Stockholm International Water Institute » 2011

Strategic Environmental Assessment as a Tool to Develop Power in Transboundary Water Basin Settings

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:51:45 +0000

This paper proposes a generic consultative process for undertaking Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA) in a transboundary river basin context to bring up front environmental and social issues of major development programs into the transboundary planning, project development and investment finance processes. The paper demonstrates through an analysis of two case studies from the Nile Basin in East and North Africa how an SEA approach with a focus on hydropower development is a transparent pre-investment tool that allows for consensus building in support of transboundary and regional strategic decision making and integration. Further, it demonstrates how an SEA can guide public and private sector investors seeking to develop the power sector in general and hydropower options in particular by allowing for a first level understanding of challenges and opportunities of power development and the development scenarios preferred by riparian governments.

Published by IGI Global. Download the paper here.

Phosphorus: Approaching Fundamental Limits?

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:50:19 +0000

Professor Stephen R. Carpenter of the University of Wisconsin-Madison was named the 2011 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate for his outstanding research on lakes. In this exclusive editorial, he presents an argument for phosphorus management.

Article in Stockholm Water Front, issue no 2, 2011.

South Sudan – At the Nile’s Hydropolitical Crossroads

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:50:17 +0000

On the 9th of July, 2011 the Republic of South Sudan became the newest country in the world and the 55th independent state in Africa, after a complex political process that started when the continent was experiencing its first waves of independence and lasted more than half a century. SIWIs Ana Cascao reflects on the potential effects of South Sudans independence on hydropolitics in the Nile Basin.

Article in Stockholm Water Front, issue no 2, 2011.

Stockholm Water Front No. 2 2011

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:50:15 +0000

In this issue of the quarterly Stockholm Water Front, an exclusive editorial contribution by the Stockholm Water Prize Laureate Stephen Carpenter presents the dangers for overusing phosphorus. The Laureate says despite scientific uncertainty about reaching a stage of peak phosphorus production, humanity is definitely heading towards total exploitation of a nutrient that is extremely important for ecosystems. The issue also focuses on a range of regional and national issues, while keeping SIWIs global perspective. For example, it tackles water policy issues related to Chinas Three Gorges Dam, the birth of South Sudan in the Nile basin, and droughts in the western Brazilian Amazon Basin. The diversity of those and other contributions aims to give the reader a critical view of some of the most current issues of our day.

Managing and Developing the Water Resources Assets in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia in Support of Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:50:04 +0000

The report demonstrates how effective water resources management can support sustainable economic development in sectors such as tourism, health, agriculture and industry while at the same time restoring ecosystem services in accordance with the Russian Water Act and the EU Water Framework Directive. The report outlines specific steps to be taken by the Kaliningrad Oblast internally and in partnership with its neighbours to achieve concrete benefits from better management of the water resources. Collective action amongst all the states in the Baltic Sea Region will be critical to reach the vision of a healthy Baltic Sea as agreed by the contracting partners to the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) and by the EU members States. The report is prepared in partnership with the Nordic Dimension Foundation in the Kaliningrad Oblast in Russia with input from experts from Lithuania, Poland and Sweden.

Collective Action in the Baltic Sea Region: Options for Strengthening Implementation of the Environmental Pillar of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:49:32 +0000

This paper gives key recommendations for collective action to improve the environmental status of the Baltic Sea, which continues to suffer from water quality degradation related to increased activities within its basin. The paper provides an overview of the region and the environmental and political challenges it faces, describes the EUs collective approach to addressing those challenges in the new EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, focusing on the environmental pillar, Making the Baltic Sea Region an Environmentally Sustainable Place. Furthermore, it assesses the legal framework related to the environment and water resources into which the strategy is placed relative to national law, EU law, international law, and some illustrative third party arrangements with non-EU member countries in the wider Baltic Sea region. Four specific recommendations are offered related to the governance framework on how the member states and EU institutions might move forward with implementation of the strategys environmental pillar. These relate to assessing and strengthening the current fragmented institutional framework; improving the monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the EU Baltic Sea Strategy; make a deepened legal assessment of overlapping international and EU law; and strengthening the existing EU Directive implementation in the EU member countries of the Baltic Sea Region.

California – Balancing regional sustainability and imported

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:49:30 +0000

Water leaders in Southern California (and the San Francisco Bay Area) will be increasingly challenged to implement a new state policy on regional sustainability and self-sufficiency while reducing the urban dependence on imported water supplies. The future of massive urban water projects is not clear and will be a central part of this public policy debate.

Murray Darling Basin – Plan to reallocate water to the environment

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:49:26 +0000

Following floods and disasters, 2011 promises to be an interesting year for water planning in Australia. What is needed now is strong and even-handed political leadership to take greater account of rural communities and their social and economic needs, without losing the opportunity to use the scientific basis established to date to restore some of the damaged ecosystems. A powerful, yet controversial, act will empower this process in Australias largest transboundary water basin.

Next big advance will be in catastrophe resilience

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:49:24 +0000

The 2011 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate, Prof. Stephen R. Carpenter believes that the need to deal with large catastrophic events such as floods and droughts will make us rethink how or landscapes and institutions are built.

Whose river is it, anyway?

admin — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:49:22 +0000