The adaptive cycle metaphor provides insight into how and why social-ecological systems change. Literature on 'resilience thinking' has built upon this foundation and further developed the concepts of resilience, adaptation, and transformation to describe social-ecological system behavior. The resilience-thinking literature also describes systems that do not change, even when such change is desirable, as being in a trapped state. However, relatively little research has explored why such systems are trapped and how to free them. This thesis is the product of doctoral research which resolves how to identify, evaluate, and free a system caught in a maladaptive system trap. The study setting is water management in Grenada, a small island developing state in the southeastern Caribbean. Four research questions guide this study: (1) To what extent is Grenadian water management in a trap?, (2) To what extent is Grenadian water management transformable?, (3) Do current and recent interventions effectively foster or utilize transformability?, and (4) Which interventions should be pursued to facilitate transformation of water management in Grenada?. The study is informed by literature on social-ecological systems and integrated water resources management. Methodologically, the study is an explanatory single-case study of water management in Grenada, conducted from 2012 to 2013. The study utilizes data from semi-structured interviews (n=19), a questionnaire (n=180), a document review (n>200), and observation. The general strategy was to evaluate attempts to transform Grenadian water management within the 3-phase transformation framework described in the resilience-thinking literature. 'Points of failure' in transformation are defined as the cause(s) of a trap, and interventions to relieve the points of failure are proposed. Results indicate Grenadian water management is in a rigidity trap, although it exhibits some capacity to transform. A key point of failure of attempts to transform the Grenadian water sector into an integrated and holistic management system has been an inability to seize windows of opportunity to pass key legislation. I conclude the primary cause for this failure is poor fit among the problem, as perceived by various stakeholders, the proposed solution prescribed by water sector reform proponents, and political reality. In addition, reform proponents focus on advocating for reform to water sector professionals and do little to broker passage of legislation politically. Finally, reform proponents also assume legislation will be effectively implemented, which is not certain. Contributions specific to the Grenadian setting include a post-mortem on why efforts to reform the water sector have failed, described above. Five recommendations are made for future interventions to foster transformation of Grenadian water management: (1) engage residents as part of a vision to create political pressure for proposed solutions, (2) frame the problem with substantial resident input and focus, (3) craft solutions which take advantage of political realities such as funding restrictions, (4) anticipate and prepare for crises, and (5) enlist one or more people or organizations to serve as brokers. Empirical contributions include support for the three-streams framework of seizing windows of opportunity as fundamental to explain transformation of social-ecological systems. The primary conceptual contribution is the development of resilience thinking to illuminate ways to free trapped systems. I begin by providing a nomenclature to quantify and describe traps, which includes the type of trap, the degree of persistence and undesirability of the trap, and recent changes in these properties. Then, I develop a framework to assess transformability of a given system based on the existing 3-phase framework of transformation. When applied empirically, this framework illuminates points of failure of transformation, which I define as the cause of a given trap. Once identified, specific strategies can be devised to foster transformation and to break free of a trap.

