Your search found 6 records
1 Johnston, Robyn; Cools, J.; Liersch, S.; Morardet, S.; Murgue, C.; Mahieu, Marie; Zsuffa, I.; Uyttendaele, G. P. 2013. WETwin: a structured approach to evaluating wetland management options in data-poor contexts. Environmental Science and Policy, 34:3-17. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2012.12.006]
Water management ; Research projects ; Wetlands ; Ecosystems ; River basin management ; Stakeholders ; Public participation ; Case studies ; Indicators ; Analytical methods ; European Union / Africa / South-America
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H046060)
(1.36 MB)
This special issue of Environmental Science and Policy presents the outcomes of the WETwin project (enhancing the role of wetlands in integrated water resources management for twinned river basins in EU, Africa and South-America in support of EU Water Initiatives), an international research project funded by the FP7 programme of the European Commission. The project aimed to improve wetland management by maximising benefits from wetland use while maintaining ecological health, using case studies from Europe, Africa and South America.In much of the less developed world, data on wetland functions, processes and values are scarce even while wetlands often provide a critical component of livelihoods. Management decisions on balancing competing demands for wetland use must often be made in the absence of comprehensive information. This paper introduces the approach developed and tested under WETwin to evaluate wetland management structures and solutions in datapoor contexts, summarising a conceptual framework which has evolved from seven very diverse case studies. A structured, modular approach was devised which combined multi-criteria analysis, trade-off analysis and vulnerability analysis, drawing on best available information, including quantitative modelling, qualitative ‘‘expert opinion’’, and local stakeholders’ knowledge and values. The approach used in WETwin has three important strengths: it involves stakeholders at all stages of the decision process, it combines qualitative and quantitative data (and therefore allows inclusion of poorly known and potentially important system components) and finally, it provides a relatively simple and structured approach to evaluate wetland management interventions and integrate impact, feasibility and institutional assessments, vulnerability analysis and trade-off analysis. The overall conceptual framework developed for WETwin was found to be robust and transfer-able to different contexts.
2 van der Kwast, J.; Yalew, S.; Dickens, C.; Quayle, L.; Reinhardt, J.; Liersch, S.; Mul, Marloes; Hamdard, M.; Douven, W. 2013. A framework for coupling land use and hydrological modelling for management of ecosystem services. International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis, 1(5):230-236. [doi: https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20130105.18]
Land use ; Hydrology ; Simulation models ; Ecosystem services ; Water management ; Water resources ; Indicators / South Africa / KwaZulu-Natal Province / uThukela Catchment
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H046237)
http://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijema.20130105.18.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H046237.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H046237.pdf
(0.51 MB) (525.01KB)
It is well known that land-use changes influence the hydrological cycle and that those changes in the hydrological cycle influence land use. The sophisticated spatial dynamic planning tools that have been developed in the last decades to support policy makers in the decision making process do not take into account the mutual feedbacks between land use and hydrology. In this study a framework for an integrated spatial decision support system is presented where the feedbacks between land use and hydrology are taken into account by coupling the SITE (Simulation of Terrestrial Environments) land-use model to the SWIM hydrological model. This framework enables policy makers to assess the impact of their planning scenarios on ecosystem services using a web-based tool that interactively presents trends in space and time of spatial indicators derived from both models. This approach is tested for the uThukela area, which is located along the northern areas of the Drakensberg Mountains which form the border between Lesotho and South Africa. The region is extremely important for its catchment-services as water derived from it is pumped into the Vaal River supplying water to the city of Johannesburg. Because of poor management of ecosystem services, less water is produced by the catchment more erratically, siltation levels are increasing and less carbon is retained in the soil. Biodiversity is threatened by grazing livestock, alien plants and other poor land management practices. In addition, overstocking, frequent burning and lack of soil protection measures have caused rill and gully erosion in areas of communal ownership where an overall management policy is lacking. The presented framework for a spatial integrated decision support system is currently being implemented and will be used by policy makers to assess policies developed for an Environmental Management Framework (EMF). Scenarios will be defined during stakeholder workshops. A prototype of the decision support system has been developed, but not all data necessary for modelling and calibration is yet available. From the analysis of land-use maps of 2005 and 2008 it was observed that forest and bush decreased, while settlements, subsistence farming, commercial farming and grassland increased.
3 Yalew, S.; Pilz, T.; Schweitzer, C.; Liersch, S.; van der Kwast, J.; Mul, Marloes L.; van Griensven, A.; van der Zaag, P. 2014. Dynamic feedback between land-use and hydrology for ecosystem services assessment. In Ames, D.P., Quinn, N.W.T., Rizzoli, A.E. (Eds.). Proceedings of the 7th International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software, San Diego, California, USA, 15-19 June 2014. Manno, Switzerland: International Environmental Modelling and Software Society (iEMSs). 8p.
