The resilience of big river basins

Abstract

Big river basins are complex systems of people and nature. This article explores the resilience of nine case studies of big river basins. A system description and generic conceptual model suggests that resilience to changes in water quantity is critical. When water becomes limiting, the social-ecological system must adapt rapidly if key elements (for example, communities, biodiversity) are to be maintained. Water limitation imposes a water economy and alters political and institutional links between actors. Pro-active management for resilience demands politically acceptable participatory processes that use the best possible science and incorporate social, ecological and economic elements in problem definition and solution.

Managing water and agroecosystems for food security

“…Multifunctional agroecological landscapes need supporting services in all sectors, ranging from the monitoring of water distribution and soil fertility to veterinary centres and public health facilities. Incentive systems such as payments for ecosystem services (PES) and payments for watershed services can support the transition to more sustainable farming systems and enhance resilience (Swallow and Meinzen-Dick, 2009;Mulligan et al, 2010;Cumming, 2011;Chapter 9). Such policies may enable farmers to adopt practices that lead to long-term benefi ts, but with lower returns in the short term.…”

“…For instance: how much water is there in the basin and who uses the water; how productively is water used by agriculture; and who has the power to change this? Finally, interventions can be developed, for instance, by looking at how sensitive the system is to change (see Cumming, 2011). …”

Hydraulic engineering in the social-ecological delta: understanding the interplay between social, ecological, and technological systems in the Dutch delta by means of “delta trajectories.”

“…From this perspective, several of the largest of the world's deltas have recently been conceptualized as social-ecological delta systems (delta-SES; Renaud et al 2013); similar ideas also have been used at the level of large river basins, most of which include deltas (Cumming 2011). Although studies inspired by delta-SES argue that human-induced hydraulic interventions often negatively influence environmental processes in deltas, they do not go into details of how such technological dynamics in the hydraulic domain came about, and how they continue to steer delta futures.…”

Systems thinking and modelling for sustainable water resources management and agricultural development in the Volta River Basin, West Africa

“…Hjorth and Bagheri (2006) add that, reductionism as a perspective of 'modern science' is characterised by increased specialisation and, consequently, it has produced numerous knowledge but insufficient insight. Indeed, focusing on individual parts can help illuminate certain aspect about the 'whole', they fall short in explaining the full problem (Hjorth and Bagheri, 2006;Jeffrey and Hawkins, 2008;Cumming, 2011). This is because they also make many assumptions about the constancy of causal relationships, the prevalence of linear relationships, and the structure of the focused system (Cumming, 2011).…”