Water A Reflection Of Land Use Options For Counteracting Land And Water Mismanagement

130 Pages·1999·2.42 MB·English

by  M. Falkenmark

Water
Water, a reflection of land use W
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Options for counteracting land and water mismanagement. r
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A land use decision is also a water decision. Land and water are closely linked through the t
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water cycle. In extreme cases, downstream effects ofirrigation farming may be as serious n
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as in case ofthe Aral Sea disaster. An increasing number ofrivers are reported more or less l
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depleted from upstream land use activities. At the same time, farmers are accused also of d
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polluting the underlying groundwater beyond potability limits and ofcausing s a reflection of land use
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eutrophication ofsurface waters and enclosed seas. Industrialised landscapes are littered
by landfills leaking pollutants to underlying aquifers. Their remediation has often relied on
Superfunds due to the high costs involved. Options for counteracting land
In demystifying the water cycle, this book reviews issues in land-water management,
and water mismanagement
clarifying the need for an integrated approach in line with Agenda 21. The links between
water cycle, human activities and their effects on freshwater is explained and illustrated by
a rich set ofexamples from different parts ofthe world. The book relates land use to By M. Falkenmark, L. Andersson, R. Castensson, K. Sundblad
sustainability issues and highlights current policy mismatches. It includes also a discussion
in collaboration with C.Batchelor, J.Gardiner, C.Lyle, N. Peters,
ofthe time scale ofrecovery and provides an agenda for a better-informed political action.
B. Pettersen, P. Quinn, J. Rockström,C. Yapijakis
The book contributes actively in filling the conceptual void between climate and
ecosystems. It may severe as an introductory text to students and it may also be valuable
both for teachers looking for a good overview ofkey causes and processes that lead up to
ecological degradation and for a knowledgeable general audience interested in ongoing
environmental degradation all around the world.
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A contribution ofSweden to the International Hydrological Programme 03 N
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main object is the promotion and support of research within the natural sciences in Sweden. ISB ET
Water
a reflection of land use
Options for counteracting
land and water mismanagement
By M. Falkenmark, L. Andersson, R. Castensson,
K. Sundblad in collaboration with
C. Batchelor, J. Gardiner,
C. Lyle, N. Peters, B. Pettersen,
P. Quinn, J. Rockström, C. Yapijakis
Unesco-IHP
© swedish natural science research council
isbn 91 546 0358 7
published by swedish natural science research council
p o box 7142, se-103 87 stockholm, sweden
tel [phone], fax [phone]
e-mail: [email protected]
internet: www.nfr.se
graphic design: g. lulich grafisk form, uppsala, sweden
printed in sweden by elanders gotab ab, 1999
printed on chlorine free paper
3
Contents
Chapter 1. The purpose ofthis book 10
M Falkenmark
Chapter 2. Regional challenges 17
K Sundblad, Contributors: L Andersson and J F Rockström
Chapter 3. Natural rules ofthe game 31
L Andersson and P Quinn, Contributor: K Sundblad
Chapter 4. Current policies – inconsistent with natural rules 50
R Castensson and M Falkenmark, Contributor: J Gardiner
Chapter 5. A land-use decision is also a water decision 58
M Falkenmark, Contributor: N Peters
Chapter 6. Reversibilitiy and the time scales ofrecovery 79
C H Batchelor and K Sundblad,
Contributors: B Pettersen, and C Yapijakis
Chapter 7. Steps to be taken for integrated land and water management 92
R Castensson and M Falkenmark, Contributors: J Gardiner,
C Lyle, and C Yapijakis
Chapter 8. Less ignorant towards the future 107
M Falkenmark
References 119
Case studies from IHP Committees and other sources 122
Index 125
4
About the authors and contributors
Lotta Andersson John Gardiner
Lotta Andersson is a physical geographer and John Gardiner is professor of sustainable
hydrologist. She is a senior researcher at the management at Middlesex University, Lon-
Department of Water and Environmental don; until 1995, he was technical Planning
Studies, Linköping University, where she Manager with the National Rivers Authori-
studies streamflow generation linked to hydro- ty. He has 23 years experience in all aspects
chemical dynamics and influence of land use of river corridor and catchment manage-
changes on water resources. She is also a lec- ment, pioneering environmentally sensitive
turer in physical geograpy and geographical techniques, holistic project appraisal,catch-
information systems at the Department of ment management planning and source con-
Geography at Linköping University,Sweden. trol. He is active in research, consulting and
lecturing in 5 continents, and in “greening”in-
Charles Batchelor stitutions such as the Institution of Civil En-
Charles Batchelor is Head of the Agro-Hydro- gineers, in the UK and abroad.
