Stockholm International Water Institute » Jakob Granit http://www.siwi.org Water Wise World Tue, 12 Feb 2013 15:26:27 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 Large-scale water storage in the water, energy and food nexus: Perspectives on benefits, risks and best practice http://www.siwi.org/publication/large-scale-water-storage-in-the-water-energy-and-food-nexus-perspectives-on-benefits-risks-and-best-practice/ http://www.siwi.org/publication/large-scale-water-storage-in-the-water-energy-and-food-nexus-perspectives-on-benefits-risks-and-best-practice/#comments Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:57:31 +0000 admin http://www.siwi.org/publication/large-scale-water-storage-in-the-water-energy-and-food-nexus-perspectives-on-benefits-risks-and-best-practice/ This paper provides an overview of the current status of large scale artificial water storage development and its functions in the water, energy and food security nexus. The paper presents a typology of water storage structures and provides an analysis of the risks, benefits and trade-offs posed by different storage options. It also highlights good practices and lessons learned from past experiences and explores emerging opportunities for water storage schemes to enhance water, energy and food security in the future.

Published in 2012.

]]> http://www.siwi.org/publication/large-scale-water-storage-in-the-water-energy-and-food-nexus-perspectives-on-benefits-risks-and-best-practice/feed/ 0 Options for cooperative action in the Euphrates and Tigris Region http://www.siwi.org/publication/options-for-cooperative-action-in-the-euphrates-and-tigris-region/ http://www.siwi.org/publication/options-for-cooperative-action-in-the-euphrates-and-tigris-region/#comments Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:57:16 +0000 admin http://www.siwi.org/publication/options-for-cooperative-action-in-the-euphrates-and-tigris-region/ For the Euphrates and Tigris (ET) riparian countries of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey we have undertaken a macro-level baseline characterisation to visualise current water resources management practices and a hydroeconomic simulation model to illustrate possible marginal benefits of cooperative action at a system level. The riparian countries in the ET region are connected by the water resources flowing across borders within one system.

Paper, published 2012.

]]> http://www.siwi.org/publication/options-for-cooperative-action-in-the-euphrates-and-tigris-region/feed/ 0 Will Growth in Energy Demand Compete for Scarce Water Resources? http://www.siwi.org/publication/will-growth-in-energy-demand-compete-for-scarce-water-resources/ http://www.siwi.org/publication/will-growth-in-energy-demand-compete-for-scarce-water-resources/#comments Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:51:47 +0000 admin http://www.siwi.org/publication/will-growth-in-energy-demand-compete-for-scarce-water-resources/ With the world’s eyes closing in on sustainable development as we approach Rio+20, a conference was arranged by the German Federal Government in Bonn in November to discuss solutions for a green economy that linked water, energy and food security. Jakob Granit,provided SIWI’s input to the background paper for this meeting entitled “Understanding the Nexus”. In this article, Granit reflects on some of the ideas that were brought up at the conference.

Article in Stockholm Water Front, issue no 4, 2011

]]> http://www.siwi.org/publication/will-growth-in-energy-demand-compete-for-scarce-water-resources/feed/ 0 Strategic Environmental Assessment as a Tool to Develop Power in Transboundary Water Basin Settings http://www.siwi.org/publication/strategic-environmental-assessment-as-a-tool-to-develop-power-in-transboundary-water-basin-settings/ http://www.siwi.org/publication/strategic-environmental-assessment-as-a-tool-to-develop-power-in-transboundary-water-basin-settings/#comments Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:51:45 +0000 admin http://www.siwi.org/publication/strategic-environmental-assessment-as-a-tool-to-develop-power-in-transboundary-water-basin-settings/ 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.

]]> http://www.siwi.org/publication/strategic-environmental-assessment-as-a-tool-to-develop-power-in-transboundary-water-basin-settings/feed/ 0 Managing and Developing the Water Resources (EN) http://www.siwi.org/publication/managing-and-developing-the-water-resources-en/ http://www.siwi.org/publication/managing-and-developing-the-water-resources-en/#comments Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:50:08 +0000 admin http://www.siwi.org/publication/managing-and-developing-the-water-resources-en/ 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.

Published in 2011.

]]> http://www.siwi.org/publication/managing-and-developing-the-water-resources-en/feed/ 0 Managing and Developing the Water Resources (RU) http://www.siwi.org/publication/managing-and-developing-the-water-resources-ru/ http://www.siwi.org/publication/managing-and-developing-the-water-resources-ru/#comments Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:50:06 +0000 admin http://www.siwi.org/publication/managing-and-developing-the-water-resources-ru/ (this file is in Russian) 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.

