Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Water use in the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin (GLB) has long been governed by a framework of binational agreements between the United States and Canada, policies and decision-making standards of multilevel governments, and court rulings. Though groundwater quantity is not comprehensively monitored and groundwater insecurity is not widely reported throughout the Basin, in the context of rising regional populations increasing groundwater demand in high-use hotspots and climate change impacts simultaneously reducing aquifer recharge, this dissertation proactively examines the multi-scale interactions between multilevel governance and groundwater resources that can reduce sub-watershed scale groundwater storage (GWS) in high use and/or drought prone locales. Grounded on sustainable aquifer yield, adaptive governance and subsidiarity theories, and considered within the social-ecological system framework, the dissertation assesses the suitability of the governance framework to sustain GWS in high-groundwater-stress local contexts and provides governance reform recommendations. Chapter 1 provides the theoretical background and analytical framing necessary to contextualize the three original manuscripts of the dissertation that are presented in Chapters 2, 3 and 4. Chapter 2 highlights multilevel governance gaps undermining groundwater security in vulnerable situations. Chapter 3 collates reported cases of sub-watershed scale GWS vulnerabilities and conducts retrospective analysis to trace the origins of present-day groundwater governance weaknesses in the GLB. Chapter 4 is a case study of the City of Guelph that applies statistical methods to confirm the causal relationship between governance and GWS. Given the City’s unique governance approach, which has allowed it to maintain groundwater availability despite being wholly groundwater dependent and in a drought-prone region, the findings demonstrate the potential effectiveness of governance approaches featuring subsidiarity and adaptiveness in addressing groundwater insecurity in similarly vulnerable communities. Chapter 5 concludes the research, summarizing the dissertation’s core contributions and recommending further research relevant to maintaining GWS. The dissertation closes with a meta-analysis of Chapters 2, 3 and 4 collating their main findings into a conceptual whole to propose a novel framework of good governance principles to better sustain GWS in the Basin’s high-stress locales. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Water use in the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin (GLB), the world’s largest freshwater store, has historically been subject to binational agreements between the United States and Canada, multilevel government statutes in both nations and court rulings. While persistent, sub-watershed scale groundwater storage (GWS) decline is not a widely reported issue in the GLB, places where they are observed are commonly in drought-prone and/or groundwater-dependent GLB communities. With growing human demand and climate stressors, this thesis adopts a proactive stance on addressing this emerging issue. As governance lies at the heart of maintaining GWS in social-ecological systems such as the GLB, this dissertation applies multidisciplinary methods to assess governance characteristics underlying growing groundwater insecurity in high-groundwater-stress situational contexts of the Basin. Findings highlight that the top-down GWS governance approach insufficiently leverages the strengths of local institutions to prevent groundwater insecurity. Findings also show that groundwater use and conservation standards have not been sufficiently based on the unique physical-environmental sustainability requirements of aquifers to maintain GWS, as they continue to be based on relatively limited 19th-century scientific understanding of groundwater flow systems. Largely unchanged over time, contemporary governance instead generally applies the same water use and conservation standards, originally developed to sustain surface water, to govern surface water and groundwater use. These conclusions inform recommendations for sustaining GWS in vulnerable locations, considering growing populations and climate uncertainties.

Reaching agreements over water management on transboundary rivers is a complex yet necessary endeavour to assure that humans can live within the limits of available resources. The myriad of challenges is both physical and social in nature; the uncertainty of water availability due to natural hydrologic variability is often increased by the involvement of multiple management institutions. Jurisdictions of control are typically defined by political borders, and thus they represent distinct geographic domains and interests. Increasing scarcity, driven by rapidly expanding populations and our growing awareness of climatic non-stationary, increases the urgency to find agreements among these institutions. Although the need is significant and growing, a lack of available approaches exist that considers the physical, technical and political dynamics to address these complex challenges. This thesis describes novel analytical methods to engage in the complex political realm of transboundary river management. Building from an engineering systems analysis approach to engage this topic, the main hypotheses of this thesis are: (1) Existing analytical approaches for water resource development are useful but often constrained in a transboundary negotiation context, and (2) cooperation among co-riparian water management institutions can be significantly increased with strategic implementation of analytical tools to jointly manage current and future risks. To test this hypothesis, this thesis presents an analytical approach that (1) examines previous applications of water resource models to identify their perceived contribution to managing transboundary rivers, (2) develops a new modelling framework that engages with transboundary negotiations, and (3) incorporates methods for risk-based decision making to evaluate the benefits, opportunities and trade-offs of cooperation among co-riparian states. A retrospective analysis is conducted on the Colorado and Murray-Darling River Basins to understand lessons learned from recent applications of analytical modelling tools. New methods are then developed and applied to the rapidly changing Eastern Nile River Basin. The ongoing construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and the implications on downstream countries of Sudan and Egypt provides the context and a relevant case for testing the methods and evaluating the hypotheses. Results from this thesis demonstrate the distinct advantages of an early development of system-wide analytical tools within a transboundary context, which is made available to all parties. Conversely, the challenges of reconciling multiple models used by different institutions after full allocation is reached in a basin is a significant barrier to cooperative management. Results also demonstrate the advantages of developing an analytical tool that is sufficiently accurate, transparent and flexible to seek creative solutions, and the need to select an appropriate breadth and depth of model design that conveys its credibility, saliency and legitimacy to support a decision-making process. The appropriate design of tools to consider multiple future hydrologic scenarios can shift a discourse from rigid water allocations to considering the effects of new developments in terms of changes to risks, and to allow stakeholders to decide whether these changes are tolerable when juxtaposed with the benefits that new infrastructure provides. Finally, the results show how risks among multiple stakeholders can be evaluated under expanding uncertainties, and cooperative solutions can be sought to minimise or balance these risks. The application of the proposed methods to the Eastern Nile Basin indicates that solutions are indeed possible that benefit all three countries. A number of cooperative solutions are identified that suggest operational rules for the new and existing infrastructure. These operations can be responsive to variable climatic conditions and thus encourage dynamic cooperation. In this light, the developments in Ethiopia need not be a risk, but can result in substantial benefits to the downstream countries if agreements can be reached. Embedding highly adaptable analytical tools within a negotiation process can help to overcome the challenges faced at this historic point on the Nile River.