Umgeni Water was established through Government Notice No. 114 on 14 June 1974. The establishment was facilitated via the legislation operating at that time, namely the Water Act (Act No. 54 of 1956). The organization has grown to be the largest water utility in KwaZulu-Natal and the second largest in South Africa operating in an area of 27 000 square kilometres. Umgeni Water has now expanded its capabilities to cover the full water management cycle and has geared itself up to offer source to sea and source to tap solutions. All the water utilities in South Africa were operating as monopolies because the Water Act (Act No. 54 of 1956) used a system of assigning areas within which the water utilities were to operate. This means that firstly the water utilities were confined to a specific area, and by default meant that these water utilities had a monopoly in that area because the legislation did not permit other service providers. The situation changed in the late nineties when the water sector underwent major legislative and administrative transformation. A number of laws were promulgated including the New National Water Act (Act No. 36 of 1998), the Water Services Act (Act No. 107 of 1997) and a plethora of municipal legislation. The major difference in the "new era" was the introduction and promotion of competition as a means to improve service delivery and enhance benefits accrued by the customers. For the first time in the history of the water sector, water utilities had to compete with other service providers and prove that they can discharge duties and activities better and more efficiently than anybody else. The municipal legislation also empowered and mandated municipalities to be the official authority and provider of water services to the people within their areas of jurisdiction, hence the term Water Services Authorities. If the Water Services Authority lacked capacity, it could choose a service provider that would meet the need. Against this backdrop, water utilities have had to find ways of generating income to survive and this meant that the water utilities had to somehow become relevant in the new dispensation. This included strategies like customer management, increasing operational efficiencies, building capacity of staff through training and development programmes and commercialisation of certain activities. In other words, the water utilities realised that they had to do something, one such thing that was done by Umgeni Water was to position itself so that it becomes a service provider of choice to the Water Services Authorities. In its effort to sustain itself, Umgeni Water cast its eyes beyond the promulgated operational area to the whole of the developing world. In its strategic session that set the tone for 2001 to 2005, the organization envisioned itself being the No.l utility in the developing world. Before being No.l utility in the developing world, Umgeni Water needed to achieve that status in its operational area and South Africa. To be able achieve this position, Umgeni Water needed to know the perceptions being held by the customers in its operational area. This research was undertaken to establish the position that Umgeni Water currently holds in the minds of the customers. This information will assist and inform the future position that Umgeni Water will need to adopt to ensure that its vision is attained. The sample consisted of all Water Services Authorities within the promulgated operational area of Umgeni Water, namely Ugu District Municipality, Sisonke District Municipality, uMgungundlovu District Municipality, Ilembe District Municipality, uMsunduzi Municipality and eThekwini Municipality. The Water Services Authorities seem to be in agreement and appreciative of the fact that Umgeni Water's service provision has improved over the years and 91% of the customers asserted that the main product of the organization, water, met their requirements. This improvement influenced an overwhelming majority (73%) of the Water Services Authorities to proclaim that Umgeni Water was their preferred service provider. These perceptions were fuelled by a number of reasons including the fact that the Water Services Authorities believed that Umgeni Water has the necessary experience, expertise, capabilities and track record to speak authoritatively on integrated water resource management. The Water Services Authorities also believed that the organization is contributing constructively towards the realisation of their developmental mandate and attainment of the water and sanitation goals set by the South African Government through The Strategic Framework for Water Services and achievement of targets set during the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. The Water Services Authorities also identified Umgeni Water's strengths to lie in the fields of water quality management, water quality monitoring, water treatment and laboratory services. This information is crucial because it validates Umgeni Water's position and vindicates the establishment of the organization by the government, whose primary activity was to provide sustainable and high quality water services. There were however customers who felt that Umgeni Water is arrogant, supercilious and untrustworthy. These strong statements were informed by the business dealings spanning a period of 17 years. The only reason that makes these Water Services Authorities continue to use Umgeni Water even under these circumstances is because of the geographical location of the company and its strong financial muscle. The final conclusion drawn is that Umgeni Water is well positioned in the minds of the customers, and is supplying vital services that are perceived by the Water Services Authorities to be adding value to the businesses that they are involved in. In order for Umgeni Water's position to be sustained and cemented in the minds of the customers, immediate attention should paid to critical issues such as ensuring that the intended position of being the service provider of choice is both meaningful and believable by all customers. Umgeni Water should align its value systems, core beliefs and cultures with those of the Water Services Authorities to enhance the possibilities of building long-term relationships. The organisation should also ensure that its Communication Strategy communicates the intended position as well steps to be undertaken to reach that position. It is also important that customers input into this strategy. Umgeni Water should also gather more information on the customers' businesses to enable them to increase the value adding activities and thus leverage value for customers. Another important recommendation is for Umgeni Water to revisit its pricing strategy because of the perception that the products and services are highly priced. The organization will need to conduct a benchmarking exercise to compare its prices against both the water utilities and the water sector. It has also been recommended that Umgeni Water reposition the professional services offered by the organization. This is because of a revelation by 18% (figure 10) of Water Services Authorities felt that the professional services offered by Umgeni Water do not meet their requirements. To improve this position, Umgeni Water should emphasize non-payment of its services provided unless they meet the required standard. The organization should also identify, amplify and communicate the benefits accrued through the professional services to these Water Services Authorities. Once the Water Services Authorities have realized the immense benefits that are accrued through these services and the insistence of honoring payments only after the quality of the final work produced has been acceptable, chances are greater for repeat business and this will ultimately lead in Umgeni Water being recognized as the preferred provider of services. / Thesis (M.B.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