Published in 2011. Also available in English.

]]> http://www.siwi.org/publication/managing-and-developing-the-water-resources-ru/feed/ 0 Managing and Developing the Water Resources Assets in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia in Support of Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability http://www.siwi.org/publication/managing-and-developing-the-water-resources-assets-in-kaliningrad-oblast-russia-in-support-of-economic-growth-and-environmental-sustainability/ http://www.siwi.org/publication/managing-and-developing-the-water-resources-assets-in-kaliningrad-oblast-russia-in-support-of-economic-growth-and-environmental-sustainability/#comments Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:50:04 +0000 admin http://www.siwi.org/publication/managing-and-developing-the-water-resources-assets-in-kaliningrad-oblast-russia-in-support-of-economic-growth-and-environmental-sustainability/ 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.

]]> http://www.siwi.org/publication/managing-and-developing-the-water-resources-assets-in-kaliningrad-oblast-russia-in-support-of-economic-growth-and-environmental-sustainability/feed/ 0 Collective Action in the Baltic Sea Region: Options for Strengthening Implementation of the Environmental Pillar of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region http://www.siwi.org/publication/collective-action-in-baltic-sea-options-for-strengthening-implementation-of-the-environmental-pillar-of-the-eu-strategy-for-the-baltic-sea-region/ http://www.siwi.org/publication/collective-action-in-baltic-sea-options-for-strengthening-implementation-of-the-environmental-pillar-of-the-eu-strategy-for-the-baltic-sea-region/#comments Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:49:32 +0000 admin http://www.siwi.org/publication/collective-action-in-baltic-sea-options-for-strengthening-implementation-of-the-environmental-pillar-of-the-eu-strategy-for-the-baltic-sea-region/ 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 EU’s 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 strategy’s 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.

]]> http://www.siwi.org/publication/collective-action-in-baltic-sea-options-for-strengthening-implementation-of-the-environmental-pillar-of-the-eu-strategy-for-the-baltic-sea-region/feed/ 0 The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Financial Flows to the Water Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa http://www.siwi.org/publication/the-impact-of-the-global-financial-crisis-on-financial-flows-to-the-water-sector-in-sub-saharan-africa/ http://www.siwi.org/publication/the-impact-of-the-global-financial-crisis-on-financial-flows-to-the-water-sector-in-sub-saharan-africa/#comments Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:49:18 +0000 admin http://www.siwi.org/publication/the-impact-of-the-global-financial-crisis-on-financial-flows-to-the-water-sector-in-sub-saharan-africa/ The omnipresent nature of the global financial crisis led us at SIWI to question the impact of the crisis on financial flows to the water sector, focusing our attention on Sub-Saharan Africa. In this report we unpack how the water sector is presently financed and then trace the impact of the crisis on these financial flows.

]]> http://www.siwi.org/publication/the-impact-of-the-global-financial-crisis-on-financial-flows-to-the-water-sector-in-sub-saharan-africa/feed/ 0 Regional Water Intelligence Report – The Nile Basin and the Southern Sudan Referendum http://www.siwi.org/publication/regional-water-intelligence-report-the-nile-basin-and-the-southern-sudan-referendum/ http://www.siwi.org/publication/regional-water-intelligence-report-the-nile-basin-and-the-southern-sudan-referendum/#comments Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:49:16 +0000 admin http://www.siwi.org/publication/regional-water-intelligence-report-the-nile-basin-and-the-southern-sudan-referendum/ Regional Water Intelligence Reports The purpose of the Regional Water Intelligence Reports (RWIR) is to provide regular updates on the political economy of transboundary water resources issues, management and development. The RWIR focuses on the socio-economic aspects of water management and highlight the links between water, energy, food and human security from a regional perspective. This RWIR provides an analysis of the political landscape at the national and regional level in the Nile Basin including a political and legal analysis of the upcoming Southern Sudan referendum 2011. The objective is to prepare a base line to analyse key political events and their potential impact on Nile cooperation, within the framework of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), with a specific focus on the upcoming referendum in Southern Sudan. Some recommendations are explored that the international community could consider taking in the post referendum process to strengthen development and cooperation. The analysis of political events provides input to further analysis on the political economy of water in the Nile basin. The report does not provide a detailed overview of the NBI process to date which is provided elsewhere. Input to the RWIR is based on public referenced information and confidential interviews.

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