The main aim of this interdisciplinary research is to develop a socio-technical and institutional framework for implementing the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) paradigm by analysing how water resources can be managed in response to anthropogenic drivers (e.g. population/economic growth) and environmental pressures (e.g. climate change) within an evolving institutional set-up. Implementation of the Framework has focussed on Iran, and Lake Urmia basin as a case study, which involved a significant element of action research based upon stakeholder participation. Lack of implementation of concepts such as IWRM has been attributed to the gap between technical outcomes and policy decisions. To achieve an integrated synthesis for this interdisciplinary study, the integrated methodological framework has used four analytical components based on the IWRM concept: (1) Driver-Pressure-State-Impact Response (DPSIR); (2) Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD); (3) Integrated Socio-technical Assessment (ISTA) using modelling and Multi criteria Decision-Making (MCDA) tools; and (4) Ethics to assess water allocation decision outcomes in multitier Multi-Stakeholder Platforms (MSPs). Results from the case study show that the non-structural responses (legislations, new administrations etc.) adopted since 2003 have not guaranteed the implementation of sustainable water allocation outcomes in river basins including Lake Urmia basin. Water allocation has become highly political and caused polarisation in opinions and multiple perspectives among stakeholders underlined by diverging discourses on climate change, water and land development and irrigation water use efficiency. The participatory water allocation decision reached for Lake Urmia Basin, which included an allocation to sustain the hydrological and ecological functions of the Lake, has been re-evaluated by analysing historical climatic and hydrologic data. The outcome suggests that water availability in the basin is less than that adopted by the stakeholders based on trend analysis within the existing discourse. Therefore, the thesis demonstrates a mechanism for adaptive water allocation and demand management under an uncertain future climate which is represented through rainfall scenarios generated using a stochastic rainfall model. It is concluded that the participatory process has enhanced the efficacy of the water governance system, but the effectiveness of water allocation will be compromised unless an adaptive water allocation approach is implemented, and basin-wide water use efficiency measures are taken. It is recommended that modern day water and land governance has to take into account the ethical and cultural aspects of the community to form an alliance for sustainable resource use; thus, an Ethical legal framework for community-based land and water governance has been proposed. The overall integrated methodological approach provides an innovative analytical framework to understand the discursive deliberations in a complex Social-Ecological system heightened by (1) scientific uncertainty over climate variability and change; and (2) dynamic institutional transformation and evolution.

The Eastern Nile region has been identified as a promising area for large new water development projects. To assist in assessing new investments, primarily new reservoirs, a mathematically-based computer model called ENMOS (Eastern Nile Multipurpose Option Scoping) was developed by Nile stakeholders. ENMOS is an optimisation-driven hydro-economic simulator. In its present version it has several limitations, however. This thesis proposes an enhanced version, ENMOS2, which, unlike the original, can be run over an extended time span and which covers an enlarged water network. ENMOS2 improves the basic problem-solving method so that it can deal with multi-objective problems and work with perfect foresight. This not only ensures greater efficiency, but enables the model to incorporate economic agricultural modelling and to calculate evaporation levels at reservoirs more realistically. This in turn creates considerable water usage efficiencies and maximises profits from crop yields. Against set aims, different versions of the new model were tested and compared to ascertain their effectiveness. In the trials, it was found that application of the ε-constraint method delivered not only Pareto optimal solutions with a richer range of results, but the greatest level of efficiencies. Full conclusions are reached at the end of this thesis, showing the eventual efficiencies achieved.

