Les relations entre eau et sociétés se comprennent en contexte et reposent sur des représentations. Les discours permettent de cerner leurs évolutions, notamment à travers des jeux d’acteurs. Les trajectoires du Rhône en France sont éclairées par celles du Sacramento aux Etats-Unis. Les observations au bord de ces fleuves sont mises en perspective au moyen de l’analyse d’un corpus principal de 5 985 articles de presse écrite. Les traitements mêlent approche quantitative et qualitative, inductive et déductive, en croisant analyse de contenu, analyse de données textuelles, représentation cartographique et étude de citations. Ce corpus offre un regard rétrospectif pour appréhender des discontinuités exogènes et endogènes, des contraintes statiques et dynamiques et des trajectoires. Les luttes définitionnelles autour d’un problème social entraînent des interactions entre différentes arènes, mettant au premier plan des porte-paroles et des logiques de pouvoir. Le cadre conceptuel de l’Advocacy Coalition Framework permet de mieux comprendre les hybridations, combinant politiques ascendante et descendante, ainsi que les processus de légitimation des discours. Différents espaces-temps s’inscrivent dans une dialogique entre ici et ailleurs, aujourd’hui et hier, risque et catastrophe. L’étude diachronique est couplée à une approche synchronique. Lors du XXème siècle, le Rhône et le Sacramento sont le fruit d’arbitrages souvent portés par l’Etat. Or, depuis une trentaine d’années, des coalitions de cause sont prêtes à se mobiliser pour que les représentations locales de l’eau soient prises en compte. Si les textes juridiques et les travaux scientifiques français invitent à une potentielle gestion intégrée à l’échelle d’un fleuve, l’exemple rhodanien montre la variabilité spatio-temporelle des représentations de l’eau et des problèmes identifiés, ce qui peut générer des tensions et rendre les compromis complexes. / A given society’s relationship with water is contextual, based on individual and public perceptions. This research investigated how public perception has been shaped by different stakeholders in two different river systems. To do so, we compared the trajectories of the Rhône River (France) and the Sacramento River (United States) by combining field observations with a principal dataset of 5,985 newspaper articles. Because the definition of social problems occurs within public arenas, this retrospective study of newspaper coverage allowed us to evaluate exogenous and endogenous discontinuities, static and dynamic constraints, and environmental and social trajectories. Media coverage was analyzed using content, quotation, and textual data analysis as well as GIS. Conflict between values entails interaction between different arenas, mobilizes spokespeople, and consolidates power relations. The Advocacy Coalition Framework promotes the hybridization between bottom-up and top-down policies and legitimizes different processes of discussion and problem-solving. Dialog between stakeholders exists in space and time between here and elsewhere, present and past, and risk and disasters. These temporal factors were addressed with a synchronic study. During the twentieth century, the Rhône River and the Sacramento River have undergone a great number of changes, primarily due to different decisions made at the national level. Nevertheless in both basins, advocacy coalitions have been key sources of political changes for thirty years: they share a set of beliefs and act in concert to address local concerns in water policy. Finally, a more detailed case study is presented for the Rhône basin, where French law and scientific knowledge require integrated river basin management. The Rhône case study demonstrates the spatial and temporal variability of opinions, debates, and discourses about water, which often embody tensions because of conflicting demands.

