Cette thèse analyse les relations de pouvoir qui se jouent autour des enjeux environnementaux (gestion de l'eau et changement climatique) dans le processus de construction étatique de l'Autorité palestinienne, entité gouvernementale sous régime d'aide et marquée par l'occupation israélienne. Elle mobilise la sociologie de l'action publique, la political ecology et les science and technology studies afin d'étudier les processus multi-échelles de co-construction de l'ordre social et de l'environnement à travers les savoirs, la définition des problèmes et les politiques adoptées pour y répondre. Cette recherche analyse les liens entre l'aide internationale, le développement, l'environnement et la volonté de consolidation du pouvoir de l'Autorité palestinienne. Elle se penche sur la circulation et l'hybridation des savoirs et des solutions d'action publique. En dehors de l'action des décideurs nationaux et internationaux, d'autres acteurs (ONG, organisations humanitaires) interviennent et mobilisent d'autres représentations des problèmes environnementaux et des solutions à apporter en interactions avec leurs représentations du territoire et du conflit. Cette thèse se fonde sur une série d'entretiens et de discussions informelles, la littérature grise sur le sujet et de nombreuses observations participantes. / This thesis analyses the power relations involved in environmental issues (water management and climate change) and the process of state building of the Palestinian Authority, an entity dependent on international aid and under israeli occupation. This thesis mobilises sociology of public action, political ecology and science and technology studies in order to examine the multi-level processes of co-construction of social order and environment through knowledges, problems definition and public policies adopted to tackle them. This research analyses the interactions between international aid, development and environment and the objective of empowerment of the Palestinian Authority. It focuses on the circulation and hybridisation of knowledge and public policy solutions. Beyond national and international decision makers, other actors such as NGOs or humanitarian organisations participate and mobilise other representations of environmental problems and solutions in relation with their representations of the territory and the conflict. This thesis is based on a series of interviews, informal discussions, grey literature dealing with the subject and observational work.

Submitted by SBI Biblioteca Digital (sbi.bibliotecadigital@puc-campinas.edu.br) on 2018-04-10T17:13:56Z No. of bitstreams: 1 JULIA LOPES DA SILVA.pdf: 4569845 bytes, checksum: 7094dfceaf6e8a3bbea8b0f8a3ddd4ad (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-10T17:13:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 JULIA LOPES DA SILVA.pdf: 4569845 bytes, checksum: 7094dfceaf6e8a3bbea8b0f8a3ddd4ad (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-12-18 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior - CAPES / Pontif?cia Universidade Cat?lica de Campinas - PUC - Campinas / The recent water crisis experienced in southeastern Brazil has been analyzed by several sectors. However, scarcity has been warned for at least four decades by numerous environmental researchers and agencies, whose projections point to climatic extremes, rising temperatures, diseases, scarcity, among other global environmental problems, which have increased especially after the decade of 1950 due to anthropic activities. This research seeks to understand the roots of this crisis that has political, climatic and anthropic origins. For this, we use theoretical revision, documentary survey and field research with the objective of understanding conceptual and factual aspects, as well as apprehending the local reality. We investigated the relationship between the drought and the main environmental problems observed today in Brazilian cities: deforestation, pollution, occupation of environmentally sensitive areas, etc., due to the pressure on natural ecosystems. We review the environmental public policies adopted in the