41157 Integrated Management From Concepts to Good Practice Briefing Note 8 Transboundary Water Sharing Integrated Management Developing and allocating reasonable and equitable water shares across boundaries This note is one in a series explaining the attributes and practical application of integrated river basin management. The purpose of the Briefing Note series and the issues and aspects that are covered are outlined in the mini-guide. This note discusses: · International law and principles on sharing · Volumetric and benefit sharing · Setting and managing water shares Case studies are also presented to illustrate different sharing options and allocation methods, including the use of evapo-transpiration. 1 anagementM basin er riv ntegratedI Contents Acknowledgements 2 Introduction 2 What Does "Equitable and Reasonable Utilization" Mean in a River Basin Setting? 3 How Are Some RBOs Dealing with Water Sharing Issues? 6 What Traditionally Have Been the Problems with Water Shares or Allocations in the Agriculture Sector? 13 What Happens to Water Allocations When On-farm Water Efficiencies Improve? 13 What Can be Done to Offset the Reductions in Water Allocations? 14 How Can Water Use Be Monitored? 16 How Can Partners Move Forward with Transboundary Water Sharing: A Few Key Points 17 Annex. Principles of Reasonable and Equitable Utilization: UN Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Wa- tercourses 18 Abbreviations and Acronyms 19 References 19 Acknowledgments Introduction 2 This Briefing Note Series was prepared by Peter Mil- Transboundary water sharing is fundamental to all river lington, consultant, previously Director-General of the basin organizations. Whether a river basin is international New South Wales Department of Water Resources and (involving two or more countries) or national (involving Commissioner on the Murray-Darling Basin Commission, two or more internal states, provinces, or prefectures) Australia; Douglas Olson, World Bank Principal Water sharing water resources still refers to achieving reason- Resources Engineer and Task Manager for this Briefing able and equitable allocation of water among the various Note Series; and Shelley McMillan, World Bank Water administrative bodies in the basin. Resources Specialist. Each of the member-countries or government agencies Guy Alaerts (Lead Water Resources Specialist) and within a basin organization, or the stakeholders that Claudia Sadoff (Lead Economist) of the World Bank occupy the river basin, will have its own interpretation of provided valuable inputs. what is fair and reasonable and each will have sovereign or specified rights that it will want to see protected. The authors thank the following specialists for reviewing the Notes: Bruce Hooper and Pieter Huisman (consul- Internationally, the United Nations Convention on the tants); Vahid Alavian, Inger Anderson, Rita Cestti Jean Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Foerster, Nagaraja Harshadeep, Tracy Hart, Karin Kemper, Watercourses provides the most detailed principles on Barbara Miller, Salman Salman, Ashok Subramanian, and water utilization and sharing, protection of sovereign Mei Xie (World Bank staff). rights, and conflict resolution. These principles, which relate to reasonable and equitable utilization and sharing, The authors are also deeply grateful to the Bank-Nether- are equally applicable to internal or national river basins lands Water Partnership Program (BNWPP) for support- and to international basins. The full text of Part II of this ing the production of this Series. UN Convention appears in the annex. In the context of water resources, reasonable means sensible, not asking too much. Equitable meaning fair, just, not favoring anyone more than another. This is a relatively new principle of international water law: new at least in the sense that it has taken quite a long time to become accepted. As part of a major effort to codify international water law, the principle was first widely discussed in Chapter 2 of the Helsinki Rules, ad- opted by the International Law Association in ___. [[year]] This was then adopted by the UN Convention in 1997. 3 anagementM basin er riv ntegratedI What Does "Equitable and Reasonable Utilization" Mean in a River Basin Setting? While economists may caution that equitable sharing mentary principle to not cause appreciable harm to the does not necessarily result in the economically efficient other countries in the basin. Again, mutual trust and allocation of the resource, water management profession- respect cannot transpire if one partner causes unaccept- als argue that the principle has the ability to achieve a able harm to another. realistic and pragmatic balance of interests among the basin partners. Ultimately what is needed is a comple- Accordingly, what needs to be considered is not what mentary mix of mutual interests, protection of sovereign might be reasonable and equitable use for a particular rights, solutions to satisfy the most reluctant partner, and country, but what is reasonable and equitable in relation to a large amount of mutual trust, respect, and confidence. all parties in the basin. This key principle complements the The strict application of an economically efficient alloca- larger principle that countries have a right to participate in tion approach is unlikely to satisfy all parties. the beneficial use of a shared river, plus a complementary obligation to cooperate. This principle was also discussed Equitable sharing does not stand alone as a principle. The in the context of data and information sharing in Note 4. right of a country to a reasonable and equitable share of Diagrammatically, this principle can be represented as a the water resource base is accompanied by the comple- triangle of mutually dependent obligations (figure 8.1). Although beneficial use refers to the use of water for the >The availability of alternatives of comparable value to a 4 economic and social benefit of a country, the resource particular planned or existing use. itself and the aquatic and riverine life that depend on it for survival must also be considered. The term "existing and potential uses" in the fifth bullet above is an important issue. "Existing use" implies some Thus before any bulk sharing of the basin's resources legitimacy of the principle of prior appropriation ­ yet among the basin partners is decided, the share for the such a principle is not necessarily reasonable or equita- environment ­ in terms of both the quantity and quality ble. Hence the need for pragmatic compromises to water of flows ­ must be debated and allocated, either before sharing, based on the merits of particular situations, and the consumptive use sharing, or as another component the critical importance of mutual trust and respect, are of the bulk sharing process. Establishing the needs for even more evident. environmental sustainability is discussed in more detail in Note 5. Another key issue is the sharing of benefits, rather than the sharing of water volumes. Recently, this approach The discussion above