Evolving policy reforms and experiences for addressing downstream impacts in World Bank water resources projects

Abstract

The systematic integration of environmental flow requirements (EFR) in water resources management decision-making and policy reforms is a complex task and still a developing field, on which agreement does not yet exist, even in industrialized countries. The complexity is compounded by lack of data and weak institutional capacity. In addition, environmental flow assessments, i.e. the process of determining EFR, can be costly and may yield uncertain results with limited utility to decision-makers.This paper focuses on the evolving policy reforms and operational experiences within the World Bank to mainstream EFR into water resources management. It includes a brief discussion of the context of environmental flows in the World Bank's work, and looks at the evolution of the World Bank's policies related to the integration of environmental flow considerations in its activities. Five case studies illustrate the World Bank's varied involvement in environmental flow issues. The paper concludes with recommendations for improving the integration of environmental flow considerations into water resource development and management.

The importance of context in relation to policy transfer: a case study of environmental water allocation in Australia

“…Successful policy transfer also largely depends on what Kroesen et al (2007) describe as 'the human factor': in other words, the socio-cultural values in which policies or institutions are situated. Water institutions generally fi t better when they have support from local communities and leaders, and when public input has been used in their development (Dyson et al, 2003;Hirji and Panella, 2003). Institutions for water management also fi t best when they address agreed-upon goals that incorporate local context, including environmental, economic, social and cultural values (Ladson and Finlayson, 2002;.…”

“…EWA is designed to address the environment's water needs by establishing a water regime in a river, wetland or coastal zone that maintains critical ecosystem functions and their benefi ts in the face of competing water uses (Arthington and Pusey, 2003;Dyson et al, 2003). This involves providing specifi c quantities of water with a prescribed distribution in space and time, ideally attempting to mimic natural fl ow regimes in order to maintain or restore particular ecological values (Hirji and Panella, 2003). For example, EWA can specify minimum instream fl ows for a river, or how much water should fl ow through a dam at a given time.…”

Multidisciplinary Approaches to Natural Resource Management

“…The Murray Darling Basin is of a similar scale to the examples listed by Hirji & Panella (2003). It occupies about 14% of the surface of Australia, is responsible for almost half of the nation's rural production, and 70-80% of the volume of flow that would have reached the sea prior to river regulation is now diverted for human use (Walker, 1986;Mackay & Eastburn, 1990;Crabb, 1997).…”

“…'Reactive' measures such as broad-spectrum pesticides, bureaucratic intervention in markets, or legislation of social behaviour often result in unsought, negative, outcomes which may be thought of as externalities. It is such 'externalities' that have bedevilled the international programs examined by Hirji & Panella (2003) and resulted in unforeseen social, economic, and ecological costs. Efforts to understand how the natural resource systems work (often using models), and careful modification of natural drivers in those systems to achieve desired outcomes, have much greater prospects of producing sustained change.…”

“…Water resources are an example of this situation. Recent experience in a number of major, World Banksupported programs in Lesotho, Tanzania, the Mekong River, the Aral Sea Basin, and the Senegal River (Hirji & Panella, 2003), has demonstrated that large-scale investment in developing natural resources can result in the degradation of other parts of the same natural resource system leading to serious disbenefits to regional communities. It is clear that NRM must incorporate stewardship of the ecosystem supporting the resource or risk serious failure.…”