Managing transboundary river basins

Emeline Hassenforder*, Benjamin Noury

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

    1 Citation (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Managing transboundary river basins is a complex endeavor that requires specific approaches and methods of management and governance. Part 1 of this chapter introduces transboundary river basins and their management: why they are now widely used as a unit of management, potential linkages with the management of other natural resources and with national and regional development planning efforts. It highlights the difference between operational management, strategic management and governance while introducing river basin organizations and their roles. Finally it paves the way to an open interpretation of the term “transboundary”. Part 2 introduces the notion of social-ecological systems and lists a number of factors, explaining their complexity and the inherent difficulties in managing them. We advocate in this part that there is a need to shift from an infrastructure-oriented approach, which focuses on supply-side management and was prevalent in the 1970‘s and 1980‘s, to more integrated and adaptive approaches considering water demand management, and environmental and social benefits. Based on a comparative analysis of 8 projects in seven transboundary basins, Part 3 shows concrete examples highlighting obstacles and key success factors in implementing these new approaches in practice. Part 4 starts by advocating that an additional factor compounding the difficulty in implementing these new approaches is the apparent incompatibility between the notions of planning, integration and adaptation. Authors in the management science literature uphold that this argument is based on a very old-fashioned notion of planning and suggest using a more adaptive and integrated planning approach based on multi-scale, trans-disciplinary and participatory aspects. Finally, the conclusion questions the desirability of resilience and adaptation for planning purposes and concludes by highlighting the importance of thorough monitoring and evaluation as the unique means for responding to this question.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationRiver Basin Management in the Twenty-First Century
    Subtitle of host publicationUnderstanding People and Place
    PublisherCRC Press
    Pages129-161
    Number of pages33
    ISBN (Electronic)9781466579637
    ISBN (Print)9781466579620
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2014

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