Table Of ContentSPRINGER BRIEFS IN APPLIED SCIENCES AND
TECHNOLOGY POLIMI SPRINGER BRIEFS
Guido Minucci
Enabling
Adaptive Water
Management
to Face Drought
Risk in a Changing
Climate
SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences
and Technology
PoliMI SpringerBriefs
Editorial Board
Barbara Pernici, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
Stefano Della Torre, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
Bianca M. Colosimo, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
Tiziano Faravelli, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
Roberto Paolucci, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
Silvia Piardi, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
More information about this subseries at http://www.springer.com/series/11159
http://www.polimi.it
Guido Minucci
Enabling Adaptive Water
Management to Face Drought
Risk in a Changing Climate
123
GuidoMinucci
DASTU
Politecnico di Milano
Milan,Italy
ISSN 2191-530X ISSN 2191-5318 (electronic)
SpringerBriefs inApplied SciencesandTechnology
ISSN 2282-2577 ISSN 2282-2585 (electronic)
PoliMI SpringerBriefs
ISBN978-3-030-55136-0 ISBN978-3-030-55137-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55137-7
©TheAuthor(s),underexclusivelicensetoSpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG2021
Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsaresolelyandexclusivelylicensedbythePublisher,whether
thewholeorpartofthematerialisconcerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting,reuseof
illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and
transmissionorinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilar
ordissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfrom
therelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained
hereinorforanyerrorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeenmade.Thepublisherremainsneutralwithregard
tojurisdictionalclaimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations.
ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbytheregisteredcompanySpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG
Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland
Foreword
This book is about drought, institutional arrangements in developing countries
dealing with water management, global economic drivers, poor communities in
search of improved living conditions, and showing how all those issues are inter-
acting together under changing climatic, political, and socio-economic conditions.
Itdoessobydrawingonfirst-handobservationsandanalysisofavailableliterature,
documents,andinterviews inthearea ofMunicipalityofTomave belongingtothe
Quijarro Province in Bolivia. Bolivia is a relatively remote country in Latin
America, for long time excluded from global formal trade connections, suddenly
discovering the enormous potential of a seed, the quinoa, particularly appreciated
for its nutritional qualities in countries that have internationalized their taste and
seeking healthier food. The quinoa production of the quinoa is increasing rapidly,
demandingamoreconsiderableamountofwater,attheexpenseofotherplantsand
it is creating new problems of sustainability. The latter are experienced not only
environmentallybutalsoasfarasthelocaldietisconcerned:whilstthequinoawas
traditionally providing the basic food for Bolivian people, its discovery as a
lucrative product has turned it into a good for exportation, thus depriving many of
its consumption without providing equally valid alternatives.
ByenteringintothespecificdynamicsthatcharacterizestheBoliviancasestudy,
the author describes how development is somehow forced by international com-
petitionoverglobalmarketstotakeunsustainablepathsthatareinthemedium-and
longer-term detrimental for the well being and even the survival of communities
that are hoping instead to improve their rather poor conditions. It is a rather
well-known trend that globalization has somehow stretched to the extreme:
unsustainablesocialandlivingconditionspushpeoplesearchingforimprovements
thatobeytothelawsoffree,globalmarkets,resultingindecreaseofpovertybutat
the expense of environmental sustainability. On the balance, the trade is between
livelihood and environmental sustainability, where the impact on the latter means
theerosionofthevitalbasisoftheformer.Findinganequilibriumbetweenthetwo
should be the objective of what Guido Minucci proposes as adaptive water man-
agement and planning. A concept is not new and actually very much debated
especially in more recent years. Nevertheless operationalizing it, turning it into an
v
vi Foreword
actual opportunity for finding the balance between contrasting needs operating at
differentspatialandtemporalscalesisnotaseasytodoastosay.Infact,onemust
be aware that forces that are playing on this ground are shaped across different
spatialscales:theconsumersofthegoodsarefarfromwherethedamagetonatural
resources is suffered and the marketing campaigns actually promote them as
healthierandalsoprovidingthesourceofenhancedlivingstandardsforproducers,
whichispartiallytrue.Asforthetemporalscale,thebenefitsarenow,whereasthe
harm will be brought in the future, a situation that is common to most environ-
mentalhazardsandrisks.Suchcomplexinterrelationshipsmakeitratherdifficultto
implement adaptive management only locally, where the goods are produced, or
even at the national level, where decision makers see their commercial balance
pending on the positive side as for export and GDP. What makes the analysis and
theinsightsonthedifferentdimensionpolitical,social,institutional,environmental
of the case study so relevant stems from the deep knowledge that the author has
developed by living in the area and therefore getting to understand processes and
practicesintheeverydaylifeandnotjustasastand-aloneresultoffewvisitstothe
area. The experience matured and lived through in the Municipality of Tomave
provided him with the possibility to identify specific aspects that can be leveraged
on, albeit in a very difficult context, in order to achieve enhanced adaptive water
management practices.