This study looks at political culture and socialisation responses to Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM). It identifies political culture and socialisation as part of a process, the development of a political culture with specific attitudes, cognitions, and feelings towards the political system. Political culture and socialisation impart the knowledge of how to act politically, i.e. how to apply values in formulating demands and making claims on the political system. They form a connecting link between micro- and macro-politics. The study maintains that political orientations are handed down from one generation to another, through the process of political socialisation. Top-down and bottom-up influences come into play to augment a discourse on the global nature of political socialisation and the political culture of international societies with regard to IWRM and governance ideologies. It is argued that these international ideas become relevant in the national political agenda, civil society organisations and trans-national networks. The IWRM aspects of water as an economic good and a basic human right have become a two-edged sword in the South African context. The study reveals that politics stand at the epicentre of water problems, and that IWRM is a political-ethical issue which challenges power bases in many communities. The IWRM global norms of equitable, efficient and sustainable use of water resources have become a major problem in a water-scarce country burdened with economic inequalities and abject poverty. This is a pressing issue because there is an increasing demand for water to sustain the development necessary to redress the draconian ills of the apartheid past. This becomes evident in the fundamental legislative overhaul that has taken place since 1994, embracing a transformation culture that glorifies the norm of water not only as a fundamental human right, but also as a commodity that is necessary to sustain human dignity. It is here that water is politicised. Violent protests have erupted in reaction to perceived neo-liberal attempts to deny the poor their access to this resource. The political culture and socialisation responses as far as IWRM is concerned appear within fragmented lines, i.e. mainly black and poor communities embrace a culture of non-payment for services and resort to violent protests as a viable method to raise their concerns. In contrast, the white and middle-class communities manifest a tendency to form parallel local government structures; they then withhold rate payments and provide services for themselves through ratepayer associations. Finally, the study considers the South African context with regard to the manifestations of political culture, and how this influences water resources. It is evident that there is too much emphasis on politics at the expense of discussions on IWRM. Civil society organisations make very little attempt to encourage public participation in water management structures. It also appears that political elites who are disillusioned with civil society organisations tend to derail their efforts to educate the public on water management structures. / MA, Political Studies, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2011

The adaptive cycle metaphor provides insight into how and why social-ecological systems change. Literature on 'resilience thinking' has built upon this foundation and further developed the concepts of resilience, adaptation, and transformation to describe social-ecological system behavior. The resilience-thinking literature also describes systems that do not change, even when such change is desirable, as being in a trapped state. However, relatively little research has explored why such systems are trapped and how to free them. This thesis is the product of doctoral research which resolves how to identify, evaluate, and free a system caught in a maladaptive system trap. The study setting is water management in Grenada, a small island developing state in the southeastern Caribbean. Four research questions guide this study: (1) To what extent is Grenadian water management in a trap?, (2) To what extent is Grenadian water management transformable?, (3) Do current and recent interventions effectively foster or utilize transformability?, and (4) Which interventions should be pursued to facilitate transformation of water management in Grenada?. The study is informed by literature on social-ecological systems and integrated water resources management. Methodologically, the study is an explanatory single-case study of water management in Grenada, conducted from 2012 to 2013. The study utilizes data from semi-structured interviews (n=19), a questionnaire (n=180), a document review (n>200), and observation. The general strategy was to evaluate attempts to transform Grenadian water management within the 3-phase transformation framework described in the resilience-thinking literature. 'Points of failure' in transformation are defined as the cause(s) of a trap, and interventions to relieve the points of failure are proposed. Results indicate Grenadian water management is in a rigidity trap, although it exhibits some capacity to transform. A key point of failure of attempts to transform the Grenadian water sector into an integrated and holistic management system has been an inability to seize windows of opportunity to pass key legislation. I conclude the primary cause for this failure is poor fit among the problem, as perceived by various stakeholders, the proposed solution prescribed by water sector reform proponents, and political reality. In addition, reform proponents focus on advocating for reform to water sector professionals and do little to broker passage of legislation politically. Finally, reform proponents also assume legislation will be effectively implemented, which is not certain. Contributions specific to the Grenadian setting include a post-mortem on why efforts to reform the water sector have failed, described above. Five recommendations are made for future interventions to foster transformation of Grenadian water management: (1) engage residents as part of a vision to create political pressure for proposed solutions, (2) frame the problem with substantial resident input and focus, (3) craft solutions which take advantage of political realities such as funding restrictions, (4) anticipate and prepare for crises, and (5) enlist one or more people or organizations to serve as brokers. Empirical contributions include support for the three-streams framework of seizing windows of opportunity as fundamental to explain transformation of social-ecological systems. The primary conceptual contribution is the development of resilience thinking to illuminate ways to free trapped systems. I begin by providing a nomenclature to quantify and describe traps, which includes the type of trap, the degree of persistence and undesirability of the trap, and recent changes in these properties. Then, I develop a framework to assess transformability of a given system based on the existing 3-phase framework of transformation. When applied empirically, this framework illuminates points of failure of transformation, which I define as the cause of a given trap. Once identified, specific strategies can be devised to foster transformation and to break free of a trap.