Hydrology ; Ecosystem services ; Land use ; Catchment areas ; Grasslands ; Biomass ; Soils ; Case studies / South Africa / uThukela Catchment
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H046491)
http://www.iemss.org/sites/iemss2014/papers/iemss2014_submission_255.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H046491.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H046491.pdf
(0.48 MB) (495.82 KB)
Ecosystem services assessment requires an integrated approach, as it is influenced by elements such as climate, hydrology and socio-economics, which in turn influence each other. However, there are few studies that integrate these elements in order to assess ecosystem services. Absence of integrated approach to modelling hydrological and land-use changes, for instance, often oversights the dynamic feedback between the two processes. Dynamic changes in land-use should be fed into hydrological models and vice-versa at each time-step for a more realistic representation. In this study, this approach is demonstrated with a case study of the uThukela catchment, South Africa. There is an increasing pressure on grasslands in the catchment. The grassland supports livestock grazing, one of the main economic and social service for the communal farmers. High livestock population causes degradation of the grasslands, and increasing demand for agricultural lands decreases the extent of the grazing lands. In addition, this is further influenced by changes in climate, and has multiple impacts, such as increased erosion and changing flow regime. The SITE (SImulation of Terrestrial Environments) land-use change model and the SWIM (Soil and Water Integrated Model) hydrological model were coupled at code level to account for these processes. The two models exchange land-use maps (from SITE) and biomass production (from SWIM). SWIM was modified to produce biomass output. Grassland capacity for grazing service is determined through biomass coming from SWIM. Likewise, the simulated land-use change is passed back to the hydrological model to determine effects of land-use change on hydrological components. Preliminary result of the interactions between the two models and its use for estimating grazing capacity show that through the coupled models, sustainable level of grassland grazing locations were easily identifiable.
4 Reinhardt, J.; Liersch, S.; Abdeladhim, M. A.; Diallo, M.; Dickens, Chris; Fournet, S.; Hattermann, F. F.; Kabaseke, C.; Muhumuza, M.; Mul, Marloes L.; Pilz, T.; Otto, I. M.; Walz, A. 2018. Systematic evaluation of scenario assessments supporting sustainable integrated natural resources management: evidence from four case studies in Africa. Ecology and Society, 23(1):1-34. [doi: https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-09728-230105]
Natural resources management ; Participatory research ; Sustainability ; Assessment ; Stakeholders ; Watersheds ; River basins ; Political aspects ; Case studies / South Africa / Tunisia / Uganda / Mali / Oum Zessar Watershed / Rwenzori Region / Inner Niger Delta / Upper Thukela Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H048530)
https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol23/iss1/art5/ES-2017-9728.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H048530.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H048530.pdf
(2.43 MB)
Scenarios have become a key tool for supporting sustainability research on regional and global change. In this study we evaluate four regional scenario assessments: first, to explore a number of research challenges related to sustainability science and, second, to contribute to sustainability research in the specific case studies. The four case studies used commonly applied scenario approaches that are (i) a story and simulation approach with stakeholder participation in the Oum Zessar watershed, Tunisia, (ii) a participatory scenario exploration in the Rwenzori region, Uganda, (iii) a model-based prepolicy study in the Inner Niger Delta, Mali, and (iv) a model coupling-based scenario analysis in upper Thukela basin, South Africa. The scenario assessments are evaluated against a set of known challenges in sustainability science, with each challenge represented by two indicators, complemented by a survey carried out on the perception of the scenario assessments within the case study regions. The results show that all types of scenario assessments address many sustainability challenges, but that the more complex ones based on story and simulation and model coupling are the most comprehensive. The study highlights the need to investigate abrupt system changes as well as governmental and political factors as important sources of uncertainty. For an in-depth analysis of these issues, the use of qualitative approaches and an active engagement of local stakeholders are suggested. Studying ecological thresholds for the regional scale is recommended to support research on regional sustainability. The evaluation of the scenario processes and outcomes by local researchers indicates the most transparent scenario assessments as the most useful. Focused, straightforward, yet iterative scenario assessments can be very relevant by contributing information to selected sustainability problems.
