Water Resource Economics

This note introduces the concept of valuation of water resources and presents some common approaches to revealing and taking into account the value of water. It identifies opportunities for creating impact by incorporating valuation into a global development agenda, and recommends global actions to more effectively value water in support of improved water policy and management decision making and the implementation of SDG 6.

The study encompassed computation of cost of milk production and analysis of milk production function of different species of milch animals under different levels of groundwater regimes (safe, semi-critical, critical and over exploitation). The study was conducted in the Chamarajanagar and Mysore districts of Karnataka state, which happen to represent both different groundwater regime and progressive dairy region. The study indicated noticeable variations in cost of milk production across species and regions. Cost of milk production was highest from local cows while it was least in crossbred cows. The net returns were highest for crossbreds while marginally negative net returns were observed in other cases. From the functional analysis, it was evident that concentrates and dry fodder exerted their significant influence on milk production. Dummy coefficient used to reflect the effect of groundwater exploitation on milk production, indicated that there was negative effect of groundwater exploitation on the gross returns from milk production.

By its natural structure and variety of uses, water resources are affect many sectors. Many different water management approaches formed as a result of these affects and “integrated water management” concept came out which foresees the involvement of  stakeholder involvement to the decision making process.
Management is a phenomena which can not just be understood by study of theories and concepts but also with the examination of its applications. Within this context, examination of legal and institutional evoluation and assessment of applications from different countries have been made within the framework of integrated water management approach.
According to the purpose of this thesis study our country’s water management system has been reviewed, institutional and legal suggestions have been made to ensure an integrated water management.

Tarım sektörü tarih boyunca milli gelire katkısı, nüfus ve istihdam üzerindeki etkisi, sanayi, beslenme ve dış ticarete olan katkıları nedeniyle her zaman stratejik önemini koruyan bir sektör olmuştur. Tarım sektörü hem bitkisel üretimi hem de hayvansal üretimi kapsamasından dolayı geniş bir alanda değerlendirilmelidir. Bu açıdan birim alandan veya birim hayvandan sağlanacak verimlilik son derece önemlidir. Bitkisel üretimde verimlilik yalnızca dışarıdan sağlanacak girdiler ile mümkün olmaktadır. Bu girdiler arasında tohum, gübre, ilaç ve sulama yer almaktadır. Tarımsal üretimde verimlilik ve yerel potansiyellerin değerlendirilmesi açısından sulama yöntemleri veya sulama yatırımları önemlidir. Özellikle sulama ile birlikte ürünlerde sağlanan verim artışının yanı sıra bölgenin sosyo-ekonomik gelişimine katkı sağladığı düşünüldüğünde sulama yatırımlarının arttırılması gerekmektedir. Özellikle son yıllarda İç Anadolu Bölgesi’nde KOP (Konya Ovası Projesi) kapsamında desteklenen sulama projelerin hayata geçirilmesiyle birlikte 75.552 ha arazi sulamaya açılmış ve 151.105 kişi istihdam edilmiştir. KOP kapsamında gerçekleşene sulama projeleriyle birlikte bugüne kadar 302.209.200 TL değerinde yıllık net gelir artışı sağlanmıştır. Bu nedenle çalışma kapsamında Türkiye’de kuru tarım ve sulu tarım yapan işletmelerin mevcut durumlarının incelenerek; sulamanın tarımsal üretime olan katkılarının ve kırsal alanlarının sürdürülebilirliği açısından milli gelire ve kırsala olan etkilerinin açıklanması araştırmanın temel amacıdır. Ayrıca çalışmada kırsal nüfusun gelir düzeyini önemli ölçüde arttırıcı bir faktör olan modern sulama teknolojilerin yaygınlaştırılması gerektiği ortaya konulmuştur.

The main objective of the furrow irrigation is appropriate selection of planning and managerial variables. These variables are: the furrow length, flow rate to the furrow and cut-off time. These variables are computed through optimization based on minimizing the total irrigation cost and maximizing the application efficiency of irrigation. The objective function has been formed based on costs of the water, worker and head ditch and furrow digging. Therefore, in the objective function, an equation should be
considered for computing the water advance period in a clear and precise manner. Since none of the exact methods used for planning furrow irrigation like zero inertia, compute the advance time explicitly, thus in this research the Valiatzas equation has been used which has been deduced from the results of the zero inertia model. In the objective function, in addition to the planning variables, soil characteristics, furrow and net irrigation requirement have been included. Therefore, the design variables and
irrigation efficiency can be computed for each type of soil and specific plant. A sample of this design has been presented in this paper.