This thesis analyses the politics of the dynamic transition from an engineering-based supply augmentation towards a new era of reallocative policy. It identifies and critiques multiple policy instruments and the aims and considerations that inform and shape water resource policies. It analyses the nature of the shifts in policy emphasis, the role and mechanisms of institutional reform, and the existence and character of a discursive policy space. The study provides a unique analysis of three case studies covering the most advanced cases of water reform involving predominantly agricultural water: South/Central California, Australia‟s Murray-Darling Basin, and Israel. All are democratic, economically-diverse neoliberal political-economies, enduring worsening water scarcity. They have adopted new approaches, from the early 1980s, to the use and allocation of water resources, moving away from supply development towards efficiency and environmental reallocation. The analysis draws on in-depth interviews with over 100 policy participants from the four communities of policy stakeholders identified by Allan (2003): Government, Society, the Private Sector (including agriculture) and the Non-Governmental [Environmental] Organisations. The analysis shows that broadly comparable trajectories of water use have been achieved. The reflexive trajectories have been put in place by different, politically mediated, combinations of policy instruments in each case. It also demonstrates that while both institutional and organisational reforms are a necessity for policy reform, the necessity is largely determined by political failings in the operation of the old structures, rather than structural flaws. By analysing the mechanisms of institutional and organisational reform, differences in the interaction between institutions and organisations (North, 1994) are identified and compared. California and Australia have witnessed reform spearheaded by institutions. Change in Israel has been achieved by professional and political leadership in organisational contexts. In all cases, the study shows that while the policy reforms analysed are designed to incorporate a wide range of voices and ideas, the mechanisms of institutional change are exclusive processes; politically entrepreneurial mechanisms based around key individuals are used to achieve institutional change in spite of challenging political landscapes. The research lastly identifies a broadening of policy space that facilitates discursive processes involving increasingly wide coalitions of voices in the policy process. These coalitions are shown to prioritise a commitment to politically sustainable water resource policy rather than strict adherence to the interests and priorities of their particular sector; they are shown to compromise their ideal visions in the interest of generating timely and politically sustainable change. The study identifies an even wider discursive space in which more radical ideas are advocated beyond policy space. They advocate change, or regression, beyond that which is currently politically feasible or desirable. It is suggested that a new sanctioned discourse of sustainable policy has been established in advanced political economies. A new policy space bounds water resources policy options, albeit in a space that is much wider than the narrow bounds of traditional engineering-based supply augmentation. The study concludes that there is much commonality between the three cases. Political factors are always the determining force in policy reform with similar political trends exhibited despite detailed differences in political dynamics between the three cases.

With growing pressures on water supplies worldwide, rainwater harvesting (RWH) is increasingly seen as a viable option to provide drinking water to an expanding population. However, rooftop runoff is not without quality issues. Microbiological and chemical contamination have been detected in several studies, posing a health risk for consumers. This research explores the use of silver ions, combined with conventional filtration and settling mechanisms, as a safe and affordable treatment method that can be applied at a small scale. The systems were installed and tested in rural communities of San Miguel de Allende, a Mexican semi-arid region, throughout two different periods of fieldwork analyses. Lab-scale models were also implemented at UCL, in order to further refine the technology. Silver has been known for centuries to be a powerful disinfectant, with no known harmful effects to humans if applied in appropriate doses. However, implementation in small-scale rainwater harvesting systems has received little attention, possibly due to a general perception that it is complicated and/or expensive. The devices studied in this thesis are able to dose silver ions at a relatively low cost, avoiding the use of complex nano-materials. System performance is seen to be highly linked to source water conductivity and ionic strength, highlighting the importance of adapting the technology for the specific case of RWH. Total coliform elimination efficiencies of up to 99.9% are achieved in the field, with a marked exception where cross-contamination from external seepage occurs. Sites with relatively clean rooftops show an absence of total coliforms in the untreated runoff, compared with others where values as high as 1650 CFU/100 ml are recorded. Disinfection using an emerging technique for bacteriophage detection is investigated in the laboratory, indicating a capacity to inactivate viral particles. Technology adoption issues are also explored, particularly where increased contamination occurs due to insufficient stakeholder participation. Observations show that the silver ion dispensers themselves require little maintenance, while the other components of the system tend to pose more of a challenge.