The aim of the study emanates from the research question: Is the incorporation of the integrated water resource management (IWRM) approach in South Africa’s water policy, from a political point of view, appropriate? The IWRM approach, as applied to developing countries, originated in developed countries with predominantly homogeneous societies where there is a broad commitment to democratic principles, the free market system and individualism. Societies in developing countries do not necessarily share the same characteristics associated with those in developed countries. South Africa, classified as a developing country, has a multicultural society that reflects an income disparity and two major cultures, namely a modernised Western and a traditional African culture. As a result two subsidiary research questions follow: Can the commitment and impartiality of all the stakeholders that partake in the decision-making processes of water institutions at all levels be ensured? Is it possible to establish small, efficient and financially viable bureaucratic structures (water institutions) at the level of water management areas (WMA)? The study uses the public choice theory to assess the IWRM approach in selected developed and developing countries. The applicability of public choice concepts with reference to the differences between Western and African cultures are briefly alluded to. It also defines the IWRM approach and certain IWRM elements that have political implications for society at large. The study describes specific elements of the IWRM approach in France and Australia and the relative successes thereof in terms of the public choice theory. The implementation of the IWRM approach in Indochina and selective developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are described to highlight certain institutional problems, inadequate financial resources, the lack of capacity and various cultural aspects that inhibit the efficiency and effectiveness of the IWRM approach. In the analysis of South Africa’s water policy, the study found that the multicultural nature of society, the unequal levels of economic development and the limited level of technological and scientific knowledge, will make it extremely difficult to implement the IWRM approach without contextualising it. According to the public choice theory, the net benefits of a policy for a society must outweigh the costs. If not, the policy needs to be either adjusted or abandoned. Since none of the proposed catchment management agencies (CMA) were established between 1998 and 2001, it is not possible to come to a verifiable conclusion. However, the study indicates that the opportunity costs of the IWRM approach are likely to outweigh the benefits for society. Other aspects that necessitate a re-evaluation of South Africa’s water policy are the holistic element of the IWRM approach and the demarcation of WMAs. The study identifies three options: The first option is to revert back to the riparian principle. The second option is to either revisit the concept of public participation, or to re-delineate the WMAs. The third and most favourable option is to abandon the concept of public participation. It would not only negate the need for CMAs (and indirectly WMAs), but would also greatly simplify the management of water resources. / Dissertation (M (Political and Policy Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Political Sciences / unrestricted

According to the United Nations, two-thirds of the world's population, approximately 4 billion people, experiences water scarcity at least one month per year. To avoid the water quantity crisis experienced in many regions of the world and the United States, a path to sustainability must be forged. My research aims to identify and critique the salient features of the narrative that drives contemporary urban water decisions and practices and to provide a meta-narrative about the role of narratives as invisible lenses through which individuals see, interpret, and interact with the world often without realizing the existence of those frames. The purpose of this problem-oriented dissertation is twofold: to provide a philosophical policy analysis of contemporary water issues in the United States generally and North Central Texas in particular, and to offer a pragmatic and interdisciplinary approach to discovering a sustainable relationship to water. The intent of my research is not to produce a new metaphysical understanding of water, but to provide a pragmatic application of ideas that can be utilized in the field; ideas that can invoke a new narrative, vision, and direction for urban water issues in North Central Texas and in areas far beyond the Lone Star State. I begin my dissertation with an overview of the nature of the problems involved in managing our global and national water problems. To fully understand urban water issues requires more than just scientific knowledge, it also demands a philosophical orientation and grounding. Chapter 2 lays the philosophical foundation of my research by braiding the philosophical streams of thought inherent in Aldo Leopold's concepts of the land ethic and ecological conscience, Alfred North Whitehead and Maurice Merleau-Ponty's emphasis on relationship, Paulo Freire's pedagogy of critical consciousness, John Dewey's philosophy of experience and his perceived importance of the public and the "Great Community," and Hannah Arendt's theory of action. I argue that these tributaries of philosophical thought provide the foundation for creating a new urban water narrative. In Chapter 3, I provide an in-depth description of the water policy problem by delineating the historical context of water policy, supply, and management, exploring the rise of disciplinarity that resulted from the divergence of the humanities and science, explicating the partnership and dominator models of civilization, and investigating the impact of the cultural narrative on the decision-making process. Chapter 4 consists of my analysis of the current water policy problem through the lens of a case study of water issues in North Central Texas. I describe the key trends that have driven water practices in the region, examine the factors that have fostered those trends, and project what is likely to happen if the status quo approach to water is maintained. Chapter 5 presents my proposed alternative for resolving the current water quantity problem in North Central Texas. I philosophically evaluate the potential of my proposed alternative, a new urban water narrative, for ameliorating the problem and achieving the goal of a sustainable relationship to water. I elucidate the ways in which a new cultural narrative can surface and precipitate a new way of being in relationship with water. The last chapter recaps the previous chapters, acknowledges limitations of my research, and provides recommendations for future philosophical research endeavors into water policy, supply, and management that is relevant on a local, national, and global scale.