illustrates that there is no exact defi- has been encouraged because it is more likely to achieve nition for reasonable and equitable sharing. rather, this is positive results faster, compared to attempting to define determined by what the basin partners agree to as a suit- specific volumetric water shares. This approach is dis- able compromise. The UN Convention gives some guidance cussed in more detail below in reference to the Mekong as to how to go about developing the debate and how to River Commission. facilitate open discussion about the full range of economic, environmental, and social issues. The Convention states that the relevant factors to be considered when debating Pragmatism ­ after all facts and information have reasonable and equitable utilization are: been openly discussed in an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect ­ has the best chance of producing >Geographic, hydrographic, hydrological, climatic, enduring water sharing arrangements that satisfy ecological, and other factors of a natural character environmental, social, and economic needs. >The social and economic needs of the watercourse states concerned >The population dependent on the watercourse in each Despite all these attempts to achieve fair and reason- watercourse state able sharing of the basin's resources, conflicts will arise. >The effects of the use or uses of the watercourses by It is an important function of a basin organization, or one watercourse state on other watercourse states an agency responsible for basin-wide water resource >Existing and potential uses of the watercourse management issues, to be able to bring disputes to the >Conservation, protection, development, and economy negotiating table, and through agreed processes, achieve of use of the water resources of the watercourse and an acceptable result. Note 12 discusses the important role the costs of measures taken to that effect of dispute resolution. figure 8.1 MUTUAL OBLIGATIONS AMONG PARTIES IN A RIVER BASIN 5 anagementM basin er riv ntegratedI How are Some RBOs Dealing with Water Sharing Issues? 6 The discussion that follows centers on basin-wide issues. sharing rules and procedures, which the MRC would then It does not deal with how each member-state or province use to evaluate any projects and proposals submitted allocates its water share and licenses water to particular by a country. The Ministerial Council would then need to users within a state or province; rather, it addresses issues consider the evaluation and decide whether the project to the point of accountability where each state or province makes reasonable and fair use of the water. must report to the river basin organization or relevant agency responsible for basin-wide water sharing. (This is The MRC does not intervene with respect to how each generally referred to as the accountability level of inte- country distributes water that is within the agreed usage grated river basin management.) rules and procedures. Rather, it monitors water usage to ensure that actual diversions are within the agreed rules The three practical examples are reviewed: for any particular project and that environmental flow >The Mekong River Commission (MRC), a relatively new obligations are being met. It thus has more of a coordinat- organization just coming to terms with how to share wa- ing and planning role, as compared to more traditional ter resources among four countries (Cambodia, the Lao arrangements, where the basin partners did not autono- People's Democratic Republic, Thailand, and Vietnam) mously manage their water use and the RBO had more >The Murray-Darling Basin Commission (MDBC), estab- direct management and control over water usage. lished almost 90 years ago in Australia and including water shares and the monitoring of those shares for The Legal Agreement. Articles 1 to 3 of the MRC agree- most of this time ment provide the basis for cooperation among the four >The Tarim Basin Water Resources Commission (TBWRC), countries (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam): a new basin organization in China that uses a different approach than the MRC. >Article 1 ­ "To cooperate in all fields of sustainable development, utilization, management and conservation The Mekong River Commission of the water and related resources of the basin including, but not limited to, irrigation..." The Mekong River Commission is fundamentally different from the MDBC and the TBWRC in that it is an international >Article 2 ­ "To promote, support, cooperate and basin organization, not a domestic one. As such, the coordinate in the development of the full potential of organization must maintain strong respect for the sover- sustainable benefits to all riparian countries and the eign rights of each member-country to develop its own prevention of the wasteful use of the basin's resources, natural resources. The MRC's role is to develop rules for with emphasis on joint or basin-wide projects that are the protection of the basin's rivers and to set broad rules determined through formulation of a basin develop- for the use of the remaining water after these environmen- ment plan..." tal needs have been met, in accordance with the principles set out in the agreement. The specific rules to control >Article 3 ­ "To protect the environment, natural resourc- water usage are still to be defined; a range of options must es, aquatic life and conditions, and ecological balance be considered before agreement is reached. It may turn of the basin from pollution or other harmful effects out that specific annual volume quotas for each country resulting from any development plans and uses of water are not developed; rather, agreement may be reached on and related resources..." 7 The terms of these three Articles must be considered be- the natural resource base of the basin must be known. This fore any project can be investigated or studied. With regard issue is discussed in detail in Note 5. The MRC has chosen to sharing water in the basin, the overriding issue is covered to develop its environmental flow regime requirements as in Article 3, which states that no development can proceed part of the basin development planning studies underway, if it impacts the environment beyond what is agreed to as rather than carrying out a separate review of the charac- the level of ecological sustainability. Thus as discussed, teristics and health of the basin's natural resources and anagementM before water sharing for consumptive use among basin then determining flow regime requirements in advance of partners can realistically occur, the flow regime require- any planning studies. basin ments for the environment must be established. er The MRC must weigh some important considerations riv Volumetric Water Sharing. The MRC agreement has initially: avoided the specification of volumetric shares for each >What is really meant by environmental sustainability? country in its legal agreement. As a proxy, the agreement What natural resource and social parameters must be ntegratedI incorporates rules and procedures