city of Campinas during the period of scarcity, in order to observe the cohesion and contradictions of the measures to manage this event. We also carried out field research with residents of the Anhumas and Capivari river basins, which demonstrated the environmental injustice to which certain social minorities are subject and the logic through which several marginalized social groups bear the socio-environmental liabilities of such development. With this, we seek to contribute to the debate about municipal environmental management by problematizing the strategies adopted by the local water resources policy. / La r?cente crise de l'eau connue dans le sudest du Br?sil a ?t? analys?e par plusieurs secteurs. Cependant, la p?nurie a ?t? annonc?e depuis au moins quatre d?cennies par de nombreux chercheurs et agences de l'environnement, dont les projections indiquent des extr?mes climatiques, la hausse des temp?ratures, des maladies, de la p?nurie, parmi d'autres probl?mes environnementaux mondiaux, qui ont augment? surtout apr?s la d?cennie de 1950 en raison d'activit?s anthropiques. Cette recherche vise ? comprendre les racines de cette crise qui a des origines politiques, climatiques et anthropiques. Pour cela, nous utilisons une r?vision th?orique et documentaire et une recherche sur le terrain dans le but de comprendre les aspects conceptuels et factuels, ainsi que d'appr?hender la r?alit? locale. Nous avons ?tudi? la relation entre la s?cheresse et les principaux probl?mes environnementaux observ?s aujourd'hui dans les villes br?siliennes: la d?forestation, la pollution, l'occupation de zones naturelles sensibles etc., en raison de la pression sur les ?cosyst?mes naturels. Nous examinons les politiques publiques environnementales adopt?es dans la ville de Campinas pendant la p?riode de p?nurie de l?eau, afin d'observer la coh?sion et les contradictions des mesures pour g?rer cet ?v?nement. Nous avons ?galement effectu? de recherche sur le terrain avec des r?sidents des bassins des rivi?res Anhumas et Capivari qui ont d?montr? l'injustice environnementale ? laquelle certaines minorit?s sociales sont soumises et la logique par laquelle plusieurs groupes sociaux marginalis?s subissent les consequences sociales et environnementales d'un tel d?veloppement. Avec cela, nous cherchons ? contribuer au d?bat sur la gestion environnementale municipale en probl?matisant les strat?gies adopt?es par la politique locale des ressources de l?eau. / A recente crise h?drica vivenciada no sudeste brasileiro tem sido analisada por diversos setores. No entanto, a escassez ? alertada h? pelo menos quatro d?cadas por in?meros pesquisadores e ?rg?os ambientais, cujas proje??es apontam para extremos clim?ticos, aumento de temperatura, doen?as, escassez, entre outros problemas ambientais de ordem global, os quais t?m aumentado principalmente ap?s a d?cada de 1950 em fun??o de atividades antr?picas. Esta pesquisa busca compreender as ra?zes desta crise que tem origens pol?ticas, clim?ticas e antr?picas. Para tal, utilizamos revis?o te?rica, levantamento documental e pesquisa de campo com o objetivo de compreender aspectos conceituais e factuais, bem como apreender a realidade local. Investigamos a liga??o da seca vivenciada com os principais problemas ambientais observados hoje nas cidades brasileiras: desmatamento, polui??o, ocupa??o de ?reas ambientalmente sens?veis etc., fruto da press?o sobre os ecossistemas naturais. Revisamos as pol?ticas p?blicas ambientais adotadas na cidade de Campinas durante o per?odo de escassez, de modo a observar a coes?o e as contradi??es das medidas para gest?o deste evento. Realizamos ainda uma pesquisa de campo com os moradores das bacias hidrogr?ficas do ribeir?o Anhumas e do rio Capivari que demonstrou a injusti?a ambiental ? qual determinadas minorias sociais est?o sujeitas e a l?gica atrav?s da qual diversos grupos sociais marginalizados arcam com o passivo socioambiental de um dito desenvolvimento. Com isto, buscamos contribuir para o debate acerca da gest?o ambiental municipal problematizando as estrat?gias adotadas pela pol?tica local de recursos h?dricos.