logy Section at The Institute of Hydrology,
Wallingford, United Kingdom.During the
Clive Lyle
last twenty years, he has been involved in a
Clive Lyle is currently the Director of Natural
wide range of research studies of irrigated
Resources Policy for the Catchment Manage-
and rainfed farming systems, water manage-
ment and Sustainable Agriculture Division
ment, crop water use, integrated catchment
of the Victorian Department of Natural Re-
management and the environmental impact
sources and Environment, Australia. He is
of agricultural practices on water resources
involved withpolicymakingonlandandwater
and water quality.
management at a senior governmental level.
He was formerly the Director of Natural Re-
Reinhold Castensson
sources Management with the Murray-Darling
Reinhold Castensson is associate professor at
Basin Commission. He has extensive experi-
the Department of Water and Environmental
ence and interest in catchment planninglink-
Studies, Linköping University, Sweden work-
ing land, water and vegetation management.
ingwith river basin development and manage-
He has been involved previously in prepar-
ment and regional water resources planning
ing a number of community based, landand
and landscape change. He is also senior
water management plans as well as research
lecturer in social and economic geography.
into soil, water and salinity management.
Malin Falkenmark
Malin Falkenmark is a professor of Interna- Norman Peters
tional Hydrology at the Swedish Natural Norman (Jake) Peters is a research hydrologist
Science Research Council, and chair of the of the U.S. Geological Survey at the Georgia
Swedish Committee for the International District Office of the Water Resources Divi-
Hydrological Programme. She is very active sion in Atlanta, Georgia. He also is President
in various international bodies, including of the International Commission on Water
IUCN, the World Bank and the International Quality of the International Association of
Water Resources Association. Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) and Associate
5
ABOUT THE AUTHORS AND CONTRIBUTORS
Editor of the international journal, Hydrolo- the Natural Resources Management group at
gical Processes. In addition to conducting the Department of System Ecology, Stock-
research of small catchments for understand- holm University, Sweden. He received his
ing hydrologic and biogeochemical processes, Ph.D. in 1997 in a studyfocused on soil and
he is active in addressing global water quality water research in dryland agriculture in the
issues through various IAHS Symposia and Sahel region in Africa (Niger) in collabora-
Workshops on water quality and collaboration tion with the French research institute
in water-quality projects around the globe. ORSTOM (Institut Français deRecherche
Most recently, he is chairing a task group to Scientifique pour le Développement en Co-
develop a global water-quality program for opération).
the UN.
Karin Sundblad
Berit Pettersen Karin Sundblad is a Senior Lecturer in Envir-
Berit Pettersen is an Associate Professor on onmental Science and Ecology at the Depart-
Environmental Engineering and Water Sci- ment of Biology, Linköping University, Sweden.
ences at the Institute of Applied Chemistry, She receivedher Ph. D. in 1988 in the field of
Technical University of Denmark. Main re- constructed wetlands for wastewater nutrient
search topics have been: Utilisation of nutrients recycling and has since then continued with
inwaste waters by hydroculture and ground- research in that same area. Other interestsand
water protection through bioremediation of involvements are catchments studies of
oil polluted soil. Main field of interest is to nutrient transformations and transport, and
create political awareness about the present potentials for improving nutrient recycling
global unbalance in the nitrogen cycle, causing betweencities and surrounding countryside.
a continuous increase of nitrate in the world
waters, comparable to the continuous increase
Constantine Yapijakis
of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere.