that define which types taken into account? of projects need to be submitted for review and debate, >What level of impact on these parameters can be toler- and what are the broad criteria for assessing whether a ated from new development proposals and the water particular project is acceptable. Schedules to the agree- used by them? ment are to be framed that will precisely define the >Can water be taken without limit in the wet season (when notification, assessment, and recording for projects. the monsoons bring huge flows down the river systems) without affecting the environmental health of the basin? To have sought to include specific volume shares for each >When does the critical dry season begin, when severe country in the 1995 agreement could have caused the limitations can be imposed on the impacts that a new agreement to be delayed for many years ­ or even decades project may cause? Since the current flow levels in the ­ because it probably would have been impossible to agree dry season can cause problems with salinity intrusion, on what reasonable and equitable shares would be before fish breeding, and so on, can water be taken for devel- the new institutional arrangements had been finalized. opment in this dry period without severely affecting environmental values and health? Different processes are required for reviewing projects if, for example, they require water in the dry or wet season; To reiterate, the MRC approach to water sharing is not to they are on the main river or on tributary streams within develop specific annual shares of water for each country; the member-countries; or they divert water outside the rather, it is to develop rules and procedures to review and basin (an inter-basin diversion). assess the impacts of basin-wide and national projects, measured against a set of environmental, hydrologic, and In addition, the agreement states that acceptable minimum social indicators. flows must be determined for the main stream and that any development projects must not infringe upon these More specifically, the MRC approach uses linkages between flow levels. The minimum agreed flow regime must main- three main work programs to deliver a basin development tain the agreed level of ecological or environmental health. plan that will share the benefits and meet the requirements To set this level, significant information about all aspects of of ecological sustainability (figure 8.2). figure 8.2 MAJOR WORK PROGRAMS UNDER THE MRC APPROACH 8 Sharing benefits rather than sharing water volumes is Thus sharing benefits and sharing water resource volumes arguably the most modern or mature river basin approach, may be issues that need to be discussed openly and fairly but it is by no means any simpler to reach agreement. if basin partners are to maintain mutual trust, respect, and Benefits ultimately need to be seen in the broadest confidence. Two approaches are described below. possible way, such as ecosystem services. This gets back to addressing the issues of an agreed mix of mutual The Murray-Darling Basin Commission interests, protecting sovereign rights, satisfying the most reluctant partner, and maintaining mutual trust, respect, The Initial Water Sharing Agreement. In the early 1990s, and confidence. In this context, one partner may feel that the Murray-Darling Basin Commission (MDBC) in Australia sharing benefits will not be acceptable unless it is given set out to follow a path of sharing the water, not the the opportunity to sell some of the water from within its benefits of the basin. After more than a decade of debate, boundaries, and thus accrue benefits through water sales the agreement came to include specific water shared along or transfers. For example, a partner that has large volumes with the sharing of certain benefits. of the basin's water resources within its boundaries but only limited areas of suitable land for development may It is relevant to consider the situation in the river basin wish to sell some of the water it might otherwise never around 1900, when the states of Australia agreed to form utilize because of lack of opportunity. a federation. Each state retained the right to develop its own natural resources. So all the rivers within each state, the long term, through this sharing arrangement, each irrespective of whether they flowed into the main stem state has been receiving about one third of the available 9 of the River Murray, could be developed as each state resources ­even though the sharing rules were not based wished. However, the main stem River Murray passes on the specification of proportional volumetric shares to all through three states; the upper two states share the river three states; only one share was set for the lower state. as a common border. Thus how the water resources of the River Murray were to be shared became an issue on the The principles behind this sharing arrangement still apply first day of the federation. some 90 years later, even though additional mainstream anagementM dams have been constructed. Any extra water is shared in The two upper states jointly wanted to build one or two approximately equal proportions. In addition, downstream basin large dams to develop large irrigation schemes along the flow for commercial navigation in the lower state has er rich flood plains of the river. The lower state was more con- ceased to be an issue. It has been replaced by recreational riv cerned with preserving river flows for navigation purposes. and environmental needs and more water for the irriga- At the time, there was little road or rail infrastructure. The tion sector. lower state was able to provide shallow draft shipping to secure much of the inland agricultural transport business Modernizing the Water Sharing Agreement. Over the ntegratedI to the major seaboard port of Adelaide. last 10 years, and by mutual agreement within the MDBC institution and its member-governments, unlimited water Finally an agreement was reached that a major dam could use on the tributary streams within the basin by each state be built in the headwaters, but a series of compensa- is no longer permitted, even though this remains a state tory weirs and locks would be built in the lower state to right under the country's constitution. The very high levels maintain navigation rights and river traffic loads ­ even of development on all these streams has led to severe though major reductions in the flow downriver would occur reductions in flows and large increases in both urban and because of water storage in the dam. This agreement agricultural pollution in the River Murray. As a result, the was legalized and became the first River Murray Waters lower state is receiving poor quality water and little more Agreement (later amended to the MDB agreement). than its entitlement or allocation flow, and no flushing flows for improving the water quality. In terms of water sharing, the lower state was allocated a specific annual volume, broken up into specific monthly The MDBC member-states have therefore agreed to limit flows, calculated to provide