Population growth, urbanization and climate change threaten urban water systems. The rise of demands caused by growing urban areas and the potential decrease of water availability caused by the increase of frequency and severity of droughts challenge the continued well-being of society. Due to increasing environmental and financial constraints, water management paradigms have shifted from supply augmentation to demand management, and water conservation initiatives may efficiently decrease water demands to more sustainable levels. To provide reliable assessment of the efficiencies of different demand management strategies, new modeling techniques are needed that can simulate decentralized decisions of consumers and their interactions with the water system. An integrated simulation-optimization framework, based on the paradigm of Complex Adaptive Systems, is developed here to model dynamic interactions and adaptations within social, built, and natural components of urban water systems. The framework goes beyond tradition engineering simulations by incorporating decentralized, heterogeneous and autonomous agents, and by simulating dynamic feedback loops among modeling components. The framework uses modeling techniques including System Dynamics, Cellular Automata, and Agent-based Modeling to simulate housing and population growth, a land use change, residential water consumption, the hydrologic cycle, reservoir operation, and a policy/decision maker. This research demonstrates the applicability of the proposed framework through a series of studies applied to a water supply system of a large metropolitan region that is located in a semi-arid region and suffers recurrently from severe droughts. A set of adaptive demand management strategies, that apply contingency restrictions, land use planning, and water conservation technologies, such as rainwater harvesting systems, are evaluated. A multi-objective Evolutionary Algorithm is coupled with the CAS simulation framework to identify optimal strategies and explore conflicting objectives within a water system. The results demonstrate the benefits of adaptive management by updating management decisions to changing conditions. This research develops a new hydrologic sustainability metric, developed to quantify the stormwater impacts of urbanization. The Hydrologic Footprint Residence captures temporal and spatial hydrologic characteristics of a flood wave passing through a stream segment and is used to assess stormwater management scenarios, including Best Management Practices and Low Impact Development.

Includes bibliographical references (64 p.) / 2 v. : ill., maps (chiefly col.) ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / The concept of sustainable development is explored with a focus upon water resources and urban development. Simulation of urban growth patterns and water resources management has been undertaken as part of the case study. The artificial Neural Networks technique has been employed to model regional water consumption. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1999?

Includes bibliographical references (64 p.) / 2 v. : ill., maps (chiefly col.) ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / The concept of sustainable development is explored with a focus upon water resources and urban development. Simulation of urban growth patterns and water resources management has been undertaken as part of the case study. The artificial Neural Networks technique has been employed to model regional water consumption. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1999?

