1st Edition

Integrated Water Resources Management: A Systems Perspective of Water Governance and Hydrological Conditions Integrated Water Resources Management

By Adey Mersha Copyright 2021
    160 Pages
    by CRC Press

    This thesis presents analysis of the status of IWRM implementation along with the challenges with regards to policy and institutional measures as well as the required basin information and management instruments. The research entailed a detailed analysis of water resources systems based on a case study from the Awash River Basin in Ethiopia, covering the historical and present state of the challenges and gaps in policies, institutional arrangements and management instruments. The status quo of practical water management, implications of plausible management alternatives in terms of their impact to future water availability, demand fulfilment, patterns of use, and sustainability of the environment were examined. Moreover, the interlinkages and dynamics between key water dependent resources sectors, broadly categorized into water, energy, food, and ecosystems (WEFE) was explored to identify key tradeoffs and synergies. This was deliberated as to improving the synchronization of sectoral plans and resources management programs, thereby fast-tracking the coordination process in IWRM. Overall, the research provides a clearer understanding of the system-wide problems, structural challenges and possible future consequences regarding the management and sustainability of the entire water resource system. Ultimately the purpose is to set in motion new strategies and mechanisms to improve the implementation of the currently applied IWRM framework in the context of the SDGs.

      Introduction: stating the problem, research gaps and objectives of the study, Description of the case study area, Integrated Water Resources Management: Contrasting principles, policy, and practice, Awash River Basin, Ethiopia, Evaluating the Impacts of IWRM Policy Actions on Demand Satisfaction and Downstream Water Availability in the Upper Awash Basin, Ethiopia, Dilemmas of Integrated Water Resources Management Implementation in the Awash River Basin, Ethiopia: Irrigation Development versus Environmental Flows, A new vantage point to cross-sectoral coordination in IWRM: Water, Energy, Food and Ecosystem Nexus in the Awash River Basin, Ethiopia, Conclusion and recommendations

      Biography

      Adey Nigatu Mersha is a water systems analysis and management researcher currently working at the Water and Land Resources Centre of Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia – under the UKRI GCRF Water Security and Sustainable Development Hub program. Apart from her research, teaching, and development work experience at different capacities, she has been also serving as a joint coordinator of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) Young Professionals e-Forum (IYPeF), and the African Young Water Professionals Forum (Af-YWPF) of the African Regional Working Group of the ICID. Her research interest is in the areas of integrated approaches to water management as well as analysis and evaluation of hydrological systems under uncertainties. She is a Water Systems Research enthusiast, keen about exploring on the interactions between water, society and the environment.