an agreed level of irrigation diversions in all tributary streams, and in some cases, and navigation benefits that were seen as reasonable and prohibit any new diversions. This has caused great conflict equitable after all the weirs and locks were constructed. between farmers who use the water (and seek compensa- The two upper states each had to contribute half of this tion for water allocation reductions) and environmentalists monthly requirement. The two upper states were then free who want to reverse the decline in the health of the River to share equally the remaining resources held in the new Murray. The difficult question is just where is the accept- dam (plus use their own tributary water). Thus the volume able balancing point between losses from the level of of water available to the two upper states was not a fixed economic productivity because of water reductions and the annual share; it varied with the amount of water held in consequential improvements in environmental health. storage at the start of each water year. A detailed ac- counting system was developed to record how much water The MDBC initially was responsible only for water sharing was used and how much passed to the lower state. Over along the mainstream of the River Murray. Currently, the MDBC has several coordinating and planning roles in water The MDBC: 10 sharing across all tributary streams of the basin. These >Sets quotas for three states for water diversions from responsibilities are highlighted below. the main stream (the River Murray), as specified in the >To determine annual volumes for water consumption MDBC agreement from the River Murray and related resources specified in >Manages major dams and weirs on the main stream to the agreement release water to meet water orders lodged by the states >To advise each of the three riparian states of the avail- that are within these state quotas able water >Maintains an ongoing water account for each state to >To control releases from the headwater dams and weirs record progressive water usage throughout the year in accordance with water orders from each state >Sets quotas for water use on the tributary or sub-basin >To monitor each state's diversions and operate a system streams, after agreement by the Ministerial Council of of water accounts to detail how the water is used against the Commission on the method to be used to determine what is available the quotas >To monitoring and audit the water quotas that have been >Audits each year whether each state has maintained set for each tributary or sub-basin stream within each water use for each sub-basin within the quota. member-state (five states/territories divert water from the basin and some twenty sub-basins each have a cap The member-state agency: or quota controlling diversions) >Submits water orders (perhaps weekly) to MDBC for >To reviewing the effectiveness of the various water per- diverting water from main stream mitting systems in each state to ensure that the agreed >Manages its own water usage on each tributary or sub- targets and quotas in each sub-basin are being met. basin stream and provides a year-end summary to MDBC to compare usage with the quota limit Since the water shares of the River Murray resources and >Issueslicensesandpermitstoallwateruserswithinthe the water quotas for the tributary streams have been state (that is, the River Murray mainstream and all the clearly established and agreed, the role of the MDBC is pri- tributary or sub-basin streams within its state boundaries) marily to monitor and report on: water use during the year, >Collects relevant information to ensure that licensees compliance with the agreed quotas, and trends in resource are complying with license conditions, including informa- behavior and health. That is, the Commission assesses tion that may be requested by MDBC. whether the reduced level of water usage established by the introduction of quotas on the tributary streams has The Tarim Basin Water Resources Commission achieved the required level of resource rehabilitation. The Tarim Basin Water Resources Commission (TBWRC) It is important to note that the MDBC does not become di- provides a different example of how to share the water re- rectly involved in the issuance of water licenses or permits sources of a river basin. TBWRC is new basin organization within the states. By agreement, it is confined to planning created for the Tarim River Basin about five years ago. It and coordination at the basin and at member-state levels. is the first in China to have a set of regulations that cover Hence its accountability ends at the point of ensuring the all the key elements of integrated river basin management. states' compliance with the broad basin-wide policies for Previously, the basin organizations in China operated like basin sustainability. The system for water allocation and regional branches of the central government's Ministry licensing/permitting in the Murray-Darling Basin can be of Water Resources, with no direct participation from the summarized as follows: provinces within the particular basin. In addition, they had more specific task-oriented roles and responsibilities, such as flood control, defining water shares, and pollution 11 abatement, rather than covering all aspects of integrated river basin management with a high level of stakeholder involvement. The Tarim Basin is wholly located within one province, the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, in western China. This anagementM region occupies almost one-sixth of all of China and has large areas of desert and highly fragile lands. The Tarim basin River rises in very high mountains in southwestern China er and passes quite quickly down into the desert areas. The riv densely populated oases divert as much water as possible to maintain intensive development in what would otherwise be very unproductive areas. The Tarim River finally ends by discharging into a large inland lake. In its passage through ntegratedI the lower half of the basin, it provides valuable ground- water and flood overflow watering for an essential Green Corridor of vegetation that keeps desert areas at bay and protects important transport routes. The Government of China has declared the Green Corridor to be an area of national heritage. Five major tributary streams drain the headwaters. These come together about a third of the length down the system to form the main stem of the Tarim River. The prefecture that economic development is integrated with ecological governments on each of these tributaries have heavily and environmental protection; that water should be used developed the water resources. By the mid 1990s, little wa- in a planned and efficient manner; and that a coordinated ter was reaching the lower river and the health and areal system of payment for water consumed should be intro- extent of the Green Corridor was being severely impacted. duced. This includes both a water supply charge for the volume of water actually diverted for use and a water A new basin organization was formed to achieve