Resumo: O reservatório da Usina Hidrelétrica Ilha Solteira localiza-se entre os estados de São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais e Goiás inserindo-se na Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Paraná. Este reservatório foi construído com o objetivo de geração de energia, porém, como geralmente ocorre com a maioria dos reservatórios, passou a ser utilizado para múltiplas finalidades. Dentre os usos se destacam o transporte hidroviário, a irrigação, a aquicultura e o lazer. Devido à boa qualidade de suas águas, apresenta uma forte tendência ao aumento das utilizações deste recurso. Considerando que alguns aproveitamentos resultam em impactos e consequentes conflitos relacionados aos interesses de usos do recurso, é de suma importância o desenvolvimento de medidas disciplinadoras que visem à manutenção da qualidade da água. Nesse sentido, a presente proposta objetivou estabelecer uma hierarquia dos principais usos do reservatório considerando critérios econômicos, sociais, operacionais e a qualidade da água. Para tanto, adotou-se um Modelo Multicritério de Apoio à Decisão, onde, com a utilização do método Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), as modalidades de uso do reservatório foram priorizadas. De acordo com o constatado no presente estudo, o segmento de recreação e turismo apresentou o melhor desempenho nos critérios avaliados, sendo considerado como prioridade global para a utilização da água do reservatório de Ilha Solteira e de seus afluentes. O uso dos recursos hídricos para irrigação se mostrou interessante, sendo que foi apontado como prioridade em alguns municípios. A aquicultura aparece em terceiro lugar na ordem de prioridade, se destacando tanto em projetos da iniciativa privada como em projetos com investimentos públicos. A região apresentou um baixo uso dos recursos hídricos para o transporte hidroviário, sendo este segmento quase uma exclusividade... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The Ilha Solteira reservoir is located between the States of São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais and Goias, inserted in Paraná's river basin. This reservoir was built with the purpose of power generation, but as it usually happens with most reservoirs, it began to be used for multiple purposes. Among the various uses of the reservoir can be highlighted the navigation, the irrigation, the aquaculture and the recreation. Due to the high quality of its waters, there's a strong intent on increasing the use of this resource, being that some uses result in significant impact and therefore, conflicts of interest arise. It is then of utmost importance the creation of disciplinary measures targeted on maintaining water quality. In that sense, this proposal aims to establish a hierarchy of the main uses of the reservoir, considering the criteria economical, social, operational and the quality of the water. To that end, was adapted a Multi-Criteria Decision Support model, where, using the method of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), the uses of the reservoir were prioritized. According to the results of this study, the segment of recreation and tourism showed the best performance on the evaluated criteria and was defined as the global priority concerning the water usage of the reservoir of Ilha Solteira and of their tributaries. The use of water resources for irrigation proved to be interesting, and it was appointed as a priority in some cities. The aquaculture appears in third place in the priority order, standing out so much in projects of the private initiative such as in projects with public investments. The region presented low use of water resources for waterborne transport, being that segment almost exclusiveness of the São Simão-GO city. The usage of the water to supply showed little expression on the cities in the region, however deserves attention for the volume of sewage... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Orientador: Milton Dall'Aglio Sobrinho / Coorientador: Maurício Augusto Leite / Banca: José Augusto de Lollo / Banca: Evaldo Luiz Gaeta Espíndola / Mestre

Substantial anthropogenic change of the Earth’s climate is modifying patterns of rainfall, river flow, glacial melt and groundwater recharge rates across the planet, undermining many of the stationarity assumptions upon which water resources infrastructure has been historically managed. This hydrological uncertainty is creating a potentially vast range of possible futures that could threaten the dependability of vital regional water supplies. This, combined with increased urbanisation and rapidly growing regional populations, is putting pressures on finite water resources. One of the greatest international challenges facing decision makers in the water industry is the increasing influences of these “deep” climate change and population growth uncertainties affecting the long-term balance of supply and demand and necessitating the need for adaptive action. Water companies and utilities worldwide are now under pressure to modernise their management frameworks and approaches to decision making in order to identify more sustainable and cost-effective water management adaptations that are reliable in the face of uncertainty. The aim of this thesis is to compare and contrast a range of existing Decision Making Methods (DMMs) for possible application to Water Resources Management (WRM) problems, critically analyse on real-life case studies their suitability for handling uncertainties relating to climate change and population growth and then use the knowledge generated this way to develop a new, resilience-based WRM planning methodology. This involves a critical evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of a range of methods and metrics developed to improve on current engineering practice, to ultimately compile a list of suitable recommendations for a future framework for WRM adaptation planning under deep uncertainty. This thesis contributes to the growing vital research and literature in this area in several distinct ways. Firstly, it qualitatively reviews a range of DMMs for potential application to WRM adaptation problems using a set of developed criteria. Secondly, it quantitatively assesses two promising and contrasting DMMs on two suitable real-world case studies to compare highlighted aspects derived from the qualitative review and evaluate the adaptation outputs on a practical engineering level. Thirdly, it develops and reviews a range of new potential performance metrics that could be used to quantitatively define system resilience to help answer the water industries question of how best to build in more resilience in future water resource adaptation planning. This leads to the creation and testing of a novel resilience driven methodology for optimal water resource planning, combining optimal aspects derived from the quantitative case study work with the optimal metric derived from the resilience metric investigation. Ultimately, based on the results obtained, a list of suitable recommendations is compiled on how to improve the existing methodologies for future WRM planning under deep uncertainty. These recommendations include the incorporation of more complex simulation models into the planning process, utilisation of multi-objective optimisation algorithms, improved uncertainty characterisation and assessments, an explicit robustness examination and the incorporation of additional performance metrics to increase the clarity of the strategy assessment process.

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