Thebookisorganizedinaninterestingmanner,asitfirstproposesaframework,
named REACT, to combine the clear identification, description of the problems
entailedbycurrentwatermanagementpracticesmakingexplicitthedifferentdrivers
actingatdifferentscales,withtheproposalofsolutionsthatresultfromaprocessto
betriggeredamongstavarietyofstakeholders.Suchprocessputsatthecentreaset
of capacities including collective and individual learning, sharing of information,
improved practices of decision-making and negotiation. Then the framework is
tested in the case study of Bolivia, revealing the many obstacles that it would face
in case of adoption. In the concluding chapter, the author provides ideas grounded
on evidences from the field on how the framework can still provide a significant
addedvalueandpotentiallyleadtomuchmoresustainablesolutionsandpracticesif
local actors who are facing the consequences of ill-water management are able to
innovatefrominsidecurrentgovernancepracticestriggeringaseasonofreforms.It
isacknowledgedthatthelattercannotbeachievedallatonce,butprioritiesmustbe
set based also on what is achievable and what can be used as a leverage to trigger
more vertical and horizontal coordination amongst social groups and institutions.
One way to do this is perhaps working to improve drought early warning systems
that address immediate issues that are already experienced by all (or most) stake-
holdersandthendemonstratethatbetterwatermanagementcansignificantlyreduce
thenumberofwarnings,bypushingawaycriticalthresholdsfromthemostfrequent
conditions ofseasonswith scarce rainfall. The entire bookisinfact based ontheI
believe correct assumption that whilst drought is a natural phenomenon, water
scarcity isexperiencedprimarilybecauseofill-designedwatersystemsandlackof
adaptation to climatic conditions, even without fully considering the impact of
climatechange.And,correctlytheauthorbeginswithamultifacetedandarticulated
Foreword vii
explanation of drought that differently from other “natural” hazards does not cor-
respondtoanagreedupon,univocaldefinition.Thisapparentlyoddsituationstems
fromthefactthatdroughtisconceivedandperceiveddifferentlyupontheusagesof
water rather than referred to indisputable precipitation values. It is also the result
of the nature of drought that differently from floods or storms is a creeping and
long-termdurationhazardbothinitsoutbreakandintheconsequencesitproduces
in social and natural systems.
Byinterlacing adisasterrisk reduction with anadaptivewater managementand
planning perspectives, the present book provides a useful contribution to a field of
research and practice that is at the frontier of various disciplines and organizations
thathaveattheendnootherchoicethancooperateforthesurvivalofcommunities
andecosystemswithoutwhichalsotheconditionsthatpermittosometogetricher
and better are severely undermined.
Milan, Italy Scira Menoni
Preface
Droughtisasevereweather-relatednaturaldisasteraffectingtheextendedareaand
ranking first among all natural hazards in terms of the number of people affected,
putting society and environment at risk in many regions of the world. Droughts of
even greater intensity will likely increase in the coming years, and other stresses
related to global market-driven transformations and population growth will com-
pound the effects of climate variability and change on water resources.
The traditional water management is now considered inadequate to respond to
uncertainties and extremes expected with climate change and other contextual
conditions. As a result, water management has shifted towards iterative and inte-
grated management practices, more aligned with concepts of adaptive water
management.
The book examines the drought risk characteristics and the specificities of the
impactsof droughts firstly. Then it explores the current challenges and thecontext
ofhighuncertaintyandhighrisksforwatermanagementaswellastheinterlinkages
between drought and water management. The book focuses on the challenges to
water organizations, requiring the ability to adapt to such changes and implement
adaptive water management.
The characteristics of the adaptive capacity regarding organizations and insti-
tutions have been identified and investigated through a critical review of the rele-
vant literature. Reframing such characteristics, the book proposes a conceptual
framework to assess organization’s adaptive capacity, named REACT. The
developed framework has been tested within a case study in Bolivia.
The book analyzes the barriers hindering the adaptive capacity of organizations
thatadministerwater toadapt,suchasalowleveloforganizational andindividual
learningcapacity,alackofsharingandnegotiating,leadershipandresources.Italso
investigates the socio-cultural and economic barriers in the water governance for
applying the AWM strategies that include institutional legacy and fragmentation,
lack of resources as well as corruption and elite pressure.
ix
x Preface
The book describes how to enable adaptive water management to face current
and future drought risk by integrating it with drought risk management, for
instance, promoting policies that endorse watersheds protection and drought plans
strengthening water management capacity within water users and managers.
Thefindingsoutlinethatanadaptiveapproachtowatermanagementintegrating
drought risk management facilitates a context with flexible and open water man-
agementorganizationsandgovernancesystemsthatallowforlearningandincrease
adaptive capacity to embrace climate and non-climatic drivers uncertainties in
decision-making and design solutions that reduce vulnerability to ensure sustain-
able development.
Milan, Italy Guido Minucci
