Thesis (M. Tech. - (Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology))--Vaal University of Technology, 2010. / During the last few years, concern has been growing among many stakeholders all over the world about declining levels of surface water bodies accompanied by reduced water availability predominantly due to ever increasing demand and misuse. Furthermore, overexploitation of environmental resources and haphazard dumping of waste has made the little water remaining to be so contaminated that a dedicated rehabilitation/remediation of the environment is the only proactive way forward. River Rwizi Catchment is an environment in the focus of this statement. The overall objective of this research was to plan, restore and rationally allocate the water resources in any river basin with similar attributes to the study area. In this research, Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) methodology was applied through Watershed/Basin Simulation Models for general river basins. The model chosen and used after subjection to several criteria was DHI Model, MIKE BASIN 2009 Version. It was then appropriately developed through calibration on data from the study catchment, input data formatting and its adaptation to the catchment characteristics. The methodology involved using spatio-temporal demographic and hydrometeorological data. It was established that the model can be used to predict the impact of projects on the already existing enviro-hydrological system while assigning priority to water users and usage as would be deemed necessary, which is a significant procedure in IWRM-based environmental rehabilitation/remediation. The setback was that the available records from the various offices visited had a lot of data gaps that would affect the degree of accuracy of the output. These gaps were appropriately infilled and gave an overall output that was adequate for inferences made therefrom. Several scenarios tested included; use and abstraction for the present river situation, the effect of wet/dry seasons on the resultant water available for use, and proposed projects being constructed on and along the river. Results indicated that the river had insufficient flow to sustain both the current and proposed water users. It was concluded that irrespective of over exploitation, lack of adequate rainfall was not a reason for the low discharge but rather the loss of rainwater as evaporation, storage in swamps/wetlands, and a considerable amount of water recharging groundwater aquifers. Thus, the proposed remedy is to increase the exploitation of the groundwater resource in the area and reduce the number of direct river water users, improve farming methods and conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water - the latter as a dam on River Rwizi. The advantage of the dam is that the water usage can be controlled as necessary in contrast to unregulated direct abstraction, thus reducing the risk of subsequent over-exploitation. / Vaal University of Technology

The purpose of this study is to revise the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry's (DWAF's) current Integrated Environmental Management (IEM) procedure and to develop an Environmental Management Framework (EMF), so as to ensure that the environment is considered in a structured, formal manner at each decision-making stage of the projects development business process. The proposed EMF provides process diagrams that align the IBM principles, the environmental assessment and management tools, and the engineering business process with the project life cycle approach for DWAF's water sector functional areas. Key decision-making points are introduced to the business process to ensure that all the specific requirements have been met before continuing to the next engineering stage of the business life cycle. Auditing nodes were identified within the life cycle approach and complement the decision-making points and strengthen the evaluation of environmental compliance and performance. These process diagrams is designed to prompt development planners and implementers to consider the environment at all stages of the business life cycle and practice sound environmental management. The EMF is based on international best practice and follows the Deming model philosophy as well as principles and elements of an environmental management system. The EMF must be an integral part in the way the department conduct its business and not seen as an ad hoc function and the duties of the environmental officer. To conclude, the EMF is the building block and interim management plan for an appropriate environmental management system in the future and the first step towards business excellence for the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Geography and Environmental Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

The purpose of this study is to revise the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry's (DWAF's) current Integrated Environmental Management (IEM) procedure and to develop an Environmental Management Framework (EMF), so as to ensure that the environment is considered in a structured, formal manner at each decision-making stage of the projects development business process. The proposed EMF provides process diagrams that align the IBM principles, the environmental assessment and management tools, and the engineering business process with the project life cycle approach for DWAF's water sector functional areas. Key decision-making points are introduced to the business process to ensure that all the specific requirements have been met before continuing to the next engineering stage of the business life cycle. Auditing nodes were identified within the life cycle approach and complement the decision-making points and strengthen the evaluation of environmental compliance and performance. These process diagrams is designed to prompt development planners and implementers to consider the environment at all stages of the business life cycle and practice sound environmental management. The EMF is based on international best practice and follows the Deming model philosophy as well as principles and elements of an environmental management system. The EMF must be an integral part in the way the department conduct its business and not seen as an ad hoc function and the duties of the environmental officer. To conclude, the EMF is the building block and interim management plan for an appropriate environmental management system in the future and the first step towards business excellence for the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Geography and Environmental Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

