This book explores the current challenges with regard to uncertainty and risk in water management, as well as the interlinkages between drought and water management. It focuses on the challenges for water management organisations, which are expected to adapt to such changes and implement adaptive water management. The book proposes a methodology for assessing organisations’ adaptive capacity, named REACT, and demonstrates its application in a case study. It subsequently analyses the barriers hindering water management organisations’ ability to adapt, and investigates the socio-cultural and economic barriers in water governance to applying adaptive water management (AWM) strategies. Lastly, the book describes how to enable AWM in order to face current and future drought risks by integrating it with drought risk management. Given its scope, it will appeal to scientists, pracademics and professionals from academia, the water industry and involved in policymaking.

Many challenges, including climate change, face the Nation¿s water managers. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has provided estimates of how climate may change, but more understanding of the processes driving the changes, the sequences of the changes, and the manifestation of these global changes at different scales could be beneficial. Since the changes will likely affect fundamental drivers of the hydrological cycle, climate change may have a large impact on water resources and water resources managers. The purpose of this interagency report is to explore strategies to improve water management by tracking, anticipating, and responding to climate change. Charts and tables.

Water Policy and Planning in a Variable and Changing Climate addresses the current challenges facing western water planners and policy makers in the United States and considers strategies for managing water resources and related risks in the future. Written by highly-regarded experts in the industry, the book offers a wealth of experience, and explains the physical, socioeconomic, and institutional context for western water resource management. The authors discuss the complexities of water policy, describe the framework for water policy and planning, and identify many of the issues surrounding the subject. A provocative examination of policy issues surrounding western water resources, this book: Considers the implications of natural climate variability and anthropogenic climate change for the region’s water resources, and explains limitations on the predictability of local-scale changes Stresses linkages between climate patterns and weather events, and related hydrologic impacts Describes the environmental consequences of historical water system development and the challenges that climate change poses for protection of aquatic ecosystems Examines coordination of drought management by local, state and national government agencies Includes insights on planning for climate change adaptation from case studies across the western United States Discusses the challenges and opportunities in water/energy/land system management, and its prospects for developing climate change response strategies Presents evidence of changes in water scarcity and flooding potential in the region and identifies a set of adaptation strategies to support the long-term sustainability of irrigated agriculture and urban communities Draws upon Colorado’s experience in defining rights for surface and tributary groundwater use to explain potential conflicts and challenges in establishing fair and effective coordination of water rights for these resources Assesses the role of policy in driving flood losses Explores policy approaches for achieving equitable and environmentally responsible planning outcomes despite multiple sources of uncertainty Water Policy and Planning in a Variable and Changing Climate describes patterns of water availability, existing policy problems and the potential impacts of climate change in the western United States, and functions as a practical reference for the student or professional invested in water policy and management.

This is compounded by the lack of voice and influence that low income groups have in these official spheres.

The complexity of current water resource management poses many challenges. Water managers need to solve a range of interrelated water dilemmas, such as balancing water quantity and quality, flooding, drought, maintaining biodiversity and ecological functions and services, in a context where human beliefs, actions and values play a central role. Furthermore, the growing uncertainties of global climate change and the long term implications of management actions make the problems even more difficult. This book explains the benefits, outcomes and lessons learned from adaptive water management (AWM). In essence AWM is a way of responding to uncertainty by designing policy measures which are provisional and incremental, subject to subsequent modification in response to environmental change and other variables. Included are illustrative case studies from seven river basins from across Europe, West Asia and Africa: the Elbe, Rhine, Guadiana, Tisza, Orange, Nile and Amudarya. These exemplify the key challenges of adaptive water management, especially when rivers cross national boundaries, creating additional problems of governance.

Describes the water management community¿s needs for climate change info. and tools to support long-term planning. Technical specialists and program managers have worked with their planners, water operators, and environmental compliance managers to identify the information and tools most relevant to their programs. They also have engaged and consulted with other Federal, State, and local agencies and stakeholder groups that have a role in water and water-related resource management to identify complementary priorities and individual perspectives. This report will help focus research and technology efforts to address info. and tools gaps relevant to the water management user community. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand report.