The Volta River Basin

The Volta River Basin
Author: Timothy O. Williams
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 376
Release: 2016-09-19
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 131747953X

The Volta River Basin (VRB) is an important transboundary basin in West Africa that covers approximately 410,000 square kilometres across six countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali and Togo. Its natural resources sustain the livelihoods of its population and contribute to economic development. This book provides a comprehensive, interdisciplinary review and assessment of the issues and challenges faced. The authors provide a science-based assessment of current and future scenarios of water availability, the demands of key sectors, including agriculture and hydropower, and the environment under changing demographic, economic, social and climatic conditions. They also identify solutions and strategies that will allow available water resources to be sustainably used to improve agricultural productivity, food security and economic growth in the VRB. Overall, the work examines from a multidisciplinary and multi-stakeholder perspective the solutions and strategies to improve the use of water and other natural resources in the VRB to achieve enhanced food security, livelihoods and economic growth.

The Water Resource Implications of Changing Climate in the Volta River Basin

The Water Resource Implications of Changing Climate in the Volta River Basin
Author: Matthew McCartney
Publisher: IWMI
Total Pages: 46
Release: 2012
Genre:
ISBN: 9290907649

The Volta River is one of the major rivers in Africa. In this study, a dynamic regional climate model (CCLM), a hydrological model (SWAT) and a water resource model (WEAP) were used to provide an assessment of one downscaled ‘middle impact’ climate change scenario on the performance of existing and planned irrigation and hydropower schemes. The results indicate that, by the middle of the twenty-first century, altered climate is likely to undermine the technical performance of existing and planned reservoirs, which will, in turn, affect development outcomes. Future water resources development in the basin requires interventions that bolster resilience and water security. Much more systematic planning of water storage, greater cooperation between the riparian states and consideration of innovative approaches to water storage are needed.

The VOLTA River Basin

The VOLTA River Basin
Author: Taylor & Francis Group
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2020-12-18
Genre:
ISBN: 9780367736910

The Volta River Basin (VRB) is an important transboundary basin in West Africa that covers approximately 410,000 square kilometres across six countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali and Togo. Its natural resources sustain the livelihoods of its population and contribute to economic development. This book provides a comprehensive, interdisciplinary review and assessment of the issues and challenges faced. The authors provide a science-based assessment of current and future scenarios of water availability, the demands of key sectors, including agriculture and hydropower, and the environment under changing demographic, economic, social and climatic conditions. They also identify solutions and strategies that will allow available water resources to be sustainably used to improve agricultural productivity, food security and economic growth in the VRB. Overall, the work examines from a multidisciplinary and multi-stakeholder perspective the solutions and strategies to improve the use of water and other natural resources in the VRB to achieve enhanced food security, livelihoods and economic growth.

Hydro-political assessment of water governance from the top-down and review of literature on local level institutions and practices in the Volta Basin

Hydro-political assessment of water governance from the top-down and review of literature on local level institutions and practices in the Volta Basin
Author: Yaw Opoku-Ankomah
Publisher: IWMI
Total Pages: 55
Release: 2006-07-07
Genre: Volta River Watershed (Ghana)
ISBN: 9290906367

An “hydro-political” assessment of water governance in the Volta Basin is one of two preparatory activities intended to guide and inform the development of a generic methodological model for building local indigenous institutional principles into international/transboundary river basin institutional arrangements. This report details from a “top-down” perspective, the historical developments of water governance of the Volta River Basin, paying special attention to the economic, political and social dynamics of water management within the legal and institutional frameworks in the Ghana and Burkina Faso portions of the Volta basin. The findings are based primarily on literature review, interviews with some key professionals and to some extent, previous knowledge and field experience

Hydrology and Water Law - Bridging the Gap

Hydrology and Water Law - Bridging the Gap
Author: J. Wallace
Publisher: IWA Publishing
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2006-04-30
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1843390701

With "integrated water resources management" (IWRM) the current buzzword in international circles, the real question is: how to operationalise a truly multidisciplinary approach to the effective management of shared watercourses. Based largely on the actual experience of HELP (Hydrology for the Environment, Life and Policy), the overall aim of the book is to produce a series of case studies from around the world (from the Aral Sea to Zimbabwe) that demonstrate how the "gaps" between hydrology, water law and management are actually bridged in practice. Is hydrological data relevant and used in the formulation of national and international water law and policy? Cases cited include examples of where this has happened and been successful or unsuccessful and where this has not happened and led to problems. This will act