Singapura e as bacias hidrográficas dos rios Piracicaba, Capivari e Jundiaí (PCJ), Brasil, possuem como características comuns populações de cerca de 5,5 milhões de pessoas, altos índices de urbanização e industrialização e situações críticas de disponibilidade hídrica. O objetivo geral desta pesquisa é investigar e comparar a gestão, a governança e o uso das águas na ilha principal de Singapura e nas Bacias PCJ, a partir de dados obtidos por meio de trabalhos de campo, pesquisas bibliográfica e documental e entrevistas semiestruturadas com cidadãos, profissionais e pesquisadores de ambos os países. Em Singapura, foram realizadas 52 entrevistas no total, sendo 33 cidadãos, 5 profissionais, 6 pesquisadores e 8 brasileiros. Nas Bacias PCJ, foram realizadas 45 entrevistas, sendo 27 cidadãos, 8 profissionais, 7 pesquisadores e 3 singapurianos. Foram percebidas semelhanças nos usos domésticos da água dos dois contextos, como a ênfase no seu valor econômico, o acesso fácil e conveniente a esse bem, e indícios de uma baixa influência das diferenças culturais de diferentes grupos étnicos nos níveis de consumo de água, que tendem a ser mais influenciados pela classe socioeconômica, infraestrutura doméstica, estilos de vida e costumes familiares e individuais. Nas Bacias PCJ, ainda há a presença marcante de uma cultura da abundância. A comparação dos dois casos é notável, pois trata-se, por um lado, de uma gestão centralizada e não participativa que gerou bons resultados num intervalo relativamente curto de tempo, e, por outro, de uma gestão descentralizada e participativa que, apesar de muito bem avaliada no contexto nacional, ainda possui uma série de insuficiências, falhas e fragilidades. Os casos estudados reforçam a ideia de que adversidades podem se transformar em vantagens, como em Singapura, e condições ambientalmente favoráveis podem se transformar em desvantagens, como nas Bacias PCJ. Ficou evidente que o principal fator que contribuiu para o sucesso da gestão das águas em Singapura foi o governo. Lee Kuan Yew é mencionado como mentor das políticas de desenvolvimento global de Singapura, incluindo a gestão das águas. Ele buscou conciliar desenvolvimento econômico e proteção ambiental, despoluiu todos os rios da ilha e promoveu o uso de fontes alternativas de água para aumentar a autonomia hídrica do país. Contudo, o caráter autoritário de seu governo e das medidas adotadas é questionável de um ponto de vista democrático. Apesar das Bacias PCJ estarem entre as mais avançadas do Brasil em termos da aplicação dos instrumentos da Lei 9.433/97, ainda não foram gerados todos os benefícios econômicos, sociais e a ambientais esperados e ainda há lacunas de governança que dificultam a implementação efetiva da gestão das águas. É necessário superar a visão da água como bem abundante e ilimitado, a contradição entre proteção ambiental e crescimento econômico, a organização política vigente, a corrupção, a falta de vontade política, as insuficiências no desenvolvimento urbano e o déficit de infraestrutura adequada. / Singapore and the river basins of Piracicaba, Capivari and Jundiaí rivers (PCJ), Brazil, have populations of about 5.5 million people, high rates of urbanization and industrialization and critical situations in terms of water availability. The objective of this research is to investigate and to compare water management, governance and usage in the main island of Singapore and the PCJ river basins, based on data collected by field work, bibliographic and documentary research and semi-structured interviews with citizens, professionals and researchers from both countries. In Singapore, there were 52 interviews in total, 33 citizens, 5 professionals, 6 researchers and 8 Brazilians. In the PCJ river basins, 45 interviews were conducted, 27 citizens, 8 professionals, 7 researchers and 3 Singaporeans. Similarities were perceived in the domestic water usage of both contexts, as the emphasis on its economic value, easy and convenient access. There is evidence of a low influence of cultural differences of different ethnic groups in the level of water consumption, which tends to be more influenced by socioeconomic conditions, domestic infrastructure, lifestyles and family and individual habits. In the PCJ river basins, there is a strong presence of a culture of abundance. The comparison of the two cases is remarkable. On the one hand, a centralized and nonparticipative management style that generated good results in a relatively short period of time, and, on the other hand, a decentralized and participative management style which is highly evaluated in the national context, but it also has a number of shortcomings, faults and weaknesses. The case study reinforces the idea that adversities can be turned into advantages, such as in Singapore, and environmentally favorable conditions can be turned into disadvantages, such as in the PCJ Basins. It was evident that the main factor contributing to the success of the water management in Singapore was the government. Lee Kuan Yew is mentioned as the mentor of Singapore\'s overall development policies, including water management. He sought to reconcile economic development and environmental protection, to clean up all the rivers of the island and to promote the use of alternative sources of water to increase water autonomy in the country. However, the authoritarian government and its measures are questionable from a democratic point of view. Despite the PCJ river basins are among the most advanced in Brazil in terms of implementation of the Law 9433/97, its management has not generated all the expected economic, social and environmental benefits and there are still governance gaps that hamper the effective implementation of an effective water management. It is necessary to overcome the vision of water as an abundant and unlimited resource, the contradiction between environmental protection and economic growth, the current political structure, corruption problems, lack of political will, shortcomings in urban development and the shortage of adequate infrastructure.