sustain- resources fee to cover part of the cost of managing the able use of the basin's water resources. It was given a water resources of the basin. The actual level of fees and contemporary set of regulations that established the Tarim charges that are to be collected must take into account Basin Water Resources Commission (TBWRC) and made all ability to pay issues. In practice, the regional government government administrations within the basin equal part- will continue to provide large subsidies to the bulk water ners through membership to a Board of Commissioners suppliers and to TBWRC. or Standing Committee. The regulations specifically gave TBWRC the role of managing the sharing of the basin's Setting Water Shares. The Agreement requires fair and water resources. The general provisions require that a reasonable sharing of water resources among the eco- range of practices and approaches be followed to ensure nomic partners in the basin, as well as a reasonable share to protect the basin's environment. In this context, the The quota agreement may also specify some reporting 12 Commission prepares and reviews a comprehensive master requirements relating to how water is consumed by the plan of the basin. It also reviews and determines the annual various users within each state or province. It may also in- gross water quota, the annual limits for water usage, and clude reporting requirements pertaining to the permitting the annual water use plan of the various prefectures and process (for example, whether water use efficiency issues other concerned parties. are being incorporated in the permits/licenses). However, as mentioned earlier, nowadays it is uncommon for a basin A specific annual volume or quota has been set for each organization to intrude into the actual water permitting prefecture on the basis that if diversions are maintained process within states or provinces. Typically, a quota agree- at this level, then sufficient water will pass downstream ment would have provisions along the following lines: every year to maintain the Green Corridor in an acceptable environmental condition. Extensive monitoring is needed >Purpose to establish whether the desired improvements in resource >Definitions health are taking place or whether further adjustments >Parties to the agreement in quotas need to be made. These could be either quota >Roles and responsibilities reductions to provide more water for the environment, >River system covered by the agreement or quota increases if actual environmental rehabilitation >Annual long-term quota exceeds expectations. Making detailed assessments and >Transitional arrangements to reach quota responding honestly to these findings are important roles >Annual water regulating method (how hydraulic for a basin organization, as the overriding objective for structures are to be operated) any RBO is to find the most acceptable balance between >The water regulating plan for the year economic development and environmental protection. >Permanent and temporary transfer of unused There is no point in causing excessive economic strain annual allocation through reductions in water use if this makes the environ- >Monitoring and reporting ment healthier than the agreed level. >Monthly diversions within quota The quotas have been set with about a 10 percent reduc- >Reporting requirements relating to internal water use tion in recent annual usage. This provides a big incentive >Water quality issues to improve water use efficiency, which is currently low. >Performance indicators In this way, overall productivity can be maintained, even >Asset management requirements though water diversions have been reduced. The quota >Billing and charging for water resource management volumes need to be clearly specified in an agreement that activities also specifies the conditions and rules regarding how the >Customer liaison requirements quotas can be used, along with the monitoring, reporting, >Registering of complaints and disputes and auditing requirements. This agreement is to be signed >Dispute resolution by all parties (the basin organization and the respective >Assessing quota effectiveness states or provinces). All these aspects are very important >Developing analytical tools so that all parties are aware of the rules and procedures in >Hydrological, social, and environmental models the event there is a dispute concerning the compliance of quotas. What Traditionally Have Been the Problems with Water Shares or Allocations in the Agriculture Sector? 13 In the past, when water was plentiful, the control of con- Such drainage results in large returns to the river system sumptive use in the irrigation sector was not based on the (for consumptive re-use downstream or by chance, to satisfy volumes of water diverted but on the area under irrigation. environmental needs) or large losses into wastelands and That is, a farmer had what was known as an area water other non-ecologically beneficial water surfaces and swamps, license and was able to divert as much water in a year as he or both. Those responsible for river operations in such anagementM desired, provided that the water was used only in the area circumstances become to expect these return flows, so they defined in the license. This is still common practice in many become part of the water balance and satisfy some of the basin developing countries, where water may still be plentiful and demand when the releases from reservoirs are determined. er where the areas irrigated by each farmer are quite small: riv for example, 1 to 3 hectares. In the latter case, a refined In many countries however, water is not plentiful; the prevail- system to precisely measure volumes of water diverted on ing scenario is water scarcity. This circumstance has driven an individual farm basis is simply not practical. new approaches to water allocation. It is now common to allocate a farmer a fixed annual amount of water, which ntegratedI But this approach does not promote efficient water us- can be used anywhere on a farm (provided there are no age. There is no incentive for farmers to use water more environmental or soil condition constraints) rather than an efficiently. In essence, they are free to use water almost unlimited water supply tied to a fixed area. In addition, the indiscriminately provided it is within the defined fixed area. economic value of water and the true costs of supplying it This in turn creates large drainage flows leaving the farm, are now more carefully considered. Farmers are being asked either through increased flows to groundwater or through to pay substantially higher water charges to cover a greater the surface drainage systems. percentage of these costs. What Happens to Water Allocations When On-farm Water Efficiencies Improve? If a farmer is now constrained by a fixed diversion volume smaller. This concept is often difficult for farmers to accept and he is also paying more for the water he uses, it is and is met with much resistance. unlikely that he will continue to allow large quantities of water to drain off