMPA at page 6
11. Supreme Court Order Dated 29.11.2006 on Constitution of FAC at page 7 and appointment of CEO (CAMPA) at page 6 on 28.11.2006
12. Supreme Court Order Dated 23.02.2007 on NPV (Underground Mining)
13. Supreme Court Order Dated 24.04.2008 on NPV
14. Supreme Court Order Dated 09.05.2008 on NPV substituted order of 28.03.2008
15. Supreme Court Order Dated 27.07.2007 on constitution of FAC from page 4 onwards





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Tuesday 15 December 2009

Why Water is the Missing Link in Copenhagen

When the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) announced the grim news that 2009 is likely to rank in the top 10 warmest on record, the U.N. agency also stressed last week the widespread water-related calamities caused by global warming. China has suffered its worst drought in five decades. In East Africa, a drought has led to massive food shortages. In North America, Mexico experienced severe-to-exceptional drought conditions in September. And in central Argentina, a drought caused severe damage to agriculture, livestock and water resources.The devastation caused by climate change is not only triggering droughts worldwide but also, ironically, a surfeit of water, mostly sparked by floods in Australia, Bangladesh and Burkina Faso, hurricanes in Central America, heavy rainfall and landslides in Colombia and winter storms in Spain and France.Yet water has been marginalised during the two-week climate change negotiations in Copenhagen, scheduled to conclude Friday."Water is the primary medium through which climate change impacts will be felt by human populations and the environment," said Karin Lexen of the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), based in the Swedish capital.She pointed out that changes in water availability and predictability of weather systems has put water at the heart of future development decision-making. "Yet, water is barely mentioned in the draft negotiating text [at the talks in Copenhagen]," Lexen told TerraViva. Asked why water is on the backburner, she said that some hesitate to include water references in the text since they regard water as a separate "sector" and think that adding water references would make the adaptation text "too detailed". "We disagree, since water is a cross-cutting issue, related to key issues like energy, forests, livelihoods, transboundary issues etc.," she explained."We believe it is important to include references to water resource management in the text since it will be crucial to bridge climate and water communities in implementing adaptation strategies and programmes," Lexen added.Asked if there are any moves to bring water into the negotiating text, Lexen said that countries like Bangladesh, which are threatened by water-related effects of climate change, have been working actively to get water references into the text. "The European Union (EU) has not been very interested in getting water into the text, even though individual countries like the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany have been much more interested and helpful," she declared.The WMO, in its report released last week, said that water levels in parts of the Gan River and the Xiangjian River in China were the lowest in the past 50 years.In India, a poor monsoon season caused severe drought in 40 percent of the district.The northwestern and northeastern parts of India were badly affected by one of the weakest monsoon seasons since 1972.And in November, continuous heavy and intense rainfall in northeastern Argentina, southern Brazil and Uruguay caused flooding in many places, affecting more than 15,000 people, according to WMO.Meanwhile, the Global Public Policy Network on Water Management (GPPN), a joint initiative of the Stakeholder Forum and SIWI, has been working to raise the profile of water in past climate change negotiations, leading up to Copenhagen.In addition to bilateral meetings with government representatives, the GPPN has also coordinated a 'Friends of Water' informal government group that meets on the sidelines of climate change negotiations.One of GPPN's core messages reads: "Water is the primary medium through which climate change impacts will be felt by populations and the environment."Failure to integrate water management and climate change adaptation "will compromise efforts to build resilience and have potentially devastating impacts on people's livelihoods."The GPPN also points out that resilience must be built into the water supply and sanitation sector, and effective water resources management must be implemented as an adaptation action prioritised through National Adaptation Programmes of Action.Among GPPN's top textual priorities is a direct reference to water security early on in the negotiating text."Adapting to climate change is, to a large extent, adapting to too much or too little water, and its central role for climate change adaptation must be acknowledged at this stage," the group says.
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Saturday 12 December 2009

From Project Based to Basinwide approach in hydropower

The chronic shortage of electricity supply in India impedes economic development and poverty reduction. More than 40 percent of households, most of them in rural areas, lack access to electricity. With the aim of extending access to electricity to all households by 2012, the government has launched a program to add 100,000 megawatts of generating capacity. Recognizing that meeting much of this need with hydropower, a renewable energy resource, offers many advantages, the government calls for its expansion from 24 percent of the country’s generation capacity today to almost 40 percent by 2012.

With this national development objective in mind, Himachal Pradesh ,Uttarakhand, Sikim and Arunachal Pradesh(to name a few), have launched ambitious programs to harness their substantial hydropower potential. All these States are pursuing an untried and thus some what risky strategy of attracting public and private developers to build and operate hydropower projects.

Many of the private developers are new to the sector, and their ability to manage the hydrological, geological, construction, and commercial risks of the sector is still untested.


How the project approach falls short?

  • Failure to take account of the power-system-wide implications of developing multiple generation projects on the same river.
  • While the project-based approach entails an assessment of environmental and social impacts stemming directly from the individual project, other impacts may emerge—or may emerge in a more severe form—only when the entire river basin is taken as the unit of analysis. One example is the cumulative impact of multiple projects on soil erosion ,reservoir sedimentation and EFR. 
  • Long-term planning concerns that typically fall outside the scope of an individual project. An example is the vulnerability of the river basin and related ecosystems to climate change, which could adversely affect a river’s hydrological patterns and volume of water flows, the length and intensity of the monsoon season, or the frequency and severity of floods.
Steps toward a basinwide approach

  • Hydrological yield estimation can be vastly improved through coordinated collection of hydrological and meteorological data and dissemination of those data to developers. Similarly, central studies could estimate the effects of climate change, an important aspect that individual developers are likely to ignore.
Conclusion:
Comprehensive river basin planning is a major undertaking. Establishing a baseline and developing the necessary skills, tools, guidelines, and operating framework could take several years, but this work could be completed in phases. Undertaking basinwide economic, social, and environmental assessments as well as basinwide yield estimations would be important initial steps.


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Disclaimer: This Blog is a small step towards building a knowledge-based platform for Professionals interested in "water resources management(WRM)". One of the objective is knowledge dissemination. Please note that VIEWs expressed here are purely personal.