Esta tese oferece o seqüenciamento, as bases conceituais da construção, formatação e apresentação do Jogo de Governança da Água (JGA) para a Bacia do Alto Tietê (BAT) situada em grande parte na Região Metropolitana de São Paulo. O objetivo do Jogo é construir intervenções dentro da sustentabilidade ambiental da BAT, alocando recursos em tempo real, através de rodadas de negociação e escolhas estratégicas pelos atores da própria Bacia, de forma a potencializar ou ampliar a governança da água na mesma. Três teorias embasam e sustentam o JGA, ou seja, a Teoria da Ação Comunicativa, a Teoria dos Jogos e a Teoria do Construtivismo. Essas teorias, associadas ao entendimento de outras metodologias que comportam plataformas de negociação, traduzem um produto, o JGA, capaz de estruturar propostas de intervenção e de alocação de recursos para sua implementação e, conseqüentemente, modificação de uma situação inicial de criticidade elencada pelos atores do Comitê da Bacia Hidrográfica do Alto Tietê. Os resultados do Jogo dependem das circunstâncias, do contexto, da interação dos jogadores; de variáveis de outros subjogos, das jogadas produzidas e da criatividade dos próprios atores. Após o Jogo, formatamse redes de aprendizagem e de prática, para que o monitoramento e avaliação da implementação permitam oferecer a gestão dos indicadores e parâmetros das intervenções acordadas no JGA. / This thesis provides the structure, conceptual bases, outline and operation of the Water Governance Game (WGG) for the Upper Tietê River Basin in the metropolitan region of São Paulo. The objective of the game is to create and develop environmentally sustainable interventions within the river basin, allocating resources in real-time, through negotiation rounds and the strategic choices of actors from the basin in order to strengthen and amplify local water governance. Three theories underpin and sustain the WGG: Jürgen Habermas\' Theory of Communicative Action, Game Theory and Constructivist epistemology. In association with a full understanding of other methodologies which encompass negotiation platforms, the theories make the WGG a product that is capable of structuring opportunities for intervention and resource allocation for the implementation and consequent modification of first case situations raised by actors within the basin. The results of the game depend on circumstances, context and the interaction of players. They are concomitant on variables from other sub-games, from gameplay and from the creativity of each of the actors. After the game, learning networks and communities of practice form which can monitor and evaluate developments and allow them to accompany implementation, offer management of indicators and follow the parameters for intervention agreed within the WGG.

L’approvisionnement en eau et la gestion de cette ressource dans les centres urbains des cités grecques de Crète est un sujet de recherche récent, qui pose la question de l’efficacité de la civilisation hydraulique crétoise du Ier millénaire av. J.-C. dans son ensemble. Empruntant aux sciences de la nature, à la géographie ainsi qu’à l’histoire, l’étude entend replacer l’archéologie au cœur du débat, pour illustrer en particulier la contribution des techniques hydrauliques crétoises au développement des concentrations urbaines nouvelles qu’induisit l’apparition, puis l’épanouissement des cités-États dans l’île entre le VIIIe s. av. J.-C. et la conquête de l’île par Rome, en 67 av. J.-C. Il apparaît que la plupart des formes de réponse actuelles aux enjeux de l’approvisionnement en eau des villes étaient connues en Crète dès l’âge du Fer. / The water supply and the management of this resource in the urban areas of the Greek cities of Crete is a recent research theme, which raises the question of the efficiency of the Cretan hydraulic civilization of the first millenium B.C. in general. Borrowing from the sciences of the nature, from the geography, as well as from the history, the study intends to put the archaeology back in the heart of the debate, to illustrate in particular the contribution of the Cretan hydraulic techniques to the development of the new conurbations led by the emergence, and then the blooming of city-states on the island between the eigth century B.C. and the conquest of the island by Rome, in 67 B.C. It seems that most of the current forms of answer to water supply issues of cities were known in Crete from the Iron Age.