his farm. How will this shortfall In the cases of the Murray-Darling and Tarim River Basins, downstream (either for consumptive use or to satisfy certain annual volumes must be delivered downstream. In environmental needs) be met? In the case of river systems the MDBC case, the legal monthly components of the annual supplemented by dam storages, will river operators need allocation of the most downstream state must be met. In the to release more water to offset this reduction in return TBWRC case, a downstream variable flow regime is required flows? If so, the volume of water available for allocation for to meet agreed environmental needs. If the return flows in consumptive use in the dams each year must be reduced, the basin are reduced or are likely to be, because of higher as a greater portion of the stored water will be required to water efficiencies on farm or within the irrigation distribu- meet the needs downstream. Once on-farm water efficien- tion systems, then the MDBC and the TBWRC need to set an- cies improve and drainage or return flows are significantly nual diversion quotas for the upstream states or prefectures reduced, annual water allocations to farmers need to be at a level that takes these reductions into account. 14 What Can Be Done to Offset Reductions in Water Allocations? The problems outlined above bring the concept of evapo- transpiration (ET) back into focus. ET is evaporation from water and ground surfaces, and transpiration by plants. To offset some of the reduction to their water quotas, farm- ers will need to readjust their irrigation practices to utilize more of the non-beneficial evapo-transpiration (NBET) or non-beneficial water usage. To explore this concept further, consider the Tarim Basin. As mentioned, this basin is a closed system with no outlet to the sea. Five tributary streams or sub-basins in the headwaters all join to form the Tarim River. It is useful to think of each sub-basin as a "black box." That is, every drop of water that enters the black box must again leave; what goes on within the box is irrelevant. The only water entering the Tarim Basin is precipitation (mostly in the form of snowfall in the high mountains). As the basin is landlocked, water leaves only in the form of evapo-transpiration. It is useful to divide the ET into three components: >Consumptiveuse(CU)relatedtohumanactivityinir- rigated agricultural, municipal, and industrial uses >BeneficialET(BET)fromtreesandgreenareasalong rivers and in and around oases >Non-beneficialET(NBET),mostlyinlowlyingareaswith high water tables (including areas of salinization) and non- ecologically beneficial water surfaces. The overall goal in the basin should be to maximize CU and BET and to minimize NBET. To prevent any further deteriora- tion of the trees and green areas along the rivers, BET must be maintained at existing levels, so any increases in CU must be offset by corresponding equal decreases in NBET. More-over, to rehabilitate the Green Corridor downstream, an increase in BET is required. This increase, coupled with any increases in CU, therefore demand even larger reductions in the NBET. The overall amount of NBET in the Tarim Basin is large, Examples of this practice can be found in Colorado, partly because of the local desert conditions. With proper California, and some other western states in the United 15 planning, water allocations, and management, it has been States. While the water right is set in terms of the gross possible to significantly improve water use (CU) and increase amount of water that can be diverted, it also includes how BET in the basin. much can be used consumptively and how much must be returned through the drainage systems. In some parts of At the sub-basin level, the "black box" concept is also Australia, while rights are also based on gross diversions, relevant. Figuratively, if the black box is placed in the floor there are specific drainage licenses for some large irriga- anagementM of the sub-basin, including all areas of human activities and tion schemes, which regulate the water quality issues in excluding the mountain areas, the inputs to each sub-basin any return flows and some also have a quantity component. basin would be surface water (SW) and groundwater (GW) inflows. These stipulations may relate only to a few months of the er (Precipitation directly on the sub-basin away from the year, such as during times when rice fields are cleared riv mountains is very low and can be neglected.) The outputs ­ when the drainage water may be an important benefit for are also SW and GW outflows, plus the amount of ET leaving downstream users. the sub-basin (CU, BET, and NBET). The river basin organization needs to set quotas carefully, ntegratedI The TBWRC is supporting the government's goal to taking account of the CU, BET, and NBET as well as future rehabilitate the downstream Green Corridor and has set needs, particularly in terms of the BET. The RBO should a desired level of river health. This is to be achieved by also help identify ways to reduce NBET to achieve the allowing an improved flow regime to reach the lower river. greatest level of basin productivity consistent with the Each sub-basin therefore needs to be managed to increase agreed levels of environmental protection. Its role is not SW outflows. (GW inflows and outflows are small and can simply to set annual quotas and monitor compliance. be neglected.) At first, this meant reducing the level of consumptive use (CU). Because NBET is so large, inte- grated land and water management plans have since been developed to sustain current development ­ and also allow for new development through significant reductions in the NBET within the sub-basins. So even though most basin organizations control bulk or high-level water use through volumetric allocations or quo- tas set in terms of gross volumes that may be diverted by a state, province, or prefecture, the important issue is how the individual states and the specific water users in these states use water, seek efficiency gains, and attempt to reduce NBET. The basin organization needs to be aware of the reductions in NBET, not only because it is responsible for integrated water resources management coordination in the basin but also to ensure that these reductions return to the river basin water system and do not contribute to more CU. How Can Water Use Be Monitored? 