Increases in water consumption in agriculture, tourism and industry have exacerbated the problem of water resources management in Iberia, and the transboundary character of many of its rivers adds to the problem. Drought has caused water restrictions, destruction of crops, livestock deaths and widespread forest fires in Iberia in recent years. The aim of this PhD is to undertake an impact assessment of climate change on the water resources of the rivers Douro, Tagus and Guadiana, with a special emphasis on the vulnerability of Portugal (the downstream country). Observed and projected changes in rainfall were assessed, as were future projections for drought and discharges. A dataset of downscaled and bias corrected rainfall and temperature (and subsequently potential evapotranspiration) from CMIP5 climate models (RCP8.5) was created using two different methods: change factor and quantile mapping. From the CMIP5 ensemble, fifteen model runs were chosen to represent the range of future climate projections available. To assess changes in future rainfall, a 30 year time‐slice approach was compared with a transient approach. Two drought indices (DSI‐12 and SPI‐12) were used to assess drought evolution from 1961 to 2100. A spatially distributed, physically based hydrological modelling system (SHETRAN) was used to provide historical and future (2050s) natural discharges. A minimal calibration approach was followed using small quasi‐natural sub‐basins. The majority of climate models projected reductions of annual rainfall in the three basins for the 2050s (for both downscaling methods) and almost all models projected rainfall decreases in spring and autumn. None of the models projected positive annual rainfall trends (1961‐ 2100) and in spring, summer and autumn the majority of models showed negative trends. The 15 climate models display a wide range of future drought projections: some showed litle or no change while others project decades of extreme drought conditions. It was also shown that SPI‐12 is not an appropriate index to use in Iberian climates. Most models project decreases in daily, seasonal and annual discharges for all basins, although some models project increases in high discharges. The magnitude of the decreases in discharge varies significantly for the different climate models throughout the seasons and basins. However, the Guadiana consistently shows the larger reductions in discharge and the higher probabilities of falling below the discharge limits set in the international agreement between Portugal and Spain.

This research examines the case for change in the regulated water resources planning process in England and Wales. The primary contribution to knowledge is delivered through the identification of practical, conceptual and institutional challenges associated with emerging planning methods based on stochastic modelling assessments. Four alternative modelling trials are executed and then compared to existing practice using real-world water resources systems. In-depth, structured interviews capture the views of a range of practitioners closely involved in the planning process. The study finds that the trialled approaches are technically feasible and can be executed using existing models and freely-available data. This finding counters the widespread view—exposed during interviews—that water companies are ill-equipped to conduct stochastic modelling assessments. However, some of the purported benefits of these frameworks failed to materialise in the case analyses. The study identifies arbitrary assumptions that threaten the transparency and rigour of the emerging methods. The practitioner interviews highlight widespread scepticism and perceived business risks associated with a shift away from deterministic planning. The thesis also delivers a number of methodological developments and is structured using a simple, novel matrix that characterises water availability assessment methods according to the way performance is measured and the way hydrological uncertainty is treated.

This thesis explores the relationships between the natural environment, urbanisation, and the market economy, in the context of water supply and drainage in eighteenth-century London. It argues that, as a result of the expansion of the built-up area, the institutions that managed London's water became increasingly vital as the main mediators of the growing distance between the city's inhabitants and water. In particular, it focuses on the growth of a commercial water supply, and analyses how the allocation of a natural resource became increasingly refracted through the market. As such, the thesis addresses the emergence of a political economy of water and its social and economic ramifications. The thesis takes an interdisciplinary approach, integrating social and environmental history, and it argues that geography should be incorporated in the analysis of the institutions that controlled water. It considers London's drainage system and its water supply together, as changes in the drainage of surface water played a crucial role in creating the conditions for the privatisation of London's water supply. The expansion of the supply network, in turn, depended heavily on London's social geography as well as its topography, as the difference in elevation between a water company's intake and its customer base proved influential for its failure or success. The increased role of commercial water supply had important consequences as to how eighteenth-century Londoners accessed water. A new analysis of the water companies' level of market penetration adds context to contemporary debates surrounding the way the water market was structured. Finally, an investigation of the provision of free water in emergencies explores the role of private companies in the provision of public goods. The thesis adds to our knowledge about the growing role for institutions in an expanding city. More specifically, it explores how the market mediated relationships between society and nature.

No description available.