The study comprised of computation of cost of milk production, cost of groundwater and water use efficiency (WUE) in milk production of different species of milch animals under different levels of groundwater regimes (safe, semi-critical, critical and overexploitation). The study was carried out in the Chamarajanagar and Mysore districts of Karnataka state which happen to represent both different groundwater regime and progressive dairy region. The study indicated noticeable variations in unit cost of groundwater extraction and it was highest in overexploited area (Rs 3.54/ m3) followed by critical (Rs 1.91/ m3), semi-critical (Rs 1.07/ m3) and safe (Rs 0.80/ m3) areas. Daily water depleted by the animals in the process of milk production was highest by crossbred cows (7.79 to 13.71 m3/day/animal) followed by buffaloes (4.89 to 12.07 m3/day/animal) and local cows (3.61 to 5.96 m3/day/animal). The study also revealed that economic efficiency of water use (net income per unit of water use) in milk production from crossbreds was positive and it was in the range of Rs 2.18 to 4.29/m3 and negative economic efficiency of water use was recorded in milk production from local cows (Rs1.48 to 6.45/m3) and buffaloes (Rs 0.63 to 6.37/ m3). Due to higher milk yield in crossbreds the higher WUE of (0.84 to 1.37l/ m3) followed by local cows (0.51 to 0.81 l/ m3) and buffaloes (0.38 to 0.87 l/ m3). Depletion of direct water in the process of milk production was marginal in comparison with the water depleted to produce the feed and fodder of dairy animal and hence emphasis should be given to increase the WUE in production of feed and fodder.

There is a general feeling that water is a State subject and there are suggestions from time to time that the subject “water” must be brought under the Union list or Concurrent list for effectively addressing the challenges in water sector.
Critically examine the provisions related to water in the constitution. Also examine the recommendations of various Committees / Commissions, particularly the Commissions set up to examine the Centre - State relations and prepare a self-contained note which inter-alia should include your views and suggestions.

This textbook presents a big picture of water management in France as it was set in 2003. Some reforms have occured since then but this gives an idea of the organization and the main stakes.It has been written to present the French situation to non-French grad-students in water sciences. The double language (French-English) presentation helps to catch specifities that are rarely translated in other books.
Ce cours a été publié en 2003. Il dépeint la situation institutionnelle et économique des acteurs de l'eau en France, leurs enjeux, leurs moyens, leurs compétences. L'organisation administrative et les montants financiers ont évolué depuis, mais cette image de 2003 reste intéressante pour la comparer à la situation actuelle et comprendre d'où viennent les institutions que l'on observe aujourd'hui.

Despite an abundance of annual precipitation and the investment of several billions US dollars in Lebanon's water sector since 1990, water resources throughout the country are limited in terms of both quantity and quality due to mismanagement, ageing infrastructure and inadequate investment. A vast investment program of dams and WWTP construction was initiated in 2012, in the light of the adoption of the NWSS. Investments in Lebanon's water sector in are to a large extent financed by external grants and loans, and the 2018 CEDRE donor conference was no exception. There, Lebanon pledged an investment of $11.5 billion, of which one-third is to be dedicated to the development of water-related projects. The various investment plans will be reviewed and assessed by region and by sub-sector to analyze their effectiveness in meeting the needs of users and addressing the challenges and priorities of the RWEs, which still remain financially and administratively dependent on the MEW, the CDR or the municipalities.

Ismail Seralgedin, wakil presiden Bank Dunia, pada tahun 1995 melakukan prediksi mengenai masa depan perang: "Jika perang-perang abad ini banyak diakibatkan oleh persengketaan minyak, perang masa depan akan dipicu oleh air". Prediksi tersebut ternyata menunjukkan tanda-tanda ketepatannya, dan sekarang perang tersebut bahkan sudah berjalan. Konflik karena kekurangan air telah terjadi di Meksiko, sekitar 98 persen komposisi air di bumi merupakan air asin dan hanya 2 persen yang merupakan air segar yang dapat dikonsumsi. Dari angka 2 persen tersebut, sekitar 70 persen merupakan salju dan es, 30 persen merupakan air tanah, kurang dari 0,5 persen merupakan air permukaan seperti sungai dan danau, dan kurang dari 0,05 persen merupakan kandungan atmosfer. Komposisi air tanah merupakan satu-satunya komoditas air bersih yang terjangkau, karena letaknya tersebar di bawah daratan dangkal, atau lebih tepatnya pada lapisan akuifer. Hitung-hitungan sederhana tadi memperlihatkan dengan sangat jelas bahwa air memang sumber daya yang terbatas. Bayangkan bila 2 persen air tawar itu menyusut jumlahnya. Apalagi saat yang bersamaan, populasi manusia dunia yang terus menanjak dan industrialisasi yang berkembang. Hal ini memicu perebutan air semakin parah. Perubahan iklim juga memperparahnya. Perang tentang perebutan air, yang sekarang muncul, meliputi dua hal, yaitu perang paradigma-konflik tentang bagaimana kita memahami fungsi air dan penggunaannya-dan perang dalam pengertian tradisional, yaitu perang yang disertai dengan penggunaan senjata. Perang paradigma terjadi disemua masyarakat yang juga bisa disebut perang global, dengan beragam kebudayaan dan ekosistem, yang memiliki etika universal tentang air sebagai sebuah kebutuhan ekologis, bersatu melawan budaya privatisasi ala korporasi, ketamakan, dan penutupan sumber air umum. Pada salah satu sisi dari persaingan ekologis dan perang pardigma ini hidup jutaan spesies dan milyaran manusia yang mencari air untuk bertahan hidup. Bersamaan dengan perang paradigma ini, telah terjadi perang antar kawasan, di dalam negara maupun dalam komunitas untuk memperebutkan air. Terlepas dari lokasi konflik baik Punjab atau di Palestina, yang pasti adalah bahwa politik kekerasan acapkali muncul dari konflik-konflik atas sumer air yang langka namun vita. Di beberapa konflik, peran air begitu kasat mata, sebagaimana kasus Syiria dan Turki, atau Mesir dan Ethiopia. Mereka yang mengendalikan kekuasaan lebih suka menyelubungi perang perebutan air sebagai konflik etnis atau agama. Di Punjab, satu komponen penting dari konflik yang telah merenggut 15.000 nyawa sepanjang tahun 1980 itu adalah perselisihan tentang pembagian air sungai. Namun, konflik yang dipusatkan pada berbagai ketidaksepakatan termasuk strategi pemanfaatan dan pembagian sungai Punjab itu dicirikan sebagai isu separatisme Kaum Sikh. Kasus yang sama menyangkut tanah dan air terjadi antara warga Palestina dan Israel. Konflik atas sumber daya alam tersebut lebih banyak digambarkan sebagai konflik agama antara Muslim dan Yahudi. Maka tak urung kemudian munculah cap-cap fundamentalis dan teroris bagi mereka yang menuntut keadilan pembagian sumber daya alam, termasuk air. Tapi, siapa sebenarnya yang layak disebut teroris? Kerakusan dan perampasan jatah sumber daya berharga milik orang lain merupakan akar konflik dan akar terorisme. Ketika Presiden Bush dan Perdana Menteri Tony Blair mengumumkan bahwa tujuan perang global melawan terorisme adalah untuk mempertahankan "gaya hidup" Amerika dan Eropa, mereka tengah mendeklarasikan perang melawan planet-perang melawan minyak, air, dan keragaman hayatinya. Gaya hidup 20 persen penduduk bumi yang menggunakan 80 persen sumber daya alam akan menyingkirkan