Ecological planning relies on a keen awareness of relationships between biophysical and social processes, then uses this knowledge for decision making in accommodating for human needs. The value of this planning process allows for design intervention while also ensuring a sustained use of the landscape, with these insights blending skill and artistry into place-making. In the 1960s, environmental concerns galvanized a generation of landscape architects who first codified ecological planning as a rationale for decisions with environmental stewardship. While this is the accepted canon, in the early 20th century during a period of experimentation and exploration, the Olmsted Brothers landscape architecture firm was using ecological principles as foundations for landscape architecture practice. This thesis challenges current discourse and accepted history, presenting evidence that the Olmsted Brothers' work in the 1920s predated many modern ecological theories and applications, and is an important addition to the historiography of ecological planning. This thesis largely focuses on Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. as the central historical figure, offering a more in-depth understanding of the evolution of the firm, and fills the gap of the Olmsted legacy. As the children of Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. (1870-1957) along with his brother John Charles Olmsted (1852-1920) co-founded the Olmsted Brothers and created one of the most prolific landscape architecture practices, developing projects in all aspects of landscape design. The Olmsted Brothers' work in California accounts for over 200 projects, and ranks among the highest number of their 5000 designs developed in the United States. In the early 20th century, the city of Los Angeles offered significant ecological, cultural, and technological challenges for the firm, with the city's unbridled urbanization and proliferate use of water and automobility. Rich in solutions, the firm's built and proposed designs over the course of 20 years revealed the discipline of landscape architecture in its richest and most scalar form. From small scale gardens, residential communities, park and parkway systems, to open space and watershed planning, the Olmsted Brothers created public spaces that worked in relationship to the ecology of the region during a critical juncture in the history of regional planning in Southern California. A range of methods were utilized in this thesis. Primary data provided both qualitative and quantitative material for study and was extracted from letters, reports and writing, drawings, photos, plans and maps. Over 20,000 primary documents, written by the firm's principals, provided the basis for analysis, and in a new way, this thesis interprets not only the written documents, but related construction documents developed from 1914 - 1931. As part of its data collection, an original contribution of this study is a comprehensive corpus of Olmsted Brothers source material from their work in Los Angeles. Methodologies sought to modify these documents into a spatial understanding of their work through digital analysis and re-creation of designs. The Olmsted Brothers' design solutions provide insights into today's ongoing concerns about water management, sustainable urban planning, and multifunctional landscapes. Their design proposals solved multiple problems with the design, accounting for not only vast geography, but complex cultural and natural systems within it. The value of their ideas reflects landscape architecture solutions as hybrid, dynamic, and strategic, offering 21st century practitioners paradigms in an ever-changing ecology.

A divulgação de informação sobre qualidade das águas para um público não especialista é fundamental para subsidiar ações políticas e institucionais de gestão dos ambientes aquáticos. Para tanto, índices de qualidade de água têm sido propostos por serem capazes de sintetizar em um único valor ou categoria a informação normalmente descrita a partir de um conjunto extenso de variáveis químicas, físicas e biológicas de qualidade de água. A maioria das metodologias propostas para o desenvolvimento de índices de qualidade de água é baseada no conhecimento de especialistas quanto à escolha das variáveis a serem utilizadas, a ponderação da importância relativa de cada variável e métodos utilizados para agregar os dados das variáveis em um único valor. Este trabalho propõe um novo índice de qualidade de água, baseado em lógica nebulosa e direcionado para o ambiente lótico. Esse índice, o IQAFAL, foi desenvolvido com a colaboração de especialistas com ampla e comprovada experiência na área de qualidade de água. A essência do desenvolvimento de um índice, usando-se lógica nebulosa, está na capacidade dessa metodologia representar, de forma mais eficiente e clara, os limites dos intervalos de variação dos parâmetros de qualidade de água para um conjunto de categorias subjetivas, quando esses limites não são bem definidos ou são imprecisos. O índice proposto neste trabalho foi desenvolvido com base no conhecimento dos especialistas em qualidade de água do Instituto Estadual do Ambiente - INEA e aplicado aos dados de qualidade de água do Rio Paraíba do Sul, obtidos pelo INEA, nos anos de 2002 a 2009. Os resultados do IQAFAL mostraram que esse índice foi capaz de sintetizar a qualidade da água deste trecho do Rio Paraíba do Sul correspondendo satisfatoriamente às avaliações de qualidade de água descritas nos relatórios disponíveis. Verificou-se também que com essa metodologia foi possível evitar que a influência de uma variável em condições críticas fosse atenuada pela influência das outras variáveis em condições favoráveis produzindo um resultado indesejável no índice final. / The dissemination of information on water quality for a non-specialist audience is essential to support programs and institutional policies for the management of aquatic environments. Therefore, water quality indices have been proposed since they are able to synthesize into a single value or category information usually described from an extensive set of chemical, physical and biological water quality variables. Most of the proposed methodologies for the development of water quality indices are based on expert knowledge regarding the choice of variables used, weighting the relative importance of each variable, and methods used to aggregate data variables in a single value. This research proposes a new index of water quality, based on fuzzy logic and aimed at the lotic environment. This index, the IQAFAL, was developed through the collaboration of experts with broad and proven experience in the area of water quality. The essence of developing an index, using fuzzy logic is the ability of that methodology to represent, more efficiently and clearly, the limits of the ranges of the variables of water quality for a set of subjective categories, where these limits are not well defined or are inaccurate. The index proposed in this paper was developed based on knowledge of experts in water quality of the Rio de Janeiro Environmental Agency - INEA and applied to data of water quality of the Paraíba do Sul river, obtained by INEA, in the years 2002 to 2009. The results of IQAFAL showed that the index was able to synthesize the water quality of this stretch of the Paraíba do Sul, corresponding satisfactorily to the assessments of water quality described in the reports available. It was also noted that with this methodology it was possible to avoid the attenuation of the influence of a variable in critical condition by the influence of other variables in good conditions producing an undesirable result in the final index.

