Hydrosocial Systems Flashcards
Discuss the multiple dimensions of water resources management
- Policy and laws, Institutions and participation, Financing
- Conflict management, water resource assessment, water systems modeling, transboundary
- Concerned with equity, sustainable development, efficient use
Discuss the multiple functions of water resources systems
Subsistence Functions
- Local communities make use of water and water-based products which are not marketed
- Examples include local drinking water supply, traditional fishing and subsistence irrigation
Commercial Functions
- Public or private enterprises make use of water or water-based products that are marketed or otherwise given a monetary value
- Examples include urban drinking and industrial water supplies, irrigation, hydro-power generation, commercial fishing and transportation
Environmental Functions
- Regulation functions
- Non-consumptive use
- Examples include purification capacity, prevention of salt intrusion and recreation and tourism
Ecological Values
- Values of the WRS as an ecosystem
- Examples include integrity, gene pool, biodiversity and nature conservation value
Discuss the classification of stakeholders according to influence and importance
Influence:
- Unique knowledge/skills for management of the system/resources
- Present or potential impact of the activities of the stakeholder on the system
- Existing rights to land/other natural resources
Importance:
- Degree of economic, social or cultural reliance on the system
- Degree of effort and interest in the management of the system
- Historical and cultural relationship with the system
Discuss the impact of disciplines and skills on the water management
Those involved in water management need to be familiar with a wide range of disciplines and be able to interact with a variety of stakeholders. Need sufficient technical, economic, social, financial, environmental skills to engage with leaders, scientists + users of the system. Need to be able to facilitate conversations, mediate conflict
What is the evolution in the water management paradigm?
- Water management used to be seen in the eyes of a hydrologic science with the hydrological cycle being the most common way of representing flows of water, focus on hydrology and hydraulic engineering. Water seen as a resource to be exploited
- However, water management is now seen as a hydro-social science where the social nature of flows and the ways in which water and society + water and ecological processes relate are also taken into consideration. Need to represent water’s broader social dimensions - incorporating water security, politics etc. Social relations produce and are produced by water. cycle = hydrosocial arrangements are always changing (e.g. role of politics in water - dams used as weapons)
Discuss how water “flows to money”
- Water flows in accordance with flows of capital/money
- Represents hydrological and political factors
- People and their interactions with water shape the way water flows
- Example is groundwater extracted for irrigation
Discuss how the hydrosocial cycle can be used as a framework for IWRM
- Hydrosocial cycle is a means of theorizing and analyzing water-society relations. Water management should not just be technical field (infrastructure, scientific expertise) but is a political one involving human values, behavior, organization. Looks beyond the water, reveals power and politics
- IWRM has become dominant paradigm for managing water - integrates cultural, ecological and economic aspects of water with its purely hydrological dimensions (just like hydrosocial cycle) and calls for inclusion of all relevant stakeholders in decision making. Broad historical shift in how water is understood/managed - social relations produce and are produced by water taken into account when thinking about future management of water resources/systems
Discuss why stakeholder analysis is crucial to integrated water management
- Stakeholder analysis is important to: get holistic overview of current water users, develop a common vision of the water resource for the future, balance interests and need of users, create synergies and bundle resources/capabilities.
- Reduces inefficiency and social inequity. Increases awareness, cooperation and ownership
- Avoids a project failing due to lack of local context
- Stakeholder attributes and dynamics change over time and as a result of projects so stakeholder analysis should be iterative process which is revised throughout a project lifetime
Discuss the main shortcomings typical for a “bad” stakeholder analysis
- Stakeholders as mere listeners (no power), disadvantaged groups excluded, lack of coordinating capacity, one way communication, servicing political agenda
- Leads to inefficiencies and social inequity
Explain the major steps in a stakeholder analysis
- Initial brainstorming
- List affected and affecting stakeholders
Affected = depend on good water management. Affecting = influence water management - Indicate their relative importance and influence
a. Influence = unique knowledge, impact they have on system, existing rights
b. Importance = degree of reliance on system, interest in management of system, historical knowledge
Explain and give one example for each combination the importance/influence
- Low importance, low influence: do not directly engage in policy making, not affected by decisions but can provide impactful consultation e.g. NGOs
- Low importance, high influence: ability to make change within system but do not rely that much on the system e.g. education sector
- High importance, low influence: are highly affected by outcomes of decision but do not have a large impact on decision making e.g. water consumers/citizens
- High importance, high influence: most involved in decision making process e.g. public water board - unique knowledge + heavily impact the system (influence) and high interest in management of system (importance)
Discuss the different levels of stakeholder involvement
- Empowerment: High level of involvement in decision making and high importance so two -way communication required
- Collaboration: same as Empowerment but slightly less involvement
- Consultation: High Importance as two-way communication required but fairly low level of involvement in decision making so not as important
- Information: Low level of involvement and only one way communication of information required as not as important