Los recursos hídricos de un espacio determinado son aproximadamente constantes, pero su coeficiente de variación anual puede ser muy alto, sobre todo en regiones de clima irregular. Como consecuencia de ello, los recursos disponibles, que son la partida regulada de las aportaciones naturales, también presentan notables variaciones. No hay razones de carácter hidrológico que en los últimos años hayan podido modificar significativamente el volumen de recursos hídricos disponibles en la provincia de Alicante. Lo que sí se ha producido, como consecuencia de los desarrollos socioeconómicos, ha sido una importante y generalizada presión sobre estos recursos hídricos, muy especialmente desde la segunda mitad del S. XX. La dinámica del crecimiento de la población
y del conjunto de las actividades económicas –agricultura intensiva, turismo, industrialización y fuerte urbanización- sostenidas sobre un recurso escaso y frágil, como es el agua, ha llevado a que nuestro paradigma de crecimiento económico se haya visto condicionado por el agotamiento de parte de estos recursos hídricos, hecho especialmente grave que se puede constatar en la sobreexplotación de las aguas subterráneas y en las afecciones ambientales que esta escasez, y en ocasiones contaminación, lleva consigo.

This document is part of a compilation on the different concepts, definitions and theoretical frameworks that addresses solidarity economy. Within the concepts found we can observe that among the same authors there are different perspectives due to the cultural, historical, linguistic diversity and the own evolution of the actors and movements that form the solidarity economy. For that contrast, it was considered the revision of articles that describe or delimit what is the solidarity economy, substantive and plural economy, and what are their methods. Among the points to emphasize is that solidarity economy is not a new phenomenon, however, the proposals of the authors reviewed in this work around its meaning and its practice show that some convergences subsist. However, the solidarity economy will not be possible without people participating in deeply democratic ways and acting among them to create the world in which they want to live