O presente trabalho apresenta-se como um marco inovador na área de gestão de recursos hídricos, já que o mesmo consegue inserir aspectos de qualidade da água para os processos de outorga e cobrança pelo uso da água, de forma articulada a todos os instrumentos da Política Nacional de Recursos Hídricos (Lei 9.433 de 1997), possibilitando a efetiva aplicação da Política e da Resolução n° 48, de 21 de março de 2005, que estabelece critérios gerais para a cobrança pelo uso dos recursos hídricos. Traz também para a Política um novo conceito, o de Justiça Hídrica, ou seja, quem capta água com qualidade superior paga mais do que quem capta água com qualidade inferior, assim como, quem mais polui e prejudica os usuários de jusante, mais paga. Neste trabalho, a variável de decisão do sistema é o volume outorgado e o estudo leva em consideração a capacidade de autodepuração, o enquadramento em classes de uso, o regime de vazão do corpo hídrico, a qualidade da água captada e os prejuízos, em termos de qualidade da água, ocasionados pelos usuários-poluidores aos usuários de jusante. A ferramenta de auxílio aqui oferecida é um Sistema de Suporte a Decisão (SSD), denominado RB, que apresenta: um módulo Interface, um módulo Modelos, constituído pelo modelo de outorga e cobrança pelo uso da água RM1 e pelo modelo de qualidade das águas QUAL2E e, por fim, um módulo Dados, que representa os dados de entrada e saída do sistema. O SSD RB foi aplicado à bacia do rio Jundiaí, afluente do rio Tietê, localizado no Estado de São Paulo. Na aplicação do SSD RB, foi realizada uma análise comparativa para a variação de cenários relativa a Classes de Uso do corpo hídrico, vazões de referência e diferentes valores de cobrança que podem ser utilizados. A aplicação do SSD RB reflete a necessidade de uma articulação sistemática entre os instrumentos da Política Nacional de Recursos Hídricos, apoiada na diretriz de gestão integrada de recursos hídricos, ou seja, existe um único corpo de trabalho (a gestão de recursos hídricos) cujos membros (instrumentos de gestão) só ganham sentido quanto articulados entre si com um mesmo objetivo: a garantia de água de boa qualidade com a quantidade necessária à atual e às futuras gerações. / The main objective of this study is to develop a set of tools to help with the implementation of water management mechanisms such as the analysis of authorization of water uses (permits) and water charging. An integrated analysis of both water quality and quantity is needed and the decision process must also take into account watershed plans and the designated uses of the water. In this study, the decision variable is the volume of water authorized in each permit. The tool developed in this study is a Decision Support System named RB, based on the QUAL2E model and an water permit and charging simulation system named RM1. The RB system was tested in the Jundiaí watershed, a tributary of the Tietê river located in the State of São Paulo. In this case study, several scenarios with different classification of water bodies, reference flows and water values were tested. The application of the system shows that water management tools must be applied in an integrated manner, mainly to reflect both aspects of water quality and quantity. Water management tools are to be articulated so that the main objective of supplying water with good quality and in an adequate amount is sustainable in the long run.

