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A range of interventions are available to influence the uptake of farm practices which mitigate water pollution. Deciding which are the most appropriate for particular mitigation measures poses a challenge to policy makers. Whilst many measures remain voluntary, implementation will only be effective with the co-operation of stakeholders and evidence regarding the factors influencing measure uptake is crucial to aid policy design. The research conducted for this PhD explored the factors influencing farmer adoption of water pollution mitigation measures through three related surveys. Over two hundred farmers and farm advisors participated in interviews from three contrasting regions of England: the grassland dominated North West; the arable dominated East Anglia and the mixed and dairy farming of the South West. Results from the two farmer surveys provided a baseline of current agricultural practices, insights regarding farmer attitudes to the adoption of other mitigation measures in the future and understanding of the motivations and barriers to the adoption of specific measures. Results from the farm advisor interviews revealed the types of mitigation measures recommended by various advisors, which mechanisms (regulatory advice, financial incentives, signposting or voluntary approach) were being used to influence the uptake of measures, and whether differences occurred between sources of advice. The results illustrate the great diversity amongst the farming community, the range of factors influencing mitigation measure uptake and the differing complexities of farmers’ decisions to change their behaviour. Different combinations of interventions are required not only for each mitigation measures but also within the different regions surveyed. The importance of advice is illustrated but knowing which advisors are most suitable to deliver information and how is highlighted as being essential for policy design. Policy recommendations are provided as to what needs to change to influence adoption of specific mitigation measures to improve catchment management and advice provision.

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Expansion of groundwater-fed irrigation has enhanced agricultural productivity, while simultaneously causing large reductions in groundwater storage. Hydro-economic modelling provides a valuable tool for evaluating trade-offs between agriculture and aquifer sustainability. However, a central argument in this thesis is that the reliability of integrated analysis of groundwater systems may be affected by the failure to consider adequately the variables influencing field-level irrigation decisions and the dynamic aquifer responses to those choices. This thesis addresses this limitation of existing research through three main contributions to the literature. In Chapter 2, a new model of farmers' individual field-level groundwater-fed irrigation decision making is developed. Innovations include the explicit consideration of the role of soil moisture in intraseasonal irrigation scheduling, and evaluation of the impacts of weather variability and well yield on crop production. Application to a case study in the High Plains region of the United States demonstrates that low well yields limit significantly irrigated area and demand for groundwater. Furthermore, it is shown that this important behavioural response can not be captured by existing models that do not consider instantaneous supply constraints imposed by well yield. In Chapter 3, a combination of empirical analysis of observation data, and numerical simulations using the model developed in Chapter 2, are conducted to generate insights about the feedbacks between groundwater and agriculture. Reductions in well yield are shown to have large negative impacts on the productivity of irrigation whereas, contrary to previous assumptions, the response of irrigation behaviour to increased groundwater pumping lifts is found to be minimal. Importantly, this result highlights the need for integrated models to consider a broader range of factors influencing the sustainability of agricultural groundwater use. In Chapter 4, a novel hydro-economic modelling framework is presented that integrates the model of farmers' individual irrigation decision making with a distributed multi-scale groundwater flow model. The model extends the scope of existing research by using pump head-capacity curves to quantify the effect of changing aquifer storage on well yields. Advantages of the modelling framework for policy analysis in coupled agricultural groundwater systems are demonstrated. Specifically, it is shown that the long-term sustainability of irrigated agriculture is influenced by intraseasonal and interannual changes in well yield that depend on famers' pump choice and expectations about future dynamic aquifer responses. Moreover, the model demonstrates that managing the rate of well yield decline may have positive long-term impacts on both agricultural production and farmer welfare that have not been recognised in previous research.

This thesis addresses some aspects of shallow groundwater resources, and the wider issues of water resources use and allocation, in the Yobe river basin, north east Nigeria. The studies reported here were carried out in the context of a research linkage, between a Nigerian and a British _University, set up explicitly to support a large rural development programme. This is probably the first time strategic academic research and regional development have been linked on such a scale in the region. ' Despite significant investment in the past in irrigation and other water resource developments, basic data on land and water resources, and their present use, are limited. Short term studies by Consultants have proved to be no substitute for long term routine monitoring, together with good natural and social science research. « 4 Priority research needs are identified in the sciences of climatology and hydrology, and in the use and management of water in the region. There is very limited knowledge of climatic and hydrological change over the last few decades, and almost total ignorance of the existing ' water uses, their economic value, and the efficiency or otherwise of traditional water management practices. The main issues addressed in the thesis are (i) the shallow groundwater resources of the Manga Grasslands, a upland dunefield, and the Yobe river valley floodplain or fadama, and (ii) the allocation of water resources, especially in the context of large irrigation demands. _ The thesis is presented in the form of six papers -(5 published, one submitted for publication), with a extended introduction (Chapter 1) and a short conclusion (Chapter 8). The main findings and conclusions of the work are that: (i) groundwater recharge to the upland is almost certainly much larger than present abstractions; (ii) groundwater recharge to the floodplains is small compared to present regional shallow groundwater abstraction; (iii) development of shallow groundwater resources for irrigation in the Manga Grasslands would be most inadvisable because of resource limitations and salinity hazards; (iv) limited development of small scale irrigation, together with careful monitoring and modelling should go ahead in the Yobe fadana; (v) the remaining questions concerning the mechanisms and magnitude of groundwater recharge throughout the region need to be resolved a a matter of urgency; (vi) water allocation policy can be developed rationally, based on clear objectives and criteria, a good research base, and transparency of motive.