5 Yalew, S. G.; Pilz, T.; Schweitzer, C.; Liersch, S.; van der Kwast, J.; van Griensven, A.; Mul, Marloes L.; Dickens, Chris; van der Zaag, P. 2018. Coupling land-use change and hydrologic models for quantification of catchment ecosystem services. Environmental Modelling and Software, 109: 315-328. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2018.08.029]
Ecosystem services ; Catchment areas ; Land use ; Hydrological factors ; Models ; Couplings ; Calibration ; Environmental assessment ; Stream flow ; Biomass ; Grasslands ; Grazing lands
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H048890)
Representation of land-use and hydrologic interactions in respective models has traditionally been problematic. The use of static land-use in most hydrologic models or that of the use of simple hydrologic proxies in land-use change models call for more integrated approaches. The objective of this study is to assess whether dynamic feedback between land-use change and hydrology can (1) improve model performances, and/or (2) produce a more realistic quantification of ecosystem services. To test this, we coupled a land-use change model and a hydrologic mode. First, the land-use change and the hydrologic models were separately developed and calibrated. Then, the two models were dynamically coupled to exchange data at yearly time-steps. The approach is applied to a catchment in South Africa. Performance of coupled models when compared to the uncoupled models were marginal, but the coupled models excelled at the quantification of catchment ecosystem services more robustly.
6 Liersch, S.; Fournet, S.; Koch, H.; Djibo, A. G.; Reinhardt, J.; Kortlandt, J.; Van Weert, F.; Seidou, O; Klop, E; Baker, C.; Hattermann, F. F. 2019. Water resources planning in the upper Niger River basin: are there gaps between water demand and supply? Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 21:176-194. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2018.12.006]
Water resources ; Planning ; Water demand ; Water supply ; Reservoirs ; Dams ; Irrigation management ; Climate change ; Forecasting ; Irrigation schemes ; Hydropower ; Water use efficiency ; River basins ; Government agencies ; Hydrology ; Models ; Uncertainty / West Africa / Mali / Niger River Basin / Bani River Basin / Inner Niger Delta / Selingue Dam / Fomi Dam
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H049514)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581818301939/pdfft?md5=7c0f02d2fcba4adeea01f4450d78823f&pid=1-s2.0-S2214581818301939-main.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H049514.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H049514.pdf
(10.00 MB) (10.0 MB)
Study region
The Upper Niger and Bani River basins in West Africa.
Study focus
The growing demand for food, water, and energy led Mali and Guinea to develop ambitious hydropower and irrigation plans, including the construction of a new dam and the extension of irrigation schemes. These two developments will take place upstream of sensible ecosystem hotspots while the feasibility of development plans in terms of water availability and sustainability is questionable. Where agricultural development in past decades focused mainly on intensifying dry-season crops cultivation, future plans include extension in both the dry and wet seasons.
New hydrological insights for the region
Today’s irrigation demand corresponds to 7% of the average annual Niger discharge and could account to one third in 2045. An extension of irrigated agriculture is possible in the wet season, while extending dry-season cropping would be largely compromised with the one major existing Sélingué dam. An additional large Fomi or Moussako dam would not completely satisfy dry-season irrigation demands in the 2045 scenario but would reduce the estimated supply gap from 36% to 14%. However, discharge peaks may decrease by 40% reducing the inundated area in the Inner Niger Delta by 21%, while average annual discharge decreases by 30%. Sustainable development should therefore consider investments in water-saving irrigation and management practices to enhance the feasibility of the envisaged irrigation plans instead of completely relying on the construction of a flow regime altering dam.
The Upper Niger and Bani River basins in West Africa.
Study focus
The growing demand for food, water, and energy led Mali and Guinea to develop ambitious hydropower and irrigation plans, including the construction of a new dam and the extension of irrigation schemes. These two developments will take place upstream of sensible ecosystem hotspots while the feasibility of development plans in terms of water availability and sustainability is questionable. Where agricultural development in past decades focused mainly on intensifying dry-season crops cultivation, future plans include extension in both the dry and wet seasons.
New hydrological insights for the region
Today’s irrigation demand corresponds to 7% of the average annual Niger discharge and could account to one third in 2045. An extension of irrigated agriculture is possible in the wet season, while extending dry-season cropping would be largely compromised with the one major existing Sélingué dam. An additional large Fomi or Moussako dam would not completely satisfy dry-season irrigation demands in the 2045 scenario but would reduce the estimated supply gap from 36% to 14%. However, discharge peaks may decrease by 40% reducing the inundated area in the Inner Niger Delta by 21%, while average annual discharge decreases by 30%. Sustainable development should therefore consider investments in water-saving irrigation and management practices to enhance the feasibility of the envisaged irrigation plans instead of completely relying on the construction of a flow regime altering dam.
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