Stockholm International Water Institute » paper 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 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 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 Water and Energy Linkages in the Middle East – Regional Collaboration Opportunities http://www.siwi.org/publication/water-and-energy-linkages-in-the-middle-east-regional-collaboration-opportunities/ http://www.siwi.org/publication/water-and-energy-linkages-in-the-middle-east-regional-collaboration-opportunities/#comments Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:45:50 +0000 admin http://www.siwi.org/publication/water-and-energy-linkages-in-the-middle-east-regional-collaboration-opportunities/ To be able to reduce poverty in the Middle East, reliable access to water and energy is a must. Without a reliable power supply, water for domestic use, industry, treatment, irrigation and desalination is at risk.

This report is based on two background papers prepared for the Middle East Seminar at the World Water Week 2009, which explored the specific linkages between development opportunities in transboundary water management and electricity development.

]]> http://www.siwi.org/publication/water-and-energy-linkages-in-the-middle-east-regional-collaboration-opportunities/feed/ 0 Regional Water Intelligence Report Central Asia http://www.siwi.org/publication/regional-water-intelligence-report-central-asia/ http://www.siwi.org/publication/regional-water-intelligence-report-central-asia/#comments Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:45:46 +0000 admin http://www.siwi.org/publication/regional-water-intelligence-report-central-asia/ Water is an increasingly strategic resource in the Central Asian region for economic and social development. Water cuts across critical issues such as food and fibre production, energy generation, environmental sustainability and human security.

This paper highlights these issues and their inter-linkages and targets the Aral Sea Basin, with focus on Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan (also a part of the basin) and influential neighboring countries like China and Russia are part of the regional analysis.

]]> http://www.siwi.org/publication/regional-water-intelligence-report-central-asia/feed/ 0 Mapping of Integrity and Accountability in Water Activities and Relevant Capacities in the SADC Region http://www.siwi.org/publication/mapping-of-integrity-and-accountability-in-water-activities-and-relevant-capacities-in-the-sadc-region/ http://www.siwi.org/publication/mapping-of-integrity-and-accountability-in-water-activities-and-relevant-capacities-in-the-sadc-region/#comments Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:38:18 +0000 admin http://www.siwi.org/publication/mapping-of-integrity-and-accountability-in-water-activities-and-relevant-capacities-in-the-sadc-region/ Improved integrity and accountability in water-sector institutions for public and private governance and economic transactions constitutes an important tool for countries and local governments to achieve poverty reduction and to improve sustainable management of water resources.

This study maps some of the processes, institutions, organisations, laws, policies and projects active in promoting transparency, accountability and integrity in the water sector of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, and concludes with a series of recommendations broadly centred on developing political support, capacity building and integration of water sector initiatives.

]]> http://www.siwi.org/publication/mapping-of-integrity-and-accountability-in-water-activities-and-relevant-capacities-in-the-sadc-region/feed/ 0 Innovations in Groundwater Governance in the Mena Region http://www.siwi.org/publication/innovations-in-groundwater-governance-in-the-mena-region/ http://www.siwi.org/publication/innovations-in-groundwater-governance-in-the-mena-region/#comments Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:38:10 +0000 admin http://www.siwi.org/publication/innovations-in-groundwater-governance-in-the-mena-region/ This report is based on a seminar on innovations in groundwater governance in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) Region during the World Water Week in Stockholm 2008. It demonstrated that there are lots of innovative activities being tried and tested in the region, for example in managing groundwater better at the local, national and cross border level, increasing the efficiency of use, creating new water, monitoring, decision support systems, and building management and business skills.

]]> http://www.siwi.org/publication/innovations-in-groundwater-governance-in-the-mena-region/feed/ 0 MENA Water Overview: Transboundary Cooperation, IWRM and Opportunities for Swedish Engagement http://www.siwi.org/publication/mena-water-overview-transboundary-cooperation-iwrm-and-opportunities-for-swedish-engagement/ http://www.siwi.org/publication/mena-water-overview-transboundary-cooperation-iwrm-and-opportunities-for-swedish-engagement/#comments Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:37:19 +0000 admin http://www.siwi.org/publication/mena-water-overview-transboundary-cooperation-iwrm-and-opportunities-for-swedish-engagement/ The challenges facing those involved in the water sector throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) cannot be over-emphasised. The water resources that cross the boundaries of states with relations varying from cold to hostile remains an underlying source of tension that is often over-looked.

This report surveys such issues, and establishes the way forward for increased Swedish involvement in this context. The report’s focus is on transboundary and IWRM activities, primarily in the eastern portion of the MENA region.

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