Su; kıt ve stratejik öneme sahip doğal kaynaklardan biri olup canlıların yaşamı ve tarım sektörü için vazgeçilmezdir. Kullanım alanının (tarım, sanayi, evsel kullanım, enerji üretimi, balıkçılık, vb.) geniş olması ve nüfusun her yıl artması su kaynaklarına olan talebi artırmaktadır. Dünyada ve Türkiye‘de su tüketiminin yaklaşık %70‘i tarım sektörüne ait olup sektörde sürdürülebilir su kullanımının sağlanması su yönetimiyle mümkündür. Su yönetimi ise yerel düzeyde tarım sektörüne su sağlayan sulama kooperatifleri, sulama birlikleri, belediyeler ve köy tüzel kişiliklerinin etkinliklerinin belirlenmesi ve artırılmasıyla gerçekleştirilebilir. Bu nedenle çalışmada sulama organizasyonlarının yönetim Şekillerine göre etkinliklerinin karşılaştırmalı olarak belirlenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Bu amacın gerçekleştirilmesinde ―Malmquist Toplam Faktör Verimliliği‖ analizinden yararlanılmış olup sulama organizasyonlarının tahsil ettikleri su ücretleri ve diğer gelirlerinin toplamından oluşan ―toplam gelir‖ çıktı olarak, organizasyonlarda çalışan daimî-geçici personel, sulama masrafları, personel giderleri, diğer giderler, sulanan arazi, sulama hattı, Şebeke tipleri ile sulanan arazi miktarı ise girdi olarak modele dâhil edilmiştir. Çalışma birincil ve ikincil verilerden oluşmakla birlikte birincil veriler Konya Kapalı Havzası‘nda faaliyet gösteren ve örneğe seçilen 67 adet sulama organizasyonundan anket uygulamasıyla elde edilmiştir. Elde edilen veriler sonucunda 2016-2018 yılları arasında sulama kooperatiflerinin teknik etkinliklerinin 1, diğer organizasyonların ise 1‘in altında olduğu belirlenmiştir. Nitekim sulama kooperatiflerinin iki zaman periyodu arasındaki etkinlik değişimlerinde toplam faktör verimliliği değişimi 2017 yılında bir önceki yıla göre 0,52 ve 2018 yılında ise bir önceki yıla göre %29‘luk bir artış ile 0,67 olarak belirlenmiştir. Teknik etkinlik açısından 2016-2018 yılları arasında belediyelerin 0,63-0,64 arasında, köy tüzel kişiliklerinin 0,82-0,88 arasında değer aldıkları belirlenmiştir. Bir diğer organizasyonda (sulama birliklerinde) ise teknik etkinlik 0,25 olarak tespit edilmiştir. Analiz sonucunda sulama birliklerinin, organizasyonlar arasında en düşük etkinliğe sahip olduğu belirlenmiştir. Sonuç olarak sulama organizasyonlarının kapasitelerini istenilen seviyede kullanamadıkları ve bu nedenle ivedilikle yapısal önlemlerin alınması gerektiği tespit edilmiştir.

From the mid-1990s to the recent international economic crisis, the European Union (EU27) experienced a significant economic growth and a flat population increase. During these years, the water resources directly used by the EU countries displayed a growing but smooth trend. However, European activities intensively demanded water resources throughout the whole global supply chain. The growth rate of embodied water use was three times higher than the growth in water directly used by these economies. This was mainly due to the large upsurge of virtual water imports in the EU (e.g., about 25% of the change in water imports in the world was directly linked to the increasing imports in the EU27 countries). In this context, we analyze water use changes in the EU27 from 1995 to 2009, combining the production and consumption perspectives. To that aim, we use the environmentally extended input-output approach to obtain the volume of water embodied in domestic production and in trade flows at the sector and country levels. In the empirical analysis, we utilize multi-regional input-output data from the World Input Output Database. In addition, by means of a structural decomposition analysis we identify and quantify the factors explaining changes in these trends. We focus both on the role of domestic production and trade and estimate the associated intensity, technology and scale effects. This analysis is done for different clusters, identifying singular patterns depending on income criteria. Our results confirm the boost of demand growth in that period, the positive but negligible effect of structural change, and the decline in water intensity which, however, was not enough to compensate the effects on water associated to the economic expansion in the period. These findings also point at a gradual substitution of domestic water use for virtual water imports. More concretely, in most countries the food industry tended to reduce its backward linkages with the domestic agricultural sector, increasing the embodied water in agricultural imports from non-European regions.

The water sector in Chile underwent major changes as a result of decentralization and market reforms. This chapter focuses on recent pricing experiences in the urban residential and rural sectors. Over the last thirty years, the Chilean Government has successfully incorporated private participation in the water and sanitation sector and implemented a regulatory framework that has contributed to cost recovery and affordability of the reform. The service offered has greatly improved in quality and coverage, reaching in 2013, 99.9% of urban population. National coverage of Sewage Treatment has significantly increased from 17% in 1999 to 99.8% in 2013. However, the privatization and decentralization of water utilities is facing new challenges like increasing extreme climatic events and a more informed and organized consumer base. In addition, there are concerns with respect to sustainability of groundwater extraction and deterioration of water dependent ecosystems due to over allocation of water rights. This chapter also presents an overview of Chile’s national Rural Potable Water (APR) program which has reached almost 100% coverage in semi-concentrated rural areas. Unlike urban service providers, rural water supply and sanitation sector has not been subject to regulation like urban services.

Predictions of national and global water use have been criticized for being inaccurate and for not taking into consideration economic development. Of the little research that does address water use as a function of economic development, results are inconsistent, but much claims to find clear evidence of an Environmental Kuznets Curves (EKC) or " inverted U " type relationship. This research attempts to elucidate the relationship between income growth and freshwater use by a) evaluating a variety of cross-sectional and panel datasets on water withdrawals and consumptive use, b) employing both traditional least squares and non-parametric regression analysis, the latter of which offers the advantage of not assuming a given functional form, c) testing both per capita and total water use, and d) comparing water withdrawals to consumptive use. The research finds some support for the existence of an EKC, but results are highly dependent on choice of datasets and statistical technique. Results are also sector specific and EKC curves prove to be poor indicators of individual country behavior. As such, the study points to limitations of EKCs in terms of water use policy and planning.