The geographic location of Fezile Dabi District Municipality is unique in the sense that it is one of five district municipalities in the Free State Province that borders on five district municipalities and three provincial boundaries. The Vaal River, a valuable domestic, industrial and agricultural water resource for millions of South Africans, forms one of the administrative boundaries of this district municipality and of the Free State Province. However, despite the vital role the Vaal River plays in the Fezile Dabi region, there is poor water management and assessment system in place. There is a lack of intergovernmental and trans boundary efforts to assess water quality by both district municipalities and provinces. The status of the Vaal River as a visible aquatic boundary line provides an excellent opportunity to develop a trans boundary collaborative water quality monitoring strategy between Fezile Dabi District Municipality and its neighbouring district municipalities. The only way to ensure the safety of water and a healthy environment for all is by addressing the challenges of water quality monitoring in a Trans boundary, integrated and multidisciplinary manner. This study provides a strategy for Fezile Dabi District Municipality and its neighbours by proposing an ideal structure to optimise effective water quality monitoring between them. Firstly, it gives an explanation of what is meant by water quality monitoring as a key performance area of municipal health services. Secondly, information is provided and proposals made on how to integrate water quality monitoring across municipal boundaries. Thirdly, the study suggests how trans boundary collaboration can contribute to improving water quality assessment strategies between Fezile Dabi District Municipality and its adjacent district municipalities. Lastly, an exposition of an ideal organisational structure and methods to optimise effective water quality monitoring between Fezile Dabi District and these municipalities is provided. A way forward is proposed in terms of a structure negotiated and developed at an environmental health workshop held on 28–29 March 2012 in Sasolburg. / Thesis (M. Development and Management (Water Studies))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

Master of Science - Science / The transportation of aerosols and trace gas material from industrial activities and biomass burning in southern Africa has received widespread attention from scientists over the past decade. Dominant circulation patterns in the sub-region facilitate the southward transportation of sulphur pollutants from the pyromerturllugical processing of copper in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and products of biomass burning from countries in the sub-region in general. This research focuses on the contribution of industrial pollutants from the Zambian Copperbelt and products of biomass burning in the sub-region to total aerosol loading over South Africa. The seasonality of air transport over the region in general, and South Africa in particular, is determined from different transport fields and their frequency of occurrence. Data supplied by the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) has been used to run trajectories for the summer, autumn, winter and spring seasons for southern Africa for the years 1990-1994. Forward trajectories have been calculated for the 850, 800, 750 and 700hPa geopotential heights, from Kitwe (12.9° S, 28.2° E, 1262m above mean sea level), at 2.5° resolution. The wall programme has been used as a tool for analysis. Trajectories show widespread recirculation over the subcontinent, resulting in a net transportation of sulphate aerosols from the Zambian Copperbelt. Biomass burning products are likely to join this plume, especially during the late winter and spring seasons. During the summer, air transport is mainly to the west, via Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, off the eastern Atlantic towards southern America.

Conflicts over the optimal allocation of water resources are no longer just a concern but political reality. Increasing population and demands, competing uses, as well as uncertainty over scientific processes all add to the complexity of water management and in turn can lead to complex, difficult, and long standing water conflicts. This research employs Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to evaluate water conflict in interstate settings and examines the relationship between commonly held conceptions of water conflict and actual events. Results reveal a low number of observations in each of the examined basins. Each basin has a unique relationship with the evaluated variables and the use of GIS reveals distinct spatial relationships for conflicts. However, the modifiable unit areal problem presents a real concern for continued application. Results also reveal that generalizing indicators of conflict across basins loses the inherent variability and nuanced relationships that are seen through a basin-by-basin analysis.