16 In terms of monitoring water use, the prime task of the members. This will make the best use of available data and RBO is to assess whether each member-state or adminis- information ­ and perhaps more importantly, resources ­ so tration complies with the quota agreement that has been that limited funds can be used to obtain new information endorsed and signed by all. Similarly, in those basins where on resource behavior that was not previously measured. a RBO does not exist, the agency responsible for managing water allocation and use should also be responsible for the One of the new technologies being used to assess water compliance monitoring. Monitoring should be undertaken use efficiency for irrigation enterprises is thermal infrared not only of compliance with the annual quota volumes (or a imagery. Traditionally, indicators of irrigation performance percentage thereof in times of drought) but also of compli- were based on measurements of physical parameters (flow ance with the conditions relating to how and when water rates, yields, irrigation depths, canal seepage) at field, can be taken; with measurement practices for withdrawals; sub-project, project, or wider scales. Often, more than and with drainage or return flows requirements. The RBO 50 indicators were specified by traditional mathematical should also report on land and water management prac- formulae, but rarely were data sufficient to give a full or tices and water efficiency statistics. These are particularly meaningful picture of irrigation performance. This is not important for basin sustainability. surprising, as it is easier to define a mathematical formula for an indicator of performance than to actually spatially The monitoring and assessment of basin sustainability is and temporally measure the data within reasonable costs. covered in detail in Note 14. This issue is discussed briefly The advent of remote measurement for such fundamental below to complete the picture. parameters as evapo-transpiration and biomass forma- tion has greatly improved effective measurement of key Relevant data and information need to be collected to parameters in the irrigation sector. Spatial coverage is establish whether progress is being made and at what available at the various scales needed ­ field, project, basin rate. While the development of a package of sustainability ­ and temporal coverage is vastly superior at minimal indicators and a related monitoring program are critical cost, compared to the traditional system of extensive field roles of a RBO, these are of little value without good, measurement of data. Management tools such as remote adequate data. sensing can now that tell system operators how uniformly water is being distributed, how productively it is being Monitoring bulk diversions such as annual water quotas used, and where it is being wasted. is relatively simple. Many technical means of measuring water flow are readily available. But monitoring where this In the Tarim and Murray-Darling River Basins, this tool has water goes, for what purpose is it used, and how produc- greatly improved the accurate measurement of perfor- tive is its use are far more complex issues. Yet the collec- mance in areas relating to sustainable agricultural produc- tion and compilation of information is costly. Many RBOs tivity. Remote sensing is already used for assessments at and member governments, agencies, and departments the broad irrigation district scale but the recent advances simply do not have the funds to collect all the necessary in thermal infrared imagery are making it possible to more data. Hence the need for open sharing of data among all readily obtain irrigation efficiency data at the farm level. How Can Partners Move Forward with Transboundary Water Sharing: A Few Key Points 17 There is no single magic formula to define how the water projects are endorsed. In other words, the process is resources within a basin should be shared. On the contrary, based on the sharing of benefits rather than the creation the expectations of each of the basin partners, and the of specific water entitlements, quotas, or volumes shares establishment of trust, respect, and compromise regarding for each member country. what is perceived as reasonable and equitable among all anagementM parties, must be achieved primarily through principled >TheMDBChasallocatedaspecificwatershareforthe pragmatism. Sometimes impetus for the collaboration lower state in the basin. The upper two states along the basin arises through a catalyst, such as a joint piece of infrastruc- River Murray can equally share the water that is left er ture or an agreement to create and/or share water-related (which varies from year to year depending on climate and riv data and information. The process of water and benefit runoff). The three states along the main river can trade sharing proceeds from there. water with one another if this achieves higher benefits. ntegratedI The different approaches adopted by the three commis- >The TBWRC has developed specific water shares or sions ­ MRC, MDBC, and TBWRC ­are summarized below. quotas for each of the five prefectures within the basin, on the basis that, over the long term, if annual diversions >TheMRChasadoptedasetofprinciplesandprocedures are held at these levels, the volumes of water flowing to for sharing water through the evaluation of projects. downstream areas will restore the Green Corridor to an Once agreed ecological limits are not breached, the acceptable level of health. ANNEX 18 Principles of Reasonable and Equitable Utilization. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses. (Adopted by the UN General assembly May 1997.) Part II ­ General Principles. Article 5 ­ Equitable and reasonable utilization and participation. 1. Watercourse States shall in their respective territories utilize an international water course in an equitable and reason- able manner. In particular, an international watercourse shall be used and developed by watercourse States with a view to attaining optimal and sustainable utilization thereof and benefits there from, taking account the interests of the watercourse States concerned, consistent with adequate protection of the watercourse. 2. Watercourse States shall participate in the use, development and protection of an international watercourse in an equitable and reasonable manner. Such participation includes both the right to utilize the watercourse and the duty to cooperate in the protection and development thereof, as provided in the present Convention. Article 6 ­ Factors relevant to equitable and reasonable utilization. 1. Utilization of an international watercourse in an equitable and reasonable manner within the meaning of Article 5 requires taking into account all relevant factors and circumstances, including; · Geographic, hydrographic, hydrological, climatic, ecological and other factors of a natural character, · The social and economic needs of the watercourse States concerned, · The population dependent on the watercourse in each watercourse State, · The effects of the use or uses of the watercourses in one watercourse State on the other watercourse States, · Existing and potential uses of the watercourse, · Conservation, protection, development and economy of use of the water resources of the watercourse and the costs of measures taken to that effect; · The availability of alternatives, of comparable value, to a particular planned or existing use. 2. In the application of Article 5 or paragraph 1 of this Article, watercourse States concerned shall, when the need arises, enter into consultations in a spirit of cooperation, 3. The weight to be given to each factor is to be determined by its importance in comparison with that of other relevant factors. In determining what is a reasonable and equitable use, all relevant factors are to be considered together and a conclusion reached on the basis of the whole. Article 7 ­ Obligation not to cause significant harm. 1. Watercourse States shall, in utilizing an international watercourse in their territories, take all appropriate measures to prevent the causing of significant harm to other watercourse States. 