Water for people.pdf - WHO Thailand Digital Repository

3 0 0 / M A N A G E M E N T C H A L L E N G E S : S T E W A R D S H I P A N D G O V E R N A N C ESharing Water: Defining a Common InterestBox 12.4: Sharing water resources in the Seine-Normandy basinThe level of the Beauce water table, which is mainly usedfor irrigation, has dropped considerably since the beginningof the 1990s, provoking in particular the drought of its riveroutlets. To counter this problem, several solutions wereattempted, resulting in an output that seems to be efficientand which has promoted stakeholder participation.■ 1993 - 1994: irrigation was totally prohibited severaldays per week, during the summer. Irrigators did notaccept these restrictions, in particular as the systemwas geographically inconsistent and they reacted byincreasing abstraction on authorised days.■ 1995: the Beauce Charter was passed between theadministration and the irrigators’ representative. Thischarter allowed different restrictions for irrigation,based on a comparison of the mean level of the watertable (derived from representative piezometers) withthree historically defined warning thresholds.Monitoring of groundwater levels allowed irrigation tobe prohibited several days per week as required andpermitted public awareness campaigns to be organized.This approach also proved unsuitable.■ 1999: a smoother system was implemented whichattributed a global volume to irrigation, negotiated withthe irrigators’ representative body, on the basis of themean level of the water table. This volume was thenshared between the administrative zones, each with itsown rules for allocating to irrigators. A volumetricquota is attributed to each irrigator, depending on thelocation and the area of their irrigated land, andsometimes their crops and stockbreeding. The use of ahydrogeological model should improve the definition ofthe different parameters.■ 2002: the water table is also soon to be classified as a‘water-sharing area’, which will limit the volumewithdrawn to a maximum of 8 m 3 /h instead of theusual 80 m 3 /h limit. In parallel, as proposed by the1992 French Water Act, a local management plan(SAGE) has been in development for the water tablesince 1998 using a collaborative approach that willimprove its suitability and acceptance.Sources: Le Coz, 2000; Mouray and Vernoux, 2000.also affects water demands. In effect, if IWRM were adopted as astandard approach everywhere, it would help to foresee and avoid issuesthat could create conflicts.Chapter 15 on water governance discusses the issues of institutionsat some length. Water managers generally understand and advocate theinherent powers of the concept of the watershed as a unit ofmanagement where surface and groundwater, quantity and quality, areall intrinsically connected and related to land use management. However,the institutions that have historically followed these tenets are theexception. One lesson that has been learnt about building institutions isthat it is better to begin with those that cause the least disruption toexisting power structures. Sharing information and cooperation at theselevels will eventually lead to the desired institutions with the neededauthority. This lesson is linked to a second: that the higher the degreeof participation by all interested parties, the more sustainable theresultant institutional frameworks.Adaptable management structures, clear and flexible waterallocation, water quality management criteria and equitable benefitdistribution further contribute to successful and sustainableinstitutions. An example of this process of increasing involvement ofstakeholders and evolution of the policy framework is that of themanagement of the waters of the Beauce aquifer in the Seine-Normandy water basin in France (box 12.4).Transboundary Water ManagementThe management of water resources across national boundariesstrains the capabilities of institutions. Rarely do the boundaries ofwatersheds correspond to the existing administrative boundaries.Regional politics can exacerbate the already formidable task ofunderstanding and managing complex natural systems, and disparitiesbetween riparian states – such as level of economic development,infrastructure capacity, political orientation or cultural values – cancomplicate the development of joint management structures.Since the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment andDevelopment (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, the internationalcommunity has expanded its involvement in the management of