The geographic location of Fezile Dabi District Municipality is unique in the sense that it is one of five district municipalities in the Free State Province that borders on five district municipalities and three provincial boundaries. The Vaal River, a valuable domestic, industrial and agricultural water resource for millions of South Africans, forms one of the administrative boundaries of this district municipality and of the Free State Province. However, despite the vital role the Vaal River plays in the Fezile Dabi region, there is poor water management and assessment system in place. There is a lack of intergovernmental and trans boundary efforts to assess water quality by both district municipalities and provinces. The status of the Vaal River as a visible aquatic boundary line provides an excellent opportunity to develop a trans boundary collaborative water quality monitoring strategy between Fezile Dabi District Municipality and its neighbouring district municipalities. The only way to ensure the safety of water and a healthy environment for all is by addressing the challenges of water quality monitoring in a Trans boundary, integrated and multidisciplinary manner. This study provides a strategy for Fezile Dabi District Municipality and its neighbours by proposing an ideal structure to optimise effective water quality monitoring between them. Firstly, it gives an explanation of what is meant by water quality monitoring as a key performance area of municipal health services. Secondly, information is provided and proposals made on how to integrate water quality monitoring across municipal boundaries. Thirdly, the study suggests how trans boundary collaboration can contribute to improving water quality assessment strategies between Fezile Dabi District Municipality and its adjacent district municipalities. Lastly, an exposition of an ideal organisational structure and methods to optimise effective water quality monitoring between Fezile Dabi District and these municipalities is provided. A way forward is proposed in terms of a structure negotiated and developed at an environmental health workshop held on 28–29 March 2012 in Sasolburg. / Thesis (M. Development and Management (Water Studies))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-106).

Climate change is experienced most through the medium of water. The ability of water institutions and the factors that enable or hinder them to purposefully adapt to the new and additional challenges brought by climate change require better understanding. Factors that influence their perception of climate change impacts and initiatives being taken for adaptation are shaped by various enabling factors and barriers through the interaction with both governmental and non-governmental institutions across administrative scales. Better understanding of these adaptation enablers and barriers is essential for devising adaptation strategies. This research aims to identify and expound the characteristics that enable or hinder institutions to adapt for water management, and hence, it evaluates the involvement of key governmental and non-governmental institutions in India and the inter-institutional networks between them. It surveyed webpages and online documents of sixty Union Government institutions and interviewed representatives from twenty-six governmental, non-governmental, research and academic institutions operating at the national level and another twenty-six institutions operating within the State of Himachal Pradesh in India to assess the characteristics that enable or hinder adaptation. While the online projection of institutional involvement and interaction among key Union Government institutions on climate change and water indicate a more centralized network pointing to Planning Commission and Ministry of Environment and Forest, the interview responses indicated a more distributed network with both Ministries of Water Resources and Environment and Forest recognized as key institutions thereby indicating a potential variation in perception of who is in-charge. Moreover, online documents show institutions that are involved in water have less mention of climate change compared to Union Government ministries involved in less climate-sensitive sectors indicating that impacts of climate change on water are potentially ignored. While it is evident that research and consulting institutions engaging with both national and state level institutions play a key role in enabling adaptation, various barriers pertaining to data and information accessibility, inadequacy of resources and implementation gaps exist particularly due to inter-institutional network fragmentations. Although barriers identified in this study bear resemblance to barriers identified by other researchers in other contexts, this research shows similar barriers can emerge from different underlying causes and are highly interconnected; thereby indicating the need for addressing adaptation barriers collectively as a wider governance issue. Since many of the adaptation barriers emerge from wider governance challenges and are related to larger developmental issues, the findings have important policy implications. Among the various issues that the government needs to address is improving the inter-institutional networks between water institutions so that information dissemination, sharing of learning experiences and data accessibility is improved and prescriptive legislations are seen to be inadequate in this regard. Restructuring the way officials in government water institutions are recruited and deployed is suggested as a potential solution for improving the inter-institutional networks. The research elucidates that inter-institutional networks and transboundary institutions are two pillars that supports adaptation and also bridges the gap between adaptive capacity and adaptation manifestation that enable water institutions to cross the chasm of adaptation barriers. Thus the thesis presents an important analysis of key characteristics that enable or hinder water management institutions to adapt to climate change which have been so far under acknowledged by other studies through the analysis of the state of climate change adaptation in India. Therefore, this study provides valuable insights for developing countries, particularly, facing similar challenges of adapting water management for climate change.

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