Yapijakis teaches Environmental Engineering
and is Director of Environmental Research
Paul Quinn at the Cooper Union for the Advancement
Paul Quinn has a degree in water resources and of Science and Art, in Manhattan, New York.
geology from Aston University and a Ph. D.in He has over 20 years of international experi-
terrain analysis and hydrology from Lancaster ence, both academic and industrial, in all as-
University, UK.Since1991,hehastaught at pects of environmental engineering. He has
LancasterUniversityandStirlingUniversity taught in several major universities in the
and carried post doctoral research on model- New York metropolitan area, and has been
ling of the land surface for climate change involved in all the major projects for New
models. Paul is now an environmental consult- York City. These include drinking water treat-
ant with ADAS and specialisesin hydrology ment and regional resources, quality manage-
andGISwithaparticularinterestinagricultur- ment, solid waste management, industrial
alpollution. Modelling, scale and uncertainty waste pre-treatment, and toxic waste mini-
remain at the hearts of his research interests. mization programs.
Johan Rockström
Johan Rockström has a degree in agricultural
sciences from the University of Agricultural
Sciences, Uppsala Sweden. In 1993 he joined
6
Foreword
The water issue is set to become one of the major questions of the
21st century. Wise and far-sighted action is essential if human needs
are to be met and if this most precious of resources is to become a
potential source not of conflict but rather of agreements that can
serve as a paradigm for peaceful international co-operation. This
book, which originated from an invitation from UNESCO to the
Swedish National Committee for the International Hydrological
Programme aims to demystify the water cycle. Based on case studies
provided from various National IHP Committees, the book illus-
trates many different ways in which man interferes with the water
cycle and clarifies environmental problems which emerge.
The world’s water problems arise not so much from a shortage
of freshwater as from its uneven distribution, from ever-increasing
demand and from practices detrimental to water quality. Water
problems will grow worse unless urgent action is taken to address
them at the national and international level: action firmly rooted in
the idea of partnership with nature and sharing with all human
communities. Our response to the water crisis should be based on
a better understanding of the interconnection between water
resources and human behaviour as well as enlightened policies at
the national and international level. Education has a major part to
play in promoting such an awareness.
Education for water awareness has a rich heritage on which to
draw. Water connects us. It connects us by flowing across imposed
boundaries, by linking diverse terraines and settlements. In religion,
myth and legend, water is a universal symbol of wholeness and
purification. It is the original element, a source of life, a metaphor
for natural and mental process, the image of all that unites us in
time and space. This civilizational inheritance is one that education
can and must turn to account.
Already 20 years ago UNESCO drew attention to the fact that
through the hydrological cycle an important part of the water used
for economic purposes returns to rivers heavily polluted. Twenty
years later the problems have worsened. The interdependence of
water and civilization highlights the increasing and urgent need for
close co-operation among all the stakeholders, extending from the
local through the regional right up to the global level. One of the
most important needs is for coordinated efforts to understand the
processes occurring in the water cycle, to access surface and ground
water resources, and to promote attitudes conducive to maintaining
the quality and quantity of water resources for future generations.
7
FOREWORD
Recognition of the importance of these objectives led to the launch-
ingof the International Hydrological Decade (IHD) in 1964, the
first truly international scientific and educational effort ever made
in hydrology. In 1974, UNESCO decided to set up the long-term
International Hydrological Programme (IHP) with the aim of
finding solutions to the specific problems of countries with different
geographical and climatic conditions and at various levels of tech-
nological and economic development.
Attaining the general objective presupposes advances in know-
ledge and their effective application in a number of fields. In partic-
ular, better understanding is required of the hydrological cycle as
affected by human settlements and activities in terms of both
quantity and quality under various climatic conditions. Today,
IHP together with the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme,
contribute to the scientific backbone of UNESCO’s environmental
activities.
Water is an integral part of our heritage. Each generation has
only temporary rights over their water. When we talk about water
and the environment, about a situation that may become irreversible,
we see the need for a new water ethic. Now is the time for action
based on a rigorous understanding of the water cycle. Only with
such an understanding can today’s unintended environmental
impacts be transformed into an intentional landscape of ecological
planning and management.