The Joint Monitoring Project (JMP), an arm of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), in its Report in 2012 : Progress on Drinking Water & Sanitation, (WHO 2012) conceded that, in 2012, 783 million(mn) people remain without access to safe water. Most of them live in the rural areas of developing countries, are poor and some are physically vulnerable. The purpose of this work is an attempt to answer the question "What is the Role of Safe Water in the Rural Development Process?" through considering the questions "Why do rural water projects fail" and "What makes for sustainable rural water projects". Examining the importance of safe water to the development process, considering the reasons for the continuous failure of autonomous, self - governing "Operation and Maintenance" regimes, ascertaining why, despite the existence of substantial academic papers on the importance of "Sustainability", "Community Participation", "Empowerment", translating them into practice remain problematical, the paper will try and provide answers as to what could be done to overcome such failure. Political aspects, economic consequences and engineering designs, impact on the supply, delivery and pricing of safe water. Whilst there is a plethora of work covering each of the above areas, overarching narratives, integrating all aspects, are notable through their paucity. A secondary aim of the work is to rectify this deficit. The main method used is Case Studies covering work in three countries, across two continents, where rural water projects have not been given the degree of attention that they required. Interviews were conducted, with users, to determine operational success and in one particular instance installation and operation of a water project was carried out. The evidence suggests that a holistic approach to water projects i.e. its integration with other development plans with active community involvement and participation, and long term political and financial commitments at all levels, has the possibility of providing sustainable solutions for rural water provision and delivery, thereby making a significant contribution to the development process and to poverty alleviation. Format and Contents The thesis is in three parts. First the background, the political and operational context, analysis of social development as well as the conceptual framework and the methodology used, are considered. The second consisting of Case Studies, examines the organisation and engineering solutions, determining the lessons to be drawn. Finally, Conclusion draws together the disparate elements of community participation, engineering aspects, operation and maintenance of projects and allied matters in order to deduce what enables sustainability and infer the developmental consequences flowing from them. Whilst every effort has been made to refer to contemporary work, regrettably the water sector moves very slowly - international conferences where global decisions are taken, take place every 5 - 10 years and evaluation projects are over 10 - 15 year periods e.g. JMP on Water Supply and Sanitation (WS&S) reports in 2015, World Water Forum (WWF), last meeting in Marseilles 2012 considers follow - up to 2030, hence a fair number of references are almost 20 years old.

New large hydroelectricity (hydro) power plants have been characterised as an essential component for Chile's economic development. Rivers are the only locally available natural resource from which a sufficient energy output for the growing national demand can be provided with currently existing technology; additionally, hydro is argued to be comparatively low in terms of economic and environmental costs. In recent years, the development of new hydro dams has faced increasing opposition from diverse ethnic, environmental, and political groups. Local opposition could be explained in terms of the environmental and societal costs that it bears upon the residents who live near to projects. Additionally, the construction of dams has been previously linked to irregularities prompted by the national government and companies. In a complex socio-political scenario, opposition to hydro has grown to become a national-scale phenomenon. The aim of this thesis was to provide insights to better understand how people form their views regarding hydro and technologies alike. Previous advances in socio-psychological research and theory, pointed towards three variables to be considered as potential explanations to account for the levels of acceptance of new power plants: perceived consequences, trust in stakeholders, and identification with contextually relevant groups. These issues were examined in four studies: (1) through a thematic analysis of articles in Chilean newspapers; (2) through a correlational assessment of the variables of interest, using a survey focused on the public views on electricity generation; (3) through an experimental study focused on the relationship between identification with groups and trust; and (4) through integrative theoretical models, using competing structural models. Results from these studies support the central proposition that people form their views on hydro based on the levels of trust that they hold towards stakeholders, and that levels of trust are influenced by people's identification with dominant and subordinate national groups. Moreover, it is proposed that people adopt prototypical anti or pro-hydro norms from the groups they feel more identified with.