The Adirondack Park contains over 6 million acres and over 3,000 lakes.  Approximately 43% of the Park is publically owned and protected to remain “forever wild”.  Despite regulatory measures aimed at protecting the natural resources of the Adirondacks, surface water quality is threatened by acid and mercury deposition.  This paper uses data on 14,929 property transactions over 9 years in the 12 counties that comprise the Adirondack Park to explore how property owners value lake water quality using fixed effects hedonic analysis.  We find that multiple measures of water quality have significant effects on property values including lake acidity, clarity, and impairment classification. We also find that the presence of loons and fish on the nearest lake positively impacts property values by 8% and 12%, respectively.  This research provides valuable insight into the factors that property owners value most, and as interesting, those factors which they do not value. Moreover, this research helps quantify air pollution impacts on Adirondack property values and could be used to justify additional Clean Air Act regulations to further restrict sulfur and mercury emissions that would benefit the Park.

When speaking about facilitating normal conditions for living and working, in the modern world, water resources are significant. We need to maintain water safety according to the specific environment and particular territory demands. Water resources are renewable natural resources, but they are unevenly distributed in the world territory. This fact turns water resources into priceless valued property. In the future, most conflicts will occur because of the limited amount of water resources and their unbalanced distribution in the world. That is why water resources and water sector management become the most dominant activities in the sustainable development of regions. This research is to outline the role of water sector management in the context of sustainable and regional development. The author uses systemic, and territory approaches and systemic, descriptive, analytic, comparison, and other methods for purpose achievement. The specific aim of this research is to point out the problems and challenges of Bulgarian water resources management through an analyze the system of water sector management. The null hypothesis of the author is that there is a strong connection between water resources and water sector management and sustainable development of the regions, concerning regional development. The author fulfills the research aim using systemic and territorial approaches and different scientific methods as descriptive, comparison, analytical, expert opinion citation, and others.

El artículo efectúa un análisis histórico de la política pública con incidencia en la gestión del agua subterránea en Mendoza. Para ello indaga las principales regulaciones hídricas e identifica distintas fases o etapas homogéneas que permiten interpretar la evolución del sistema jurídico y las herramientas de planificación hacia una gestión integrada de los recursos  hídricos. Las conclusiones revelan, en primer lugar, que diversos factores técnicos, ambientales y económicos influyen en la gestión del agua subterránea. En segundo lugar, la inclusión de dicho recurso en la política pública se inició formalmente en el año 1974, con la sanción de las Leyes Provinciales 4.035 y 4.036 como respuesta al aumento exponencial de perforaciones en un periodo de gran sequía de precipitaciones nivales, las que afectaron dichas aguas al dominio público y regularon su administración por el Departamento General de Irrigación (DGI); sin embargo, recién a partir de la década de los noventa emergieron acciones concretas en consonancia con el progresivo aumento de su escasez cuantitativa, aunque con deficiencias regulatorias que concentraron el acceso al agua en los agentes de mayor capacidad económica. La actual etapa, ha buscado subsanar dichas deficiencias y brindar una gestión estratégica al recurso, aunque subsisten múltiples desafíos a futuro.

The water stressed western United States has increasingly relied on water marketing, or the temporary or permanent transfer of water entitlements from one user to another, to manage shortage. While this has long been true for transfers between agricultural users and between agricultural users and municipal and industrial (M&I) users, there has also been increasing interest in water transfers for environmental purposes. However, relatively little attention has been paid to the drivers of environmental water transfer volumes in the literature and specifically whether transfer volumes are related to economic growth. Using water transaction data for 12 western U.S. states over the period 1987 to 2008, and analogizing the conceptual framework of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), this paper investigates the degree to which water volumes transferred for environmental purposes are associated with economic growth. A key result is that environmental water transfer volumes appear to follow the inverted U-shape that characterizes the classic EKC implying that transfer volumes increase with economic growth for a given range of growth and then decrease. This result is robust to the inclusion of additional explanatory variables, at the level of trade volume per transaction, and at the level of annually aggregated trade volumes. Non-parametric and panel analyses provide addition support for this conclusion. Water traded for non-environmental purposes, on the other hand, generally follows an opposite pattern, perhaps indicating the increasing utility of water as an input in other productive activities as economic performance improves.

The work explores interventions to ensure environmental security and advance protection and economic activity from the devastating effects of the floods on the territory of the Azerbaijan Republic. The purpose of the article is the study and analysis of opportunities for the development of awareness-raising and capacity-building for the effective management of the elements in the study area. In this regard, analyses the problem of rational water management, the ability to create and develop an early warning system on floods, assesses the sustainability and profitability of intervention. As a result of the study, recommendations for mitigating the impact of possible floods in the future are given.