There is increased recognition that groundwater upwelling causes low oxygen in Atlantic salmon nests (redds), and reduces incubation success. Field data suggest patterns of groundwater upwelling are driven by seasonal hydrological variation. However, these data are currently limited to a small number of sites and are predominantly descriptive. Consequently, wavelet analysis was performed on a range of published and unpublished datasets that monitored oxygen concentration in the incubation zone of Atlantic salmon spawning rivers throughout the UK. This analysis demonstrated episodes of groundwater induced oxygen depletion in all locations and that groundwater upwelling was linked to antecedent and prevailing weather conditions. To test the possible effects of episodic periods of hypoxia on Atlantic salmon eggs, such as those caused by groundwater upwelling, an incubation facility was designed that enabled fine-scale control of oxygen depletion. Hypoxia in the earlier stages of development did not affect survival but caused alevin to hatch later in an underdeveloped state. Low oxygen conditions at the later stages of development reduced survival by 15% and caused premature hatching of severely underdeveloped alevin. Therefore, effective management of factors that influence groundwater upwelling is important to limit effects on incubating salmonids The membrane surrounding the Atlantic salmon egg is a barrier to oxygen diffusion, so its permeability influences oxygen supply to the embryo. Due to factors such as deoxygenated groundwater upwelling, oxygen supply varies among spawning locations and could drive inter-population membrane architecture variation. Electron microscopy egg membrane permeability of five UK Atlantic salmon populations varied substantially, and eggs with the lowest permeability were most susceptible to hypoxia-induced mortality. Therefore, variation in egg membrane structure could represent adaptation to oxygen stress, such as that caused by deoxygenated groundwater upwelling, and reinforces the importance of maintaining genetic integrity of distinct populations.

This thesis is about the juxtaposition of two dominant themes of today’s world – megaurbanization and water management. It sets out to investigate the contemporary water management conditions in a South megacity. In this investigation, the hydraulics serve two purposes: one, as a frame to apprehend various processes that created (and are creating) myriad relationships in this gigantic urban space; and two, as an object of inquiry reveals the genealogy of the ideas or institutions that has led to the spatiotemporal arrangements of the domestic water supply in the megacity. Drawing insights from various analytical perspectives including hydrosocial, urban political ecology, subaltern urbanism, governmentality, postcolonialism, and modernity, the thesis surveys the process of mega-urbanization that shaped the form and design of institutional frameworks, laden with singular and modernist vision of water, and holds this vision and its apparatus – state monopoly and segregation- as key producers of multi-layered and diverse risks in water management for the households, the megacity, and the region. Using results from extensive fieldwork in Delhi, the thesis proposes an alternative view to analyse the contemporary concerns and to suggest possible pathways in megacity water management. Rapid emergence of megacities in global South and related concerns of water supply in these places have been investigated, to a large extent, from binary perspectives of planned/slum; formal/informal; economic good/social good; and efficiency/equity. Taking Linton’s (2010) phrase ‘from waters to water’ as a starting point, the thesis travels back into history to witness the hesitant and incomplete transformation of ‘multiple waters’ into ‘singular and modernist water’ in the megacity. It helps first in dismantling the myth of binary understanding of the megacity; second, in unearthing the fundamental barriers embedded in the contemporary technoinstitutional regime of the megacity hydraulics; third, in reconstructing the cultural landscapes of water in the megacity, which are gradually marginalized and lost in the dominant discourse on demand and supply of water; and fourth, in indicating the presence of spatio-temporality of risks of different orders in the megacity. Next, using empirical results from more than five thousand households in 32 locations within Delhi, the thesis demonstrates the presence of first order risks concerning accessibility, adequacy, quality, affordability, acceptability, seasonal, and source depletion. The management of these risks and the methods of this management, the thesis argues, produce second order risks which are mostly invisible, distant in time and space, uncertain, and politically unattractive. Putting household in focus, the thesis follows a familiar trajectory of measurement of coping strategy; but then it indicates departure by making household as a crucible of ideology and risk management strategies in water management. This innovative approach helps in reconstructing the ideological premise and its workable instruments for the megacity water management, that are as diverse, flexible, dynamic, inclusive, and holistic as a megacity. From knowledge perspective, the thesis contributes the following: first, the binary understanding of a south megacity is a myth and needs to be dismantled as it promotes a singular and modernist vision of water ignoring the local geo-cultural conditions and practices; second, the contemporary megacity water management faces different orders of risks, and its focus on first order risks often remains (or choose to) ignorant of second order risks; third, the household is not only a place to assess the risks and to advance the arguments of willingness to pay, but it is also a significant functional institution to offer ideas and workable solutions, which are local, indigenous, just, and sustainable.