China has undertaken a vast engineering project: the large-scale transfer of water from the south of the country to the north, the intention being to alleviate flooding in the south and water shortages in the north. It may take up to fifty years to complete. This thesis examines the broad outline of the scheme, the planning that has gone into it, its historical and political background, and the political, social, and ecological problems that it has encountered and may be likely to cause in the future. The political context of a 'pro-technology' policy amongst today's Chinese leaders is highlighted. The Chinese study is made in the light of water-transfer schemes that have been implemented, or proposed, in other countries; and also ideas about sustainable development, policy processes, and natural resource management. Five case studies are considered: the Aral Sea (Central Asia), the Snowy Mountain Scheme (Australia), the National Hydrological Plan (Spain), the Central Arizona Project (the United States) and the South-to-North Water Transfer Project (China). They are examined as a basis for understanding policy problems and processes in water resource management, and also to make some suggestions for their resolution in the Chinese case―though finding a permanent or definitive solution lies beyond the scope of the present inquiry. The difficulties for traditional policy processes to manage uncertainty and complexity are particularly acute in the area of natural resource management. For example, climate change issues challenge present water management systems and diversion projects. Therefore, uncertainty and complexity issues, beyond the 'ideal' policy cycle, are considered, particularly in relation to climate change, but also the water diversion schemes themselves. Climate change presents a particularly important challenge to the Chinese Project.

The aim of this thesis was to identify the denitrifying microbial communities in activated sludge from full-scale treatment plants and from small-scale reactors exposed to acetate or methanol as external carbon sources. Biological denitrification is currently the most widely used, sustainable and cost-effective process to remove nitrogen from wastewater. Increasingly strict effluent discharge standards are posing significant challenges to plant operators to reduce effluent NO3--N concentrations to levels as low as 2-3 mg L-1 or even lower. The lack of sufficient influent carbon in many municipal wastewater treatment plants makes it very difficult to achieve such low NO3--N concentrations in the effluent. An effective solution to the problem is to introduce additional external carbon sources to enhance denitrification. The selection of external carbon sources is not purely based on costs but is also dependent on the possible microbial transformations that these carbon sources may bring about in activated sludge. The most common carbon source used is methanol due to its low cost, but it has been found to cause long delays until an improvement in denitrification performance is observed. On the other hand, acetate has been found to improve denitrification almost instantaneously when added, but it has a significantly higher cost. In this study, methanol and acetate utilising denitrifiers were investigated in activated sludge with and without enrichment in laboratory scale bioreactors. The relevant denitrifiers were identified and evaluated in situ using culture independent methods particularly stable isotope probing (SIP), 16S rDNA cloning, fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) and microautoradiography (MAR). Activated sludge collected from a biological nutrient removal plant exhibiting good denitrification was enriched in an anoxically-operated sequencing batch reactor (SBR) by feeding methanol as the sole carbon source and nitrate as the electron acceptor. The SBR was operated over a duration of 7 months and the SBR denitrification rate improved from 0.02 mg NO3--N mg mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS)-1 h-1 to a steady-state value of 0.06 mg NO3-N mg MLVSS-1 h-1. At steady state operation the enriched biomass was subjected to SIP with 13C-methanol to biomark the denitrifiers capable of utilising methanol under anoxic conditions. The separated 12C-DNA and 13C-DNA fractions from the SIP experiment were individually subjected to full cycle rRNA analysis. The dominant 16S rRNA gene phylotype (Group-A clones) in the 13C-library was closely related to the obligate methylotrophs Methylobacillus and Methylophilus in the order Methylophilales of the Betaproteobacteria (96-97% sequence identities), while the most abundant clone groups in the 12C-library mostly belonged to the family Saprospiraceae in the Bacteroidetes phylum. Oligonucleotide probes were designed for FISH to target the Group-A clones and Methylophilales (probes DEN67 and MET1216, respectively) and the Saprospiraceae clones (probe SAP553). Application of these probes on SBR biomass over the enrichment period demonstrated a strong correlation between the level of SBR denitrification and relative abundance of DEN67-targeted bacteria in the SBR community. By contrast, no correlation was found between denitrification rate and the relative abundances of the well known denitrifying genera Hyphomicrobium and Paracoccus nor the Saprospiraceae-clones visualised