2. Where significant harm nevertheless is caused to another watercourse State, the States whose use causes such harm shall, in the absence of agreement to such use, take all appropriate measures, having due regard for the provisions of Articles 5 and 6, in consultation with the affected State, to eliminate or mitigate such harm and, where appropriate, to discuss the question of compensation. Abbreviations and Acronyms 19 BDP Basin Development Plan OMVS Organisation pour la Mise en Valeur du Fleuve Senegal BET Beneficial Evapo-transpiration (ET) RBO River basin organization CU Consumptive Use SMART goals Goal that are S (Specific), M (Measurable), A (Achievable), DSF Decision Support Framework R (Realistic), and T (Time-based) ERS Environmental Resources Study SW Surface water ET Evapo-transpiration SWOT analysis Analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, anagementM GW Groundwater and Threats IRBM Integrated river basin management TBWRC Tarim Basin Water Resources Commission basin KRA Key Result Areas TQM Total Quality Management er LWMP Land and Water Management Plans WSC Water supply corporation riv MDBC Murray-Darling Basin Commission WUA Water user association MRC Mekong River Commission WUP Water Utilization Program NBET Non-beneficial Evapo-transpiration (ET) ntegratedI O&M Operation and maintenance References WEB SITES Groundwater GW-MATE: Groundwater Management Advisory Team Briefing Note Water Resources Management Series. Sectors and themes including: The overall structure of the series is as follows: Coastal and marine management Notes 1 and 2 ­ Broad introduction to the scope of groundwater manage- Dams and reservoirs ment and groundwater system characterization Groundwater Notes 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 ­ Essential components of management practice Irrigation and drainage for major aquifers with large groundwater storage under stress from in- River basin management tensive water-supply development for irrigated agriculture and/or urban Transboundary water management water-supply Water and environment Note 8 ­ The protection of potable groundwater supplies Water economics Notes 9, 10, and 15 ­ Planning national and regional action for groundwa- Water supply and sanitation ter resource management Watershed management Notes 13 and 14 ­ Management of smaller-scale water supply development Information and access to the respective Web sites can be found at: in the rural environment http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/ESSD/ardext.nsf/18ByDocName/Sector- The remainder of the series (Notes 11,12,16, and 17) deals with a number of sandThemes specific topics that pose a special challenge. http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/ESSD/ardext.nsf/18ByDocName/Sector- Dams sandThemesGroundwaterBriefingNotesSeries Benefit Sharing from Dam Projects, November 2002 http://www-esd.worldbank.org/documents/bnwpp/2/FinalReportBenefit- The Murray-Darling Basin Sharing.pdf Murray-Darling Basin Initiative http://www.mdbc.gov.au/ Good Dams and Bad Dams: Environmental Criteria for Site Selection of Hydroelectric Projects The Living Murray Initiative http://essd.worldbank.org/essdint.nsf/90ByDocName/WorldBankS http:/www.thelivingmurray.mdbc.gov.au/ afeguardPolicies404NaturalHabitatsGoodDamsandBadDamsEnvi ronmentalCriteriaforSiteSelectionofHydroelectricProjects/$FILE/ Heartlands Initiative Good+and+Bad+Dams+final.pdf http://www.ciw.csiro.au/heartlands/partners/index.html Toolkits OTHER SOURCES 20 Benchmarking, Rural Water Supply and Sanitation for Multi-Sector Proj- ects, Gender, Hygiene and Sanitation, Private Sector Participation, Small Barrow, C. J. 1998. "River Basin Development Planning and Management: Towns A Critical Review." World Development 26 (1): 171­86. http://www.worldbank.org/html/fpd/water/toolkits.html Boisson de Chazournes, Laurence, and M. A. Salman Salman. 1999. "Inter- Global Water Partnership IWRM Toolbox national Watercourses: Enhancing Cooperation and Managing Conflict." http://gwpforum.netmasters05.netmasters.nl/en/index.html Technical Paper 414F, World Bank, Washington, DC. Water Demand Management Bruning, Stephen D., and John A. Ledingham. 2000. Public Relations as Building Awareness and Overcoming Obstacles to Water Demand Manage- Relationship Management: A Relational Approach to the Study and Prac- ment, Guideline for River Basin and Catchment Management Organiza- tice of Public Relations. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. tions, IUCN http://www.gwpforum.org/gwp/library/River_basin_management_guide- Chenoweth, J. L. 1999. "Effective Multi-Jurisdictional River Basin Manage- line_26Oct2004.pdf ment: Data Collection and Exchange in the Murray-Darling and Mekong River Basins." Water International 14 (4): 368­76. Water Resources and Environment Technical Notes The overall structure of the series is as follows: Chenoweth, J. L., H. M. Malano, and J. F. Bird. 2001. "Integrated River A. Environmental Issues and Lessons Basin Management in the Multi-jurisdictional River Basins: The Case of B. Institutional and Regulatory Issues the Mekong River Basin." International Journal of Water Resources Devel- C. Environmental Flow Assessment opment 17 (3): 365­77. D. Water Quality Management E. Irrigation and Drainage Crano, William D., and Gary W. Silnow. 1987. Planning, Implementing and F. Water Conservation and Demand Management Evaluating Targeted Communication Programs, A Manual for Business G. Waterbody Management Communicators. New York: Quorum Books. H. Selected Topics http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/ESSD/ardext.nsf/18ByDocName/Sector- Creech, Bill. 1995. The 5 Pillars of TQM: How to Make Total Quality sandThemesWaterandEnvironmentWaterResourcesandEnvironmentTech- Management Work for You. New York: Plume Books. nicalNotes Dinar, Ariel, and D. Marc Kiljour. 1995. "Are Stable Agreements for Water Supply and Sanitation Sharing International River Waters Now Possible?" Policy Research http://www.worldbank.org/html/fpd/water/index.html Working Paper 1474, World Bank, Agriculture and Natural Resources Department, Agricultural Policies Division, Washington, DC. Dinar, Ariel, and Donna Lee. 1995. "Review of Integrated Approaches to River Basin Planning, Development and Management." Policy Research anagementM basin er riv ntegratedI Copyright © 2006 THE WORLD BANK 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. All rights reserved First printing February 2006 Please check the upcoming WBI training events. www.worldbank.org/wbi/water Integrated Management W O R L D B A N K I N S T I T U T E Promoting knowledge and learning for a better world