From River Management to River Basin Management: A Water Manager’s Perspective

Witter, Jonathan D.; Stokkom, H. T. C. van; Hendriksen, Gerrit

doi:10.1007/s10750-005-1922-6

Cited by 24 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Almost two centuries of large-scale engineering interventions at the Upper Rhine, completed in 1977, to adapt the river system to different user functions has led to evident negative environmental impacts, such as a lower groundwater table and land subsidence and to a serious increase of the flood risk caused by the loss of some 85% of the former flood plains and alluvial forests and higher water flow (Bernhardt 2002, Frijters and Leentvaar 2003, Witter et al 2006, de Bruin 2006. Following the expert advice of the International Commission for Research on Floods of the River Rhine (HSK) in 1978, the new idea of flood water storage was introduced, i.e., the river is given additional room to reduce peak water levels and enable larger discharges.…”

Section: Case Study: the German Rhinementioning

confidence: 99%

Prescriptions for adaptive comanagement: the case of flood management in the German Rhine basin

Becker

Huitema

Aerts

2015

E&S

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ABSTRACT. Centrally administered bureaucracies are ill suited to managing the environmental resources of complex social-ecological systems. Therefore management approaches are required that can better deal with its complexity and uncertainty, which are further exacerbated by developments such as climate change. Adaptive comanagement (ACM) has emerged as a relatively novel governance approach and potential solution to the challenges arising. Adaptive comanagement hinges on certain institutional prescriptions intended to enhance the adaptability of management by improving the comprehension of and response to the complex context and surprises of social-ecological systems. The ACM literature describes that for enhanced adaptability, institutional arrangements should be polycentric, aligned with the scale of ecosystems (the bioregional approach), feature open and participatory governance, and involve much experimentation. The case of flood management in the German part of the Rhine basin is used to provide an assessment of these ideas. We analyze whether and to what degree the prescriptions have been implemented and whether or not certain fundamental changes seen in German flood management can be traced back to the application of the prescriptions. Our study demonstrates a transition from the traditional engineering and "flood control" approach to a more holistic management concept based on a risk perspective. In this process, the four ACM prescriptions have made an important contribution in preparing or facilitating policy changes. The findings suggest that the application of the prescriptions requires the right supporting context before they can be applied to the fullest extent possible, such as a high problem pressure, new discourses, or leading actors. A major constraint arises in the misalignment of political power and of the different interests of the actors, which contribute to reactive management and inadequate interplay. To address this, we recommend further analysis of the role of coordinated and long term planning. This might reveal evidence to overcome institutional coordination failures, improve knowledge transfer and communication, and increase adoption of the ACM prescriptions, with the aim to enhance adaptability of the system.

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Section: Case Study: the German Rhinementioning

confidence: 99%

Prescriptions for adaptive comanagement: the case of flood management in the German Rhine basin

Becker

Huitema

Aerts

2015

E&S

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“…In fact, whereas this new thinking requires the founding of new institutions, traditional water institutions still maintain their position of power, hampering such changes. However, there is a tendency to create effective regional administrations which function as network authorities (Witter et al, 2006). In addition, several tools have been developed that can help underpin sustainable river management, such as the River Ecosystem Health (REH) concept.…”

Section: Towards Sustainable Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Living Rivers: Trends and Challenges in Science and Management

et al. 2006

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This paper discusses and summarizes the major conclusions of the special issue entitled 'Living rivers: trends and challenges in science and management' of Hydrobiologia/Developments in Hydrobiology. It is structured along three lines: (1) Functioning of river systems; (2) Ecological rehabilitation of river systems;(3) Challenges and obstacles to sustainable management. Sustainable river basin management requires a thorough understanding of natural, physical, chemical and ecological processes as well as socio-economic functioning. Environmental rehabilitation of river systems inevitably requires an ecosystem-based approach involving solutions supported by the public. The challenge is to combine ecological and socioeconomic sustainability. Rethinking our efforts in both directions must lead to more innovative solutions than those available at present.

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“…including local stakeholders from the early stages onwards, or even be fully locally based (e.g. Leuven et al, 2000;Lenders, 2003;Morrison, 2003;Wiering & Arts, 2006;Witter et al, 2006). One extreme paradigm of locally based planning is ''Endogenous Development'' that is grounded solely in indigenous visions that encompass a community's human, natural and spiritual spheres of life, embedded in local identity and the 'bioregional narrative' (Cheney, 1989).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emergent Principles for River Management

Groot

Lenders

2006

Hydrobiologia

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Paradigms for land and water management are on the move. New approaches are said to be, or meant to be, more 'participatory', 'integrated', 'adaptive', 'ecosystem-based' and so on. The present paper explores emergent principles for land and water management in ecological management theory, environmental science and the social sciences. These principles comprise adaptive management, opportunity-driven analysis, visions of managers and the public, and co-management that includes local and supra-local rationality. The paper concludes that for river management, these principles largely reinforce each other. This lays a basis for a style of river management in which the river managers may continue to be the guardians of science-based and whole-basin rationality, while at the same time interacting more successfully with society.

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From River Management to River Basin Management: A Water Manager’s Perspective

Cited by 24 publications

References 10 publications

Prescriptions for adaptive comanagement: the case of flood management in the German Rhine basin

Prescriptions for adaptive comanagement: the case of flood management in the German Rhine basin

Living Rivers: Trends and Challenges in Science and Management

Emergent Principles for River Management

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