Эффективное управление водным хозяйством, наращивание потенциала и повышение
осведомленности для смягчения влияния
наводнений в Азербайджане

В научной работе исследуются меры вмешательства по обеспечению экологической безопасности и заблаговременному  защиты  населения  и  их экономической

деятельности от разрушительных влияний наводнений на территории Азербайджанской Республики. Целью статьи является изучение и анализ возможностей по развитию повышения осведомленности и созданию потенциала для эффективного управления стихией на исследуемой территории. В этой связи, анализируются проблема рационального управления водным хозяйством, возможность создания и развития системы раннего предупреждения по наводнениям, проводится оценка устойчивости и рентабельности мер вмешательства. Как результат исследования, даются рекомендации по смягчению влияния возможных наводнений в будущем.

In most countries, groundwater resource is a public good, and the entitlement of use rights by the public authority to final users differs according to a country-specific legislative framework. In Italy, groundwater extraction has been regulated through non-tradable private licenses. At present, the public authority needs to reform the current legislative framework, in order to comply with the Water Framework Directive, aimed at the enhancement of the efficiency of the resource use. This research analyzes the effects of reforming the current framework based on non-tradable use rights, by comparing two different liberalization scenarios: an intra-sector market, and a regional market. Although positive economic benefits are generally expected from the liberalization of use rights at aggregated level, we want to analyze whether effects of the legislative framework causes uneven changes on some farm groups. The empirical case study refers to the Fortore river basin (South of Italy), where groundwater covers about 50–80% of current needs, and
informal (though illegal) water markets across neighbor farmers already exist. From the findings, there is no evidence that the exchange liberalization of groundwater use rights leads to gains in terms of the value added and the farmer’s revenue. In addition, in the case of an auction system regulated by the public authority, farmers whose water productivity is higher may be able to gain, while others may suffer some losses. In this case, resistances from farmers’ associations towards the legislative framework reform may arise.

When speaking about facilitating normal conditions for living and working, in the modern world, water resources are significant. We need to maintain water safety according to the specific environment and particular territory demands. Water resources are renewable natural resources, but they are unevenly distributed in the world territory. This fact turns water resources into priceless valued property. In the future, most conflicts will occur because of the limited amount of water resources and their unbalanced distribution in the world. That is why water resources and water sector management become the most dominant activities in the sustainable development of regions. This research is to outline the role of water sector management in the context of sustainable and regional development. The author uses systemic, and territory approaches and systemic, descriptive, analytic, comparison, and other methods for purpose achievement. The specific aim of this research is to point out the problems and challenges of Bulgarian water resources management through an analyze the system of water sector management. The null hypothesis of the author is that there is a strong connection between water resources and water sector management and sustainable development of the regions, concerning regional development. The author fulfills the research aim using systemic and territorial approaches and different scientific methods as descriptive, comparison, analytical, expert opinion citation, and others.

This chapter briefly introduces the main policy developments from both France and Australia regarding groundwater management and their particular approach to setting caps, allocating rights and allowing reallocations. It then presents the objectives of the book and explores the book’s contributions under four key themes, namely groundwater and policy approaches in France and Australia, capping water use and defining sustainable abstraction limits, reducing entitlements to sustainable limits, and comparisons between France, Australia and other international groundwater developments.

The institutional reform of the State established in Ecuador during the last decade has aimed at regaining control of specific sectors such as the consumptive use of water. Since 2014, regulation, consumption, and use of water, especially in agriculture, have been analyzed through policies and fiscal instruments. This research presents itself in the context of the simulation of scenarios using positive mathematical programming, to analyze the economic impact of pricing policies on agro-food farms. Policies of fixed costs, water blocks, and volumetric prices are evaluated. The results show that the existing fixed costs do not reduce water consumption. In contrast, the scenarios of water blocks and volumetric prices impact on the behavior of farmers. The tendency of water consumption to the application of volumetric prices demonstrates that banana farms have a greater tolerance to the increase of water costs. On the other hand, the response to an increase in cost in the case of cacao, sugar cane, and rice depends on the productivity of farmers. The negative effects can lead to the abandonment of agriculture. Thus, volumetric policies are more efficient in reducing water consumption as well as in recovering the costs of the irrigation system.

This book focuses on the current situation of water resources, water supply and sanitation, and population movement in Latin America. It identifies new phenomena and challenges that will put more pressure on water resources in the near future and that will create important socioeconomic constraints in population and their governments. This volume offers an evaluation of water resources availability and consumption, water supply and sanitation shortages, management models and population growth and territory occupation trends in eighteen Latin American countries. Also a set of recommendations, policy proposals and projects is outlined.

Within organizations, quality tools are generally used in production to solve problems or to prevent them, but for human resources management these tools are used more rarely or avoided completely. This paper aims to present a study for the usage of these tools to find the causes of production problems, caused in this case, by the human factor, namely to be a support in solving these problems and generate solutions to remedy them by supporting and helping staff to improve performance. Many problems of human resource management are solved using the technical, conceptual and native skills of tools, a higher success and better results can be achieved compared with the situation of neglecting or avoiding using them.