A comprehensive assessment of water security incorporates a range of water-related concepts, since water policy issues to specific technical aspects of hydrological conditions and their interactions with societal needs and ecosystem functioning. This doctoral thesis is organized into three chapters that address such range of water security-related topics, aiming to establish a conceptual baseline and propose deterministic and stochastic accounting frameworks for a river basin water security evaluation. Specific assumptions and research questions are defined in each chapter, and are related to the management of \'Cantareira water supply system\' (located in Southeastern Brazil), focusing on different scales and on its political and hydrological aspects as well. The first chapter acts as a conceptual baseline for water security assessment, by examining general aspects of the Brazilian water policy and water allocation system. This study contrasts Brazilian and American water management systems applied to water transfer projects, discussing experiences from the \'Cantareira system\' and Colorado river basin. A deterministic accounting framework is presented in the second chapter, which is based on management of blue and green water kinds (defined in accordance with hydrological processes and storage types), and demonstrates how a quantitative analysis of provisioning and use (abstraction and consumption) of both water kinds can be conducted. An agricultural basin (291 km²) within the Cantareira water supply system (located upstream of the Cachoeira reservoir) was used to illustrate this approach. The impact of blue and green water use on median water resources conditions is accounted by the scarcity indicator, while the vulnerability indicator considers the probability of low availability of water resources. In the third chapter quantifies and discusses the impacts of uncertainties on water security indicators (proposed in the chapter 2), based on a multi-model and resampling framework, that considers several uncertainty sources including those related to: i) observed streamflow data; ii) hydrological model structure; iii) residual analysis; iv) Environmental Flow Requirement methods; v) the definition of critical conditions for water provision; and vi) the critical demand imposed by human activities. Then, the uncertainty is propagated through different methodological arrangements applied to the same study basin of chapter 2. In brief, the first chapter indicates that both Brazilian and American water management system can potentially contribute to each other. In the second chapter, the Blue/Green water-based accounting framework reveal clear spatial and temporal patterns of water scarcity and vulnerability levels within the basin, thereby improving our understanding of how and where water-related threats to human and aquatic ecosystem security can arise (so called hot-spots). The third chapter provide a general method that can form basis for meaningful support to end-users facing water resource challenges by enabling them to incorporate a viable uncertainty analysis into a robust decision making process. Further investigation are proposed in each research step of this doctoral thesis. / A avaliação da segurança hídrica pode incorporar vários conceitos relacionados à água, desde aspectos da política de recursos hídricos até questões hidrológicas específicas e suas interações com a sociedade e ecossistemas. Esta tese de doutorado busca estabelecer uma base conceitual e propor esquemas metodológicos com base determinística e estocástica para avaliação da segurança hídrica de bacias hidrográficas. Objetivos específicos são definidos em cada capítulo e relacionam-se à gestão do \'Sistema Cantareira de abastecimento de água\' (localizado no Sudeste do Brasil), com foco em diferentes escalas, bem como aspectos políticos e hidrológicos. O primeiro capítulo é apresentado como baseline conceitual, examinando aspectos gerais da política de recursos hídricos e sistemas alocação de água. Este estudo compara sistemas de gestão aplicados a projetos de transposição de água inter/intra-bacias no Brasil e Estados Unidos, discutindo experiências do Sistema Cantareira e da bacia do rio Colorado. O segundo capítulo, por sua vez, propõe e analisa um esquema metodológico determinístico baseado na gestão das águas azul e verde (definidas de acordo com processos hidrológicos e unidades de armazenamento). Este estudo demonstra como uma análise quantitativa da provisão e utilização de ambos os tipos de água pode ser conduzida, propondo indicadores de escassez e vulnerabilidade hídrica. Esta abordagem foi aplicada em uma bacia agrícola (291 km²), localizada a montante do reservatório Cachoeira, que é integrante do Sistema Cantareira. O terceiro capítulo quantifica e analisa os impactos das incertezas sobre os indicadores de segurança hídrica propostos no capítulo 2, utilizando um esquema metodológico estocástico baseado em múltiplos modelos e reamostragem, que incorpora variadas fontes de incerteza, tais como: i) dados observados de vazão; ii) estrutura do modelo hidrológico; iii) análise de resíduos