<p>Decision analysis techniques to meet water systems management challenges under climate change uncertainty have improved with advances in computational technology in the last decades. Infusing improved design and decision analysis techniques in developing countries can be of paramount importance given their higher vulnerability to climate change, fewer professionals with sufficient capacity, and generally high incentive for rapid expansion of low-cost solutions.&#160; However, a large gap exists between scientific progress and practical and policy applications, especially in global south countries. In this paper we discuss the observed challenges in design, analysis and decision making process to achieve climate smart water management in the highly utilized Awash Basin of Ethiopia. The approach we followed is key-informant interviews with water professionals working across multiple disciplines (i.e., water supply, irrigation, hydropower infrastructure design) and working for different organizations (i.e., government ministries, research institutions, consultancy offices) and freelancers and academicians. Efforts were made to represent informants from different academic levels, gender, and professional responsibilities. The results demonstrate multiple but related challenges including the lack of incentive to apply changes at individual or institutional levels, cultural and policy inertia against transparency and public debate in decision making. Technical challenges emanate from the non-inclusion of up-to-date climate change science at higher education level along with lack of access to computational and communication technology. We present tailor made decision support tools to improve management by leveraging advances in computational and visualization of large data to reveal tradeoffs and synergies of water and food systems at multiple watershed scales.&#160; Efficient and timely solutions for vulnerable small-scale producers can be best achieved by changing the role of institutions to reflect local capacity in the water system management sector. &#160;Proposed solutions to help tackle these challenges include overhaul of the skill requirement for water resources professionals along with continuous skills training and evaluation.</p>
<p>Awash River is the most utilized river basin in Ethiopia. The basin has a total of 110,000 km<sup>2</sup>. The water resources are exploited for various competing needs; domestic, agriculture, livestock's, energy, industry and environment. This study is aimed at enhancing the existing water resources management practices to make them climate resilient in light of climate variability and change. Frequent rainfall extremes, floods and droughts, an imbalance in water availability and demand, water over use in irrigated fields, water use competition and water quality deterioration are the key water management challenges of the basin. Small scale food producers reliant on rain-fed agriculture, small scale irrigators, pastoral and semi-pastoral communities are vulnerable to climate variability and experiencing its impact already. This study identified that their livelihoods are being impacted due to rainfall failure to produce adequate production in the growing period and shortage of fodder for their cattle due to limited soil moisture availability. Based on the identified problems and the existing water management practices, this study developed a conceptual framework, that encompass Climate Smart Water Management (CS-WM) definitions, CS-WM strategies, actions and recommendations to enhance the existing practices on multiple spatial scales. The proposed strategies briefly include improving data and information for more adaptive water resources planning and management, raising awareness and community engagement for improved water management; enhancing effectiveness of water management via technology and innovations, and enhancing alternative clean energy sources to support economic development while minimizing negative consequences of climate variability and change. The strategies and recommendations proposed are tailored to site specific locations and based on societal needs that could solve the identified water management problems and manage tradeoffs among different sectors in the basin.</p>
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