The South-to-North Water Transfer Project, which aims to mitigate the severe water shortage in the north of China, is the largest water transfer project in the world. However, the success of the middle route of this project is threatened by water pollution in the water supply area and insufficient funding to tackle this problem. This study focused on how to use the policy instrument of Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) to ensure the success of water protection of the middle route project. Non-market valuation was conducted in this study to provide policy suggestions on the design of PES schemes for water protection. From the service demand perspective, a Contingent Valuation survey with a total of 755 questionnaires was conducted in 4 cities (i.e. Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang and Zhengzhou) along the water transfer route in order to investigate urban residents’ Willingness To Pay (WTP) for the service of water protection. From the service supply perspective, a Choice Experiment survey with 246 questionnaires was conducted in 7 villages in the water supply area in order to reveal farmer households’ preferences for different designs of two water protection programs, namely the existing Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP) for reforestation and a hypothetical fertilizer reduction program. Results of the Contingent Valuation survey indicate that urban residents’ WTP for water protection was significantly influenced by their income, their knowledge of the water transfer project and their attitudes to the general idea of PES. Model estimation results show that, on average, respondents in Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang and Zhengzhou were willing to pay an increase of 0.71, 0.25, 0.39 and 0.36 yuan/m3 in the water price, respectively. In this case, though the annual WTP per capita would only account for 0.14%, 0.04%, 0.09% and 0.07% of the annual disposal income per capita in the four cities, respectively, the total annual WTP of all water users in the four cities could account for 76% of the annual cost of water protection in the water supply area. Therefore, It is argued that a multi-source PES scheme co-funded by water users and governmental budgets is financially feasible without imposing a heavy financial burden to water users in the four cities. Moreover, results of the Choice Experiment survey show that farmer households in the water supply area significantly preferred higher annual payment, longer contracts and less restrictions on the land use activities regarding both water protection programs. The trade-offs between the three attributes indicate that, on average, farmer households were willing to forgo about 8 yuan/mu/year (mu is a commonly used unit of land which equal to 1/15 hectare) for each extra SLCP contract year and 13 yuan/mu/year for the permission of planting each 10% more “commercial trees” (which are more profitable but generate less ecological benefits). Furthermore, analysis also found that the current SLCP contracts have underestimated farmer households’ preference for the “commercial trees”, and thus are discouraging them to choose the “ecological trees” which are less profitable but generate more ecological benefits. For the hypothetical fertilizer reduction program, farmer households were willing to forgo about 26 yuan/mu/year for every extra contract year but required 16 yuan/mu/year for reducing each 10% of the use of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers. Overall, this research contributes to the literature of linking non-market valuation and PES studies in environmental and natural resources management. It is concluded that PES is a promising policy instrument to secure the supply of clean water for the middle route of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project in China, and non-market valuation methods (Contingent Valuation and Choice Experiments) are useful tools to reveal public attitudes and preferences in the design of PES schemes.

The South Finger treatment wetland at Slimbridge, UK, was designed to treat water that has been impacted by the faeces of a dense population of waterfowl. The wetland system has been failing consistently in retaining phosphorus (P). It has been suggested that the settlement lagoon of the wetland is the cause for its failure regarding P, because the lagoon exports P in the summer months. The aim of this project was to understand the importance of the settlement lagoon in the overall budget of P, and to understand the mechanisms that result in such behaviour. This was achieved by measuring the fluxes of P in and out of the lagoon, as well as measuring the fluxes through the sediment water interface and the consumption/release of P by water column process. Also, an exhaustive study of the chemistry of the pore waters and of the different species of P in the sediments was carried out. The data showed that the role of the settlement lagoon in the loading of P of the treatment wetland is minimal. The sediments of the settlement lagoon release dissolved P in the early summer, but this flux is much smaller than the mass of P that enters the lagoon at the same time. The failure of the treatment wetland is not related to the settlement lagoon, which has been performing satisfactorily in retaining suspended solids and particulate P, but to the inadequate retention time of the reed beds. This in turn is related to the original design of the wetland system. The source of the P that is released in the early summer is the bird faeces that accumulate at the bottom of the lagoon through the winter. The accumulated faeces are consumed rapidly in the early summer when temperature increases and oxidisers are present in the pore waters the right conditions are present, releasing their P through the sediment water interface (SWI). This process commences in the early spring, with the appearance of an algal bloom, accompanied by high levels of dissolved oxygen and the deposition of fresh algae onto the lagoon sediments. Biodegradable algae is consumed by aerobic respiration above the SWI at this time. The faeces, buried within the anaerobic sediments, are not consumed significantly at this time however, because temperatures are still too low. The bacterial activity within the sediments, during the early summer, is carried out mainly through iron and sulphate reduction. At some time between March and June, temperatures increased and the degradation of freshly deposited algae accelerates. This releases large quantities of ammonium above the SWI, which triggers the combined process of nitrification-denitrification, with nitrate reaching deep into the sediments. The supply of nitrate into the sediments, accompanied by the increased temperatures, accelerates the consumption of the buried bird faeces and the release of their associated P through the SWI. By June, dissolved P is still released through the SWI, although the consumption of the labile fraction of the bird faeces slows down the rate of release. A small fraction of the released P is precipitated as apatite within the sediments, without reaching the water column.

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