L’objet de la thèse est d’évaluer la pertinence de l’approche participative comme outil-levier pour une gestion locale mieux partagée et durable des ressources en eau autour du lac de Guiers au Sénégal. Unique lac d’eau douce d’importance du pays, implanté dans une zone semi-désertique de la région écologique sahélienne, le lac de Guiers est très convoité par plusieurs types d’usages. Il est considéré, au plan national comme au plan local, comme une source vitale d’approvisionnement en eau potable des régions proches et de grandes villes une ressource stratégique pour le maintien de l’autosuffisance alimentaire ainsi qu’un moteur de développement économique pour les communautés villageoises agro-pastorales. La démarche méthodologique retenue est de type « bottom-up », partant du diagnostic de terrain du cas du lac de Guiers. Elle s’appuie sur des entretiens et enquêtes par questionnaires auprès des gestionnaires et des usagers de l’eau du lac, une analyse des jeux d’acteurs dans un cadre institutionnel en évolution et l’analyse des dynamiques spatiales de répartition des usages de l’eau. Ce diagnostic montre dans quelle mesure l’approche participative prônée dans les stratégies et plans de gestion de l’eau du lac de Guiers est effectivement mise en œuvre et vient renforcer la participation des usagers de la ressource en eau pour parvenir à une gestion mieux partagée et durable de celle-ci. L’approche participative n'est fonctionnelle que si le cadre de gestion s’inscrit dans une démarche globale de gestion concertée et intégrée dans laquelle tous les usagers et les acteurs gestionnaires sont co-gestionnaires de la démarche.De plus, l’approche participative reste souvent difficile à organiser. Cette difficulté est d’autant plus forte que l’étendue géographique est grande, et qu’il s’agit de faire participer tous les usagers et acteurs gestionnaires concernés à toutes les échelles avec des intérêts parfois contradictoires. Par ailleurs, la thèse révèle que l’accroissement de l’implantation d’activités économiques sensées profiter à la région conduit à des effets pervers qui vont à l’encontre des objectifs des plans de gestion : baisse de la qualité de l’eau et des quantités disponibles (pollution causée par les rejets des agro-industries et augmentation des volumes de prélèvement).Toutes les séries d’actions engagées constituent des dépenses pour les acteurs gestionnaires (maintenance des infrastructures, contrôle des prélèvements, lutte contre la pollution etc.). Dans ce domaine, la thèse recommande que la gestion de la ressource en eau du lac prenne en compte cette dimension déterminante, en développant de nouveaux outils de gestion correspondant à la valorisation économique de l’eau et en créant un Observatoire, outil intégrateur de son avenir durable. Ceci est une condition sine qua non pour une amélioration des conditions de vie des riverains. La thèse confirme, à travers le cas du lac de Guiers, la pertinence des théories de l’approche participative pour accompagner et aider ses acteurs gestionnaires dans leur appréhension et leur organisation du système de gestion. / The aim of the thesis is to evaluate the relevance of the participatory approach as a leverage tool to achieve a better shared and sustainable local management of water resources around lake Guiers in Senegal. It is the only freshwater lake of importance in the country. Located in a semi-desert zone of the Sahelian ecological region, lake Guiers is coveted by several types of uses. It is considered both nationally and locally as a vital resource for drinking water supply in nearby regions and large cities as a strategic resource for maintaining food self-sufficiency, as well as being a vector of economic development of the agro-pastoral village communities.The methodological approach adopted is the "bottom-up" approach, starting from field diagnosis of the case of lake Guiers. It is based on interviews and questionnaire surveys with managers and users of the lake’s water, an analysis of the sets of actors in an evolving institutional framework and the analysis of the spatial dynamics of distribution of the uses of the lake’s water. This diagnosis demonstrates the extent to which the participatory approach advocated in the water management strategies and plans of lake Guiers is effectively implemented and strengthens the participation of water resource users in order to achieve a better shared and sustainable management of this water resource.The participatory approach is functional only if the management framework is part of a comprehensive, collaborative and integrated management approach in which all users and managers are involved in the decision-making process (co-management). Furthermore, the participatory approach is often difficult to organize. This difficulty increases when the geographical scope is large and the aim is to involve all the users and managers concerned at all levels with sometimes contradictory interests. Moreover, the thesis reveals that the increase in the implantation of economic activities that are supposed to benefit the region leads to perverse effects that run counter to the objectives of the management plans: a drop in water quality and of the available quantities (pollution caused by discharges from agro-industries and increased collection volumes). All the series of actions (services) involved imply expenditures for the management actors (maintenance of infrastructures, control of sampling, pollution control etc.). In this area, the thesis recommends that the management of water resources in the lake should take into account this decisive dimension, by developing new management tools corresponding to the economic valuation of water and by creating an observatory, an integrating tool of its sustainable future. This is a sine qua non condition for improving the living conditions of local residents. The thesis confirms, through the case of Lake Guiers, the relevance of the theories of the participatory approach to accompany and help its management actors in their apprehension and organization of the management system.

Irrigated agriculture accounts for 90 percent of consumptive use of freshwater in the western US and is considered the largest contributor to nonpoint source water pollution. The diffuse nature of most water quality and quantity challenges necessitates institutions that can more effectively engage agricultural producers in strategic, integrated, watershed-scale approaches to water management such as those associated with Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM). With approximately 9,400 professionals working in nearly every one of the nation's 3,071 counties and an emphasis on voluntary, incentives-based approaches to conservation, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is well poised to influence land and water management on private working lands. NRCS conservation programs, however, have been criticized as "random acts of conservation" that lack a strategic vision for addressing natural resource challenges at-scale. Using NRCS's new Agricultural Water Enhancement Program (AWEP) as a case study, this paper seeks to examine the factors that enable or inhibit NRCS from promoting an integrated approach to water management consistent with IWRM principles. Following the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework this paper traces the development of AWEP and examines how the rules established at the national level impact implementation at the national, state and local levels. The paper then evaluates AWEP based on a set of six IWRM design principles to determine (a) the extent to which AWEP represents an IWRM approach, and (b) the institutional factors that facilitate or inhibit NRCS from taking a more integrated approach to water management. I found that institutional factors vary greatly between levels of analysis depending on the specific context, but did identify several consistent enablers and barriers. The three most significant factors that facilitate an IWRM approach are: (1) AWEP's focus on priority resource concerns within a defined hydrographic area; (2) AWEP's emphasis on pursuing a partnership-based approach; and (3) increased local involvement in defining projects. The three most significant factors that inhibit an IWRM approach are: (1) a lack of clarity concerning partner roles and responsibilities and constraints on partner involvement; (2) limited flexibility of existing program rules; and (3) limited local capacity to engage with landowners and implement projects. The paper offers institutional recommendations for facilitating an IWRM approach within NRCS, and concludes with a consideration of the utility of IWRM design principles and the IAD framework for analyzing water management institutions. / Graduation date: 2012