by FISH in the SBR biomass. FISH combined with microautoradiography independently confirmed that the DEN67-targeted cells were the dominant bacterial group capable of anoxic [14C] methanol uptake in the enriched biomass. As observed in full-scale operations, the methanol-fed SBR experienced a lag period of several weeks before denitrification performance increased. Using FISH quantification, it was shown that this coincided with the lag phase in the growth of the DEN67-targeted denitrifying population. It was therefore concluded that the Methylophilales bacteria dominant in our SBR system are likely to be important in full-scale methanol-fed denitrifying sludges. The acetate utilising microbial consortium in activated sludge was investigated without prior enrichment using stable isotope probing (SIP). 13C-acetate was used in SIP to biomark the DNA of the denitrifiers. The extracted 13C-DNA fraction was subjected to a full cycle rRNA analysis. The dominant 16S rRNA gene phylotypes in the 13C-library were closely related to bacterial families Comamonadaceae and Rhodocyclaceae of class Betaproteobacteria (96-97% sequence identities). Seven oligonucleotide probes (DEN444, DEN220, DEN581, DEN441, DEN124, DEN220a and DEN1454) for use in FISH was designed to specifically target the identified phylotypes. Application of these probes on the sludge of a continuously fed denitrifying sequencing batch reactor (CFDSBR) operated over a duration of 16 days indicated a strong correlation between the level of CFDSBR denitrification and relative abundance of all probe-targeted bacteria in the CFDSBR community. FISH combined with microautoradiography (FISH-MAR) further confirmed that the DEN581- and DEN124-targeted cells dominating the CFDSBR were capable of taking up [14C] acetate under anoxic conditions. The initial occurrence of the DEN444- and DEN1454-targeted bacteria and the final dominance of DEN581- and DEN124-targeted bacteria in the CFDSBR community were likely related to the changing in-reactor nitrite concentrations during the first few days of CFDSBR operation. Hence, the DEN444- and DEN1454-targeted bacteria were hypothesised to have low affinities for nitrite while DEN124- and DEN581-targeted bacteria have higher nitrite affinities. However, it was clear that all probe-targeted bacteria were denitrifiers capable of utilising acetate as a carbon source. The rapid increase in numbers of the probe-targeted organisms positively correlates with the immediate increase in denitrification rates. The rapid response and community shifts observed when acetate was used to enhance denitrification suggest that an intermittent application of acetate is quite effective to temporarily enhance the denitrification capacity of a treatment plant. However, the importance of a bacterial impact assessment of activated sludge subjected to intermittent acetate supplementation is recommended prior to the wide use of acetate in the wastewater industry. The acetate utilising denitrifying microbial communities investigated in the previous chapter were characterised according to their eco-physiological properties using the r- and K-selection criteria. The electron donor (acetate) and acceptor (nitrite) affinities of these probe-identified denitrifiers were used as traits for this characterisation. The substrate to microorganism (S/M) ratio was manipulated to provide high and low substrate concentrations in the reactor to create conditions favourable for r- and K-strategists, respectively. Two factors, namely feeding regimes and sludge retention times, were studied to achieve the desired S/M ratios and enable r/K characterisation. The high substrate affinities and high specific growth rates of two probe-identified denitrifiers (DEN124 and DEN581) did not enable resolution of these two organisms with the feeding regimes used in this study. However, the application of different sludge retention times as a control strategy to maintain constant high and low in-reactor S/M ratios enabled characterisation of the two probe-targeted denitrifiers DEN124 and DEN581 as K- and r-strategists, respectively. The in-reactor S/M ratios applied in this study did not facilitate the characterisation of populations targeted by probes DEN444 and DEN1454. The minor fluctuations of the S/M ratios during a cycle in the SBR operation was considered as a drawback, but conclusive results could still be obtained from the study. A chemostat reactor operation with constant loading and variable flow rates is suggested as an alternative. Conclusively, this study was able to identify specific groups of denitrifying microorganisms in activated sludge when exposed to acetate and methanol. Unlike most previous studies, which relied on culture dependent methods, this study adopted a pure culture independent approach to identify microorganisms in relation to their function, i.e. denitrification. Moreover, acetate denitrifiers were in situ characterised based on eco-physiological properties. The identification of denitrifying communities in this study has paved the way to a larger research project on the optimisation of denitrification processes with external acetate, methanol and other carbon supplements. As such, this study has contributed significantly to the understanding of the denitrification processes by linking process data with microbial investigations.