Adaptation of water resources management to climate change

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The new type of uncertainty resulting from climate change means that past records, science,and expertise now provide a less secure basis for choice than in the past. The choices that need tobe made should be based on public participation and consent. This may result in a somewhatconfusing social process. Just as issues such as health care and genetically modified organisms havegenerated much debate, wide public discussions on how best to deal with climate change willprovide an opportunity to generate public and political support for sharing the burden (and thebenefits) of the impacts.“IT IS UNREALISTIC TO EXPECT THAT ADAPTATION WILL SIMPLYHAPPEN BECAUSE IT ‘SOUNDS LIKE THE RIGHT THING TO DO’.”Involving the public in this process will require building adaptation strategies and measuresaround the water manager’s and user’s current abilities. Endeavouring to overcome resistance tounpopular actions is unlikely to yield quick results. In addition, training will be needed to clarifyclimate change issues and introduce possible alternative adaptation measures. Demonstrationsand peer review of innovative measures can be extremely useful. Through training, stakeholders’commitment and a personal identification with the issues can be developed.Adapting water resources management to climate variability and change will need to bringshort-term as well as long-term benefits. Actions that promote near-term paybacks to the peopleinvolved will be important –it is unrealistic to expect that adaptation will simply happen becauseit “sounds like the right thing to do”. On the contrary, one major difficulty with the uncertaintyof climate change is that costly adaptation measures may prove to have been unnecessary whenthe climate does not change as expected. When discussing adaptation measures it will thereforebe important to focus on “no-regrets” or “win-win” solutions. These measures would providesignificant benefits even if climate change does not manifest itself in quite the ways predicted.IN HONDURAS, TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUES COULD BECOME THE STARTINGPOINT FOR EXPERIMENTATIONAn example of the sort of adaptation a coalition might support comes from the remote village ofGuarita in Honduras. The village was one of the few places in the region that successfully avoidedthe worst of the destruction wrought by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. The traditional Quezungal farmingmethod practised by the local villagers had protected the upper-catchment and reduced the loss ofcrops to only 10 per cent. Their traditional farming involves planting crops under trees whose rootsanchor the soil, pruning vegetation to provide nutrients to the soil and conserve soil water, andterracing to reduce soil erosion. Unfortunately, the methods taught at agricultural colleges andemployed in surrounding areas caused much damage, as they were suited more for cultivation ofplains rather than for farmland located on more hilly terrain. The traditional Quezungal methodavoids widespread slash-and-burn techniques and improves soil fertility. It is now being activelypromoted by the Government of Honduras in collaboration with the UN Food and AgricultureOrganisation (FAO). This example illustrates that building and supporting traditional knowledgeand techniques can be a valuable part of an adaptive management strategy for climate change. 3845
A BROAD COALITION COULD HELP TO IMPLEMENT INNOVATIVE CLIMATEADAPTATION SOLUTIONS IN THE NETHERLANDSA coalition could materially assist a proposal in the Netherlands to support peat-bog areas tocounteract the impacts of land subsidence and sea level rise. “Growing with the sea” is a Dutchinitiative to link coastal defence to nature conservation and restoration. The planned inundation oflow-lying areas to store freshwater, facilitate purification and create wetlands is being proposed.The measure would counteract the ongoing subsidence of 40-50 centimetres in some peat-bog areas.The peat bogs would function as buffers against excess rainwater and would supply water for industry,agriculture and human consumption. They would also provide a habitat for important plant andanimal species and provide various recreational opportunities. The innovative idea combines longtermaspects of adapting to climate change with direct, short-term benefits to society. 41POLITICAL LEADERS IN CALIFORNIA USE DROUGHTS TO MAKE PROGRESSWITH WATER LEGISLATIONLeaders can help increase public acceptance and generate political will to change long-standing (andoften legally-binding) constraints. Working with a National Adaptation Coalition can increase theability to seize upon an event to push for much-needed reforms to adapt to climate change. Forinstance, droughts have been used to promote reforms in water supply, management and evendemand. In California, the serious drought that occurred in the 1980s prompted Congress to removelegislative constraints on the operational flexibility of California’s Central Valley Project. This allowedwater to be reallocated for in-stream uses to protect aquatic habitats. This change, combined withstrict adherence to water quality standards, provided the basis for addressing the impacts of droughtswhile also targeting key environmental concerns. 17PUBLIC INFORMATION CAMPAIGNS IN COSTA RICA REDUCE ENERGYCONSUMPTION IMPACTED BY CLIMATE VARIABILITYWith the support of leaders, a coalition can also undertake public information campaigns andincentives such as those carried out in Costa Rica to reduce hydropower energy consumption affectedby climate variability. Costa Rica’s Electricity Institute has developed a nationwide strategy to reduceenergy consumption and encourages users to be more efficient when using energy. With a 98%dependency on hydropower, Costa Rica’s energy supply is directly dependent on its water resourcesand strongly affected by climatic variability. Through a newspaper, radio and television campaignthe government is working to reduce energy demand. In addition, incentives are provided to directlyreduce energy consumption. The policy assists in establishing a societal process in which people valueenergy and water resources and assume responsibility for actions towards sustainable watermanagement 4246
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ChangeAdaptation of water resources
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The designation of geographical ent
Page 7 and 8: 3. Living with UncertaintyTo adapt
Page 9 and 10: Adaptation to climate change will r
Page 12: AcknowledgementsIUCN actively suppo
Page 15 and 16: warming to the Earth's climate is e
Page 18 and 19: Chapter 2Mounting Evidence, Emergin
Page 20 and 21: Forecast of the IPCC on global temp
Page 22 and 23: planned and managed in the past can
Page 24 and 25: Adaptation in the context of climat
Page 26 and 27: • Prevent the effects: reducing v
Page 28: equired expertise and resources. Pa
Page 31 and 32: CORE VALUES OF MODERN WATER MANAGEM
Page 33 and 34: Until recently, there has been litt
Page 35 and 36: Strategic Priority 1. Reducing the
Page 37 and 38: RESTORING FARM BIODIVERSITY TO COPE
Page 39 and 40: IN THE NETHERLANDS, SMALL GATES AND
Page 42 and 43: Chapter 4Beyond Pipes, Pumps, andPo
Page 44 and 45: PARTICIPATION OF VULNERABLE GROUPS
Page 46 and 47: The strengthening of social capital
Page 48 and 49: have to recognise that they have mu
Page 50: priority setting, defining stakehol
Page 53 and 54: PRIORITIES FOR ADAPTATION TO CLIMAT
Page 55 and 56: GIS operators looking at land use p
Page 57: ADAPTATION OPTIONS FOR SOUTHERN AFR
Page 61 and 62: The core values of the adaptation p
Page 63 and 64: References1 Intergovernmental Panel
Page 65 and 66: 27 Jiggins, J. and Röling, N. 2002
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