Παρόλο που το νερό είναι πόρος ζωτικής σημασίας για την εύρυθμη λειτουργία της οικονομίας, συνεχίζει να μειώνεται και να υποβαθμίζεται με ρυθμούς μη βιώσιμους. Το πρόβλημα της λειψυδρίας παγκόσμια, όπως και στην Ελλάδα, εντείνεται με την έννοια τόσο της ποσοτικής, όσο και της οικονομικής ανεπάρκειας. Οι πολιτικές της μονοδιάστατης διαχείρισης και η αντιμετώπισή του ως μη-εξαντλήσιμου αγαθού, έχουν ως αποτέλεσμα (εκτός από τις σοβαρές περιβαλλοντικές επιπτώσεις) την ολοένα και δυσκολότερη κάλυψη των αναγκών, και επίτευξη παραγωγικών στόχων. Τα οικονομικά των υδατικών πόρων αποτελούν την πιο σύγχρονη και μία από τις πιο ισχυρές πρακτικές χάραξης πολιτικής, καθώς συνεισφέρουν στη βελτίωση της διαχείρισης των υδάτων. Στη Διεθνή Διάσκεψη για το Νερό και το Περιβάλλον στο Δουβλίνο τονίστηκε, μεταξύ άλλων, ότι το νερό έχει οικονομική αξία σε όλες τις ανταγωνιστικές χρήσεις, θα πρέπει να αναγνωριστεί ως οικονομικό αγαθό, και να κοστολογείται με την πλήρη αξία του. Η Οδηγία της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης περί Υδάτων 2000/60/ΕΚ ενσωματώνει ρητά την ανάγκη εκτίμησης του πλήρους κόστους νερού, το οποίο θα συνυπολογίζεται στα τιμολόγια νερού από τον Ιούνιο του 2018. Το συνολικό κόστος αποτελείται από το κόστος υπηρεσιών (που περιλαμβάνει τα κόστη επενδύσεων, λειτουργίας και συντήρησης, διαχειριστικά, διοικητικά και κόστη επενδύσεων), το κόστος των φυσικών πόρων (αντιπροσωπεύει την απώλεια οφέλους λόγω του περιορισμού των διαθέσιμων υδατικών πόρων σε βαθμό μεγαλύτερο από το φυσικό ρυθμό ανανέωσης τους), και το κόστος που αντιπροσωπεύει τις περιβαλλοντικές επιπτώσεις της χρήσης νερού. Οι γνώμες για τη χρησιμότητα και τον τρόπο εφαρμογής αυτής της ανάλυσης διίστανται, καθώς το νερό παρουσιάζει μεθοδολογικές δυσκολίες εξαιτίας των ιδιαίτερων χαρακτηριστικών του (περιβαλλοντική διάσταση, φυσική διαθεσιμότητα και τη θεώρησή του ως ιδιωτικό, δημόσιο ή ενδιάμεσο αγαθό). Tα κράτη-μέλη έχουν σημειώσει προόδους για τον τρόπο αποτίμησης του πλήρους κόστους του αστικού νερού, όχι όμως και του αγροτικού. Η παρούσα έρευνα αποσκοπεί στη σύσταση ενός μεθοδολογικού πλαισίου εκτίμησης του πλήρους κόστους νερού, στη λεκάνη απορροής της Κάρλας, μίας αγροτικής περιοχής με υποβαθμισμένους υδατικούς πόρους. Το κόστος υπηρεσιών χωρίζεται σε υποσυνιστώσες που υπολογίζονται με καθαρά οικονομικούς όρους. Το κόστος πόρων αντιμετωπίζεται ως κόστος σπανιότητας, ανά πηγή προσφοράς νερού. Αναπτύσσεται μία καινοτόμα μεθοδολογία εκτίμησής του ως διαφυγόν κέρδος από την ίδια χρήση νερού, αλλά και ως διαφορά οφέλους από τη θεωρητικά βέλτιστη χρήση του. Περιβαλλοντικό κόστος θεωρείται η ζημία λόγω κακής ποιοτικής κατάστασης του πόρου. Βασικός παράγοντας για τα παραπάνω είναι το υδατικό ισοζύγιο, η ποιότητα των υδάτων και τα καθαρά κέρδη της περιοχής, τα οποία και υπολογίσθηκαν. Το τελικό μοντέλο μπορεί να αποτελέσει ένα εύχρηστο εργαλείο εκτίμησης του πλήρους κόστους για τις αρμόδιες υπηρεσίες. Η ανάλυση του πλήρους κόστους μελετήθηκε για μια σειρά διαχειριστικών σεναρίων-μέτρων, με σκοπό την καλύτερη κάλυψη των υδατικών αναγκών, την αποδοτικότερη λειτουργία της οικονομίας και τελικά την εξάλειψη του κόστους νερού. Επίσης το μοντέλο εξετάζεται υπό σενάρια κλιματικής αλλαγής, βάσει των μετεωρολογικών προβλέψεων κλιματικών μοντέλων έως το 2100. Τέλος, για τη συνέχεια της διατριβής, προτείνεται ένα Σύστημα Υποστήριξης Αποφάσεων όπου θα αξιολογεί με Πολυκριτηριακή Ανάλυση την καταλληλότητα των παραπάνω μέτρων για εφαρμογή τους στην περιοχή.