do modelo hidrológico; iv) estimativa de vazão ambiental; v) definição de condições críticas de provisão e vi) demanda hídrica. Em seguida, as incertezas são propagadas através de diferentes arranjos metodológicos aplicados na mesma bacia estudo do capítulo 2. Em conclusão, o primeiro capítulo sugere uma potencial troca de contribuições provenientes de ambos os sistemas de gestão brasileiro e americano. O segundo capítulo revela padrões espaciais e temporais dos resultados dos indicadores de escassez e vulnerabilidade, melhorando assim a compreensão de como e onde ameaças à segurança hídrica podem surgir. Por sua vez, a análise de incertezas desenvolvida no terceiro capítulo é capaz de gerar suporte a gestores de recursos hídricos e processo de tomada de decisões robustas. Recomendações específicas são geradas em cada capítulo da presente tese de doutorado.

China's Minqin Oasis once welcomed traders along the ancient Silk Road with rivers, lakes, and lush forests, yet today the region's farmland and grassland are increasingly being engulfed by the sands of the Gobi Desert. The severity of this incremental catastrophe for a declining population of 300,000 residents has brought forth a host of recent water policies to include agronomic water conservation through plastic mulch use, computerized regulation and pricing of groundwater, and water diversions from the Yellow River. This study uses a multi-disciplinary and mixed methods approach to better understand farmer perspectives on why they implement certain water and land use practices in agriculture. The world's farmers currently use the majority of the world's available freshwater and arable land. Modern agriculture and its continued intensification also lead to increases in petroleum based inputs such as agrochemicals and agricultural plastics (plasticulture). Despite the large of impact of the decisions made by the world's farmers on natural resources, little research to date has sought to better understand farmers' perceptions and decision-making processes. Plastic film mulch is a technology that has existed since the 1940's and it has been used in places such as rural China for over five decades. This technology conserves a considerable amount of irrigation water and it increases harvests, however, use of plastic for mulch causes waste disposal problems and is an expenditure of petroleum through plastic manufacturing. Without a fundamental understanding of why farmers perceive plastic mulch to be valuable to their households and communities, we may not fully grasp why its global application continues to increase year after year. Moreover, a focused study of plastic mulch use at the local level may also allow researchers and entrepreneurs to develop a suitable alternative mulch that does not consume non-renewable resources or result in detrimental plastic waste after its utility has been exhausted. This study uses household level interviews, surveys, and participant observation to better understand why Minqin County farmers in rural China continue to use plastic mulch and how it may influence their standard of living. / Graduation date: 2013

This thesis provides an analysis of the Georgia statewide regional water planning process; a system deemed to be operating in the adaptive management framework. The principal focus of this analysis is to detail a novel paradigm capable of dynamic response to changing resource demands which stems from adaptive management principles and ensures representativeness. The paradigm extends directly from application of the theories of bounded rationality and adaptive management. Development of the framework is accomplished through application of theory and correlated empirical analysis. Extreme drought conditions signal a punctuated-equilibrium effecting statewide water resource management which in turn drives the issuance of an executive-level directive to prioritize and effectively manage critical state water resources. This study evolves directly from analysis of the current effort to establish unified regional water plans which address rapid population growth, and escalating water resource conflicts with Alabama and Florida while satisfying priorities established within the executive directive. Fundamental to this analysis is the survey of currently seated regional water planning council members. The essential function of the survey is to provide a qualitative assessment of the perceptions of appointed council members. These perceptions influence water management techniques prescribed by the final policy. While this is a fuzzy correlation, a primary function of this analysis is to quantify the strength of correlation between perceptions and developed policy. This survey details appointed council member attitudes and attributes and affords analysis of future decision making outcomes. The method prescribed herein unifies multi-level decision making processes under a dynamic adaptive management paradigm, and is intended to link the regional water planning processes with continuous annual assessment in order to achieve the pluralistic benefits of adaptive management decision making.