Federico Major
Director-General ofthe UNESCO
8
Preface
Although land/water links are known since a gical Programme to consider the production
long time, conventional scientific and admin- of a textbook as a follow-up of an ecologist-
istrative structures have tended to keep the hydrologist dialogue held that year in Vadstena,
sectors apart. Considerable attention is cur- Sweden. An ecohydrological summer semi-
rently paid to issues such as biodiversity pro- nar in 1992 at Aspen Global Change Institute
tection, protection against droughts and de- (Colorado, USA) further stressed the need for
sertification, sustainable management of trop- a publication that clarifies problems and op-
ical rainforests, and coastal zone management portunities in terms of how to manage in an
including protection of coastal waters from ecologically more adequate way humanity’s
pollution. The joint characteristics of all these interaction with land and water.
issues is the dominant role played by land/wa- The composition of the book was planned
ter interactions. Most of the water in the river at an international author meeting at Frii-
has earlier passed land and carries the chemi- berg’s Manor in Sweden in October 1994. In
cal memories from that journey. Much land preparation for that meeting a broad question-
use depends on access to safe water. And hy- naire had been sent out by the Swedish IHP
drological processes are deeply involved in Committee to its sister committees all around
the generation of ecological side effects of hu- the world, inviting them to contribute con-
man interventions with the natural environ- crete examples of land/water linkages as they
ment, like land clearing, urbanization, agri- had been experienced in different parts of the
culture and forestry. world. The fact that the response was remark-
The need to close the gap between hydrol- ably high indicates the timeliness of this book:
ogy and ecology was given high priority in the many countries have already severe problems
preparations for UNCED in the Inter- due to land/water interactions but also in cop-
national Council of Scientific Union in their ing with them. A case study overview is pre-
analysis of the research needs to strengthen sented as an annex to the book with a world
the understanding of the links between envir- map showing the global coverage.
onment and development. Agenda 21 also The book has been written by a group of
stresses the need to take an integrated ap- main authors, supported by a larger group of
proach to land use and water resources. Such contributors, see List of Contents. After an
an integrated approach may however meet introductory chapter explaining that the pur-
considerable difficulties both by a widespread pose of the book is helping politicians under-
dichotomy in the dominating perceptions of stand the fact that humanity is living at the
land and water, and by widespread reduction- mercy of the water cycle (Chapter 1), follows
istic and simplistic water perceptions. Thus a chapter that presents regional challenges
for a successful land use management, land/- through examples from different hydrocli-
water linkages are essential to understand in mates (Chapter 2). Chapter 3 and 4 are com-
both development planning and environmen- plementary by describing the rules of the
tal protection and management. game, first the natural rules, then the societal
The origin of this book is an invitation by rules. The former chapter explains how water
UNESCO in 1989 to the Swedish National and water-carried solutes move through the
Committee for the International Hydrolo- landscape, above and below the ground, and
9
PREFACE
the main relations to wetness, soil, vegetation The preparation of the book which is of-
and human activities. The latter chapter has its fered as a Swedish contribution to the fifth phase
focus on current policies, showing that they of International Hydrological Programme,
are inconsistent with natural rules, creating a theme 2, has been supported by a research
wide range of problems. These problems are grant from the Swedish Natural Science Re-
highlighted in Chapter 5 carrying the essential search Council (NFR).
message that a land use decision is also a water The authors are deeply indebted to Ms
decision. Here, the human influences in terms Iréne Johansson, Scientific Secretary, NFR
of landscape change and the side effects that for her function as a persistent Project Leader,
they produce are examplified from different to Ms Lina Berglöf, assistant, NFR for not on-
parts of the world: both activities influencing ly word processing but also for artistry, and to
water flows and pathways, involving chemi- Professor Carl Widstrand, Carleton Univer-
cals that are introduced into water pathways, sity, Ottawa, and his wife Rede Widstrand for
disturbing land fertility, and typical social ef- linguistic editing. Without their respective in-
fects of such activities and effects. puts the book would never have materialized.
After a chapter focusing on reversability
and recovery issues (Chapter 6), we turn the
interest to steps to be taken to better cope with Stockholm 27 May 1997
the land/water interactions in the landscape
(Chapter 7) with particular focus on not-un-
dermining land and water management, on
river basin action plans to implement those Malin Falkenmark
strategies, on the roles to be played by the Professor, Chair National IHP Committee
main actors, i e politicians, and on the proce- Swedish Natural Science Research Council
dures to gain public acceptance. The final
chapter (Chapter 8), after a short recapit-
ulation, goes on to discuss how to incorporate
new understanding for better decisions and
what can be learnt from the few existing suc-
cess stories.