In response to the climate change, hydrologic and environmental changes and increased uncertainties, implication of water resilience in a context of water governance is essential for improved management. This study aims to answer the following questions: 1) what are different types of resilience with regard to its several definitions, 2) what is the relationship between resilience, trend and performance in water governance. This research applied literature reviews (as theoretical approach) and interviews with local water managers (as experimental approach) to develop better resilient plan under extreme events. This study compared the results of reviewed articles with results that we obtained from interviews with water managers in a case study area in order to develop a resilience planning under extreme events. The research has analyzed the resilience for water management based on theoretical and empirical knowledge and also provided some helpful recommendations for building system resilience for the future. The analysis of the findings shows that sufficient resilience in each society depends considerably on water resources planning (implied by the government) and also resilience in water supply infrastructure (designed by engineers). In addition, in order to get a high level of resilience, integration of ecological knowledge, water supplies, government's regulation/ legislation, engineering projects and humans' interaction, is necessary. Moreover, the results indicate that failures and hydrologic catastrophes are mainly as a result of big gaps between these elements and also a lack of integrated approach between water-institutions and the environment in water management.

Thailand currently ranks third among the most water-intensive countries in the world. The percentage shares of water demand in the country’s agriculture, manufacturing, and service sectors, which are major economic sectors, are 75%, 3%, and 5%, respectively. With the continuous growth of the economy, the demand for water is steadily rising, while the expansion of water supply remains constrained by several factors and the water supply is also affected by climate change. This study uses the input–output model to examine the relationship between water usage and the economic system in Thailand in 2010. The constructed input–output model is the integration of the Leontief inverse matrix, the matrix of water usage, and the details of the gross domestic product (GDP). The model indicates the linkage between GDP expansion and water demand in both direct and indirect usage. The computation result obtained from the model indicates that the agricultural sector is the major water user, with its ratio of direct water use being the highest. The manufacturing sector records the highest ratio of indirect water use, which is influenced by its supply chain comprising the agriculture and service sectors. This model and its results may serve as the main foundation for the design of economic and environmental policies oriented toward optimizing water demand and supply. The model can also be extended and enriched with detailed mechanisms of economic behavior to allow further complex analyzes such as water pricing policies.

The water demand in the upstream and downstream of a transboundary river basin varies based on the water use by the irrigation projects, dam, hydroelectricity, ecosystem, livelihood practices and household activities of the people. The study considered the case of Teesta river basin and estimates the water demand of upstream, downstream region as well as entire Teesta river basin shared by India and Bangladesh. The water productivity method exercised in the study demonstrates that 2648 and 1971 cumec water is required to fulfill the irrigation demand of command and irrigable areas, respectively, of entire Teesta basin throughout the year against 198, 1472, 793 cumec water discharge in dry, monsoon and lean season. Although there is a substantial water demand for the hydropower projects in the upstream, it is appeared that water required only by the upstream irrigation project is beyond the water supply capacity of the Trans-Himalayan river Teesta during dry and lean season. This may underpin the shortage of water in the lower riparian country, which fuels the zero-sum game in the river basin, where one player is affected by the intervention of the another player. The result from this analysis with zero-sum game perspective may be useful for reviewing transboundary water policies, basin management and development, sustainable water resource management and water sharing mechanism among countries in the transboundary river basin.

Background: The persistent problem of poor agricultural practices and technology use leads to food insecurity for
some farmers in Ghana. Studies show that the adoption of improved agricultural practices and technology may
help stabilize production and lessen food insecurity. This study addresses the link between food insecurity and
the adoption of soil-improving practices. To address this link, the objectives of this study are to examine factors
associated with the adoption of soil-improving practices by Ghanaian farmers and how this adoption impacts
the probability of increased food security. Using survey data, two logit models are estimated to determine 1) the
likelihood of adopting soil-improving practices including how food security may influence adoption and 2) the
relationship between technology adoption and food security.
Results: In the adoption model, being a food secure household, the use of insecticides and seasonal lease land
tenure increase the probability of adopting such soil-improving practices. Farming on better soil decreases the
probability of adopting soil-improving practices. Higher incomes along with the use of chemical fertilizers, farming
on better soil, and the use of commercial seeds increase the probability of the household being food secure. The
results on fertilizer, soil, and seeds are most likely associated with increased production. The use of insecticides
(which may be an indicator of an insect infestation) lowers the probability of being food secure. Household characteristics
such as income, age, education level, and household size are not significant in influencing the adoption
decision or improving household food security.
Conclusions: The results lend support to a need to fine-tune the fertilizer subsidy policy implemented by
the Government of Ghana. The government needs to consider that the use of fertilizer may have conflicting
influences on adoption of soil-improving practices and food security. Improved seed research and distribution
would improve the households’ food security. Inferences also suggest that it is important to consider land
contract markets in policy decisions.
Keywords: Ghana, Food security, Ordered logit, Survey, Soil-improving practices adoption

As demands for limited natural resources increase, developing management institutions that ensure the sustainability of such resources is essential. Many natural resources are Common Pool Resources (CPRs), managed under different non-cooperative, cooperative, and externally imposed management frameworks.