From the Proceedings of the 1975 Meetings of the Arizona Section - American Water Resources Assn. and the Hydrology Section - Arizona Academy of Science - April 11-12, 1975, Tempe, Arizona / From the establishment of the Arizona resources board in 1928 until the Arizona Water Commission was formed in 1971, no state water plan was developed. Since 1971, the longest and most intensive planning studies have been concerned with allocation of Colorado River water through the central Arizona project. Future plans involve desalting sea water, weather modification, importation of water, etc. The Arizona state water plan ultimately will be a plan of management of Arizona's limited water resources. Water plans and economic and environmental impact evaluations are scheduled for completion by july, 1977.

From the Proceedings of the 1977 Meetings of the Arizona Section - American Water Resources Assn. and the Hydrology Section - Arizona Academy of Science - April 15-16, 1977, Las Vegas, Nevada / It is argued that Arizona has traditionally and persistently pursued a style of politics in which state government is a reactor rather than an initiator, and that its role has been subordinate to the federal government and local and private water users. The lack of adequate water policies has led to an inability to respond to new conditions and demands, such as conflicts among traditional water users, Indian claims, rising water costs, energy developments and environmental concerns. Past themes of administrative fragmentation and lack of concern over water and water planning have been responsible for these deficiencies. There is some evidence that the customary decision-making process is changing and the state is establishing its own water planning capability.

A comprehensive assessment of water security incorporates a range of water-related concepts, since water policy issues to specific technical aspects of hydrological conditions and their interactions with societal needs and ecosystem functioning. This doctoral thesis is organized into three chapters that address such range of water security-related topics, aiming to establish a conceptual baseline and propose deterministic and stochastic accounting frameworks for a river basin water security evaluation. Specific assumptions and research questions are defined in each chapter, and are related to the management of \'Cantareira water supply system\' (located in Southeastern Brazil), focusing on different scales and on its political and hydrological aspects as well. The first chapter acts as a conceptual baseline for water security assessment, by examining general aspects of the Brazilian water policy and water allocation system. This study contrasts Brazilian and American water management systems applied to water transfer projects, discussing experiences from the \'Cantareira system\' and Colorado river basin. A deterministic accounting framework is presented in the second chapter, which is based on management of blue and green water kinds (defined in accordance with hydrological processes and storage types), and demonstrates how a quantitative analysis of provisioning and use (abstraction and consumption) of both water kinds can be conducted. An agricultural basin (291 km²) within the Cantareira water supply system (located upstream of the Cachoeira reservoir) was used to illustrate this approach. The impact of blue and green water use on median water resources conditions is accounted by the scarcity indicator, while the vulnerability indicator considers the probability of low availability of water resources. In the third chapter quantifies and discusses the impacts of uncertainties on water security indicators (proposed in the chapter 2), based on a multi-model and resampling framework, that considers several uncertainty sources including those related to: i) observed streamflow data; ii) hydrological model structure; iii) residual analysis; iv) Environmental Flow Requirement methods; v) the definition of critical conditions for water provision; and vi) the critical demand imposed by human activities. Then, the uncertainty is propagated through different methodological arrangements applied to the same study basin of chapter 2. In brief, the first chapter indicates that both Brazilian and American water management system can potentially contribute to each other. In the second chapter, the Blue/Green water-based accounting framework reveal clear spatial and temporal patterns of water scarcity and vulnerability levels within the basin, thereby improving our understanding of how and where water-related threats to human and aquatic ecosystem security can arise (so called hot-spots). The third chapter provide a general method that can form basis for meaningful support to end-users facing water resource challenges by enabling them to incorporate a viable uncertainty analysis into a robust decision making process. Further investigation are proposed in each research step of this doctoral thesis. / A avaliação da segurança hídrica pode incorporar vários conceitos relacionados à água, desde aspectos da política de recursos hídricos até questões hidrológicas específicas e suas interações com a sociedade e ecossistemas. Esta tese de doutorado busca estabelecer uma base conceitual e propor esquemas metodológicos com base determinística e estocástica para avaliação da segurança hídrica de bacias hidrográficas. Objetivos específicos são definidos em cada capítulo e relacionam-se à gestão do \'Sistema Cantareira de abastecimento de água\' (localizado no Sudeste do Brasil), com foco em diferentes escalas, bem como aspectos políticos e hidrológicos. O primeiro capítulo é apresentado como baseline conceitual, examinando aspectos gerais da política de recursos hídricos e sistemas alocação de água. Este estudo compara sistemas de gestão aplicados a projetos de transposição de água inter/intra-bacias no Brasil e Estados Unidos, discutindo experiências do Sistema Cantareira e da bacia do rio Colorado. O segundo capítulo, por sua vez, propõe e analisa um esquema metodológico determinístico baseado na gestão das águas azul e verde (definidas de acordo com processos hidrológicos e unidades de armazenamento). Este estudo demonstra como uma análise quantitativa da provisão e utilização de ambos os tipos de água pode ser conduzida, propondo indicadores de escassez e vulnerabilidade hídrica. Esta abordagem foi aplicada em uma bacia agrícola (291 km²), localizada a montante do reservatório Cachoeira, que é integrante do Sistema Cantareira. O terceiro capítulo quantifica e analisa os impactos das incertezas sobre os indicadores de segurança hídrica propostos no capítulo 2, utilizando um esquema metodológico estocástico baseado em múltiplos modelos e reamostragem, que incorpora variadas fontes de incerteza, tais como: i) dados observados de vazão; ii) estrutura do modelo hidrológico; iii) análise de resíduos do modelo hidrológico; iv) estimativa de vazão ambiental; v) definição de condições críticas de provisão e vi) demanda hídrica. Em seguida, as incertezas são propagadas através de diferentes arranjos metodológicos aplicados na mesma bacia estudo do capítulo 2. Em conclusão, o primeiro capítulo sugere uma potencial troca de contribuições provenientes de ambos os sistemas de gestão brasileiro e americano. O segundo capítulo revela padrões espaciais e temporais dos resultados dos indicadores de escassez e vulnerabilidade, melhorando assim a compreensão de como e onde ameaças à segurança hídrica podem surgir. Por sua vez, a análise de incertezas desenvolvida no terceiro capítulo é capaz de gerar suporte a gestores de recursos hídricos e processo de tomada de decisões robustas. Recomendações específicas são geradas em cada capítulo da presente tese de doutorado.

Jamaica has an abundance of freshwater resources, however, a lack of infrastructure makes treated, piped water inaccessible in many areas. Through literature reviews and site visits, this thesis is an analysis of how the people and land, and money and policy, interact with one another in relation to Jamaica's freshwater resources and water infrastructure. Special attention is given to the island's type-example Cockpit karst geology; tourism, mining, and farming's relation to this karst; types of water delivery systems in rural southern Trelawny's Cockpit Country; southern Trelawny residents' perceptions of the water situation; and policy and development goals in the context of Jamaica and southern Trelawny. I hope to bring attention to the unique social, geologic, and developmental context of water in Jamaica, and more specifically to garner attention for major water infrastructure improvements in south Trelawny. A number of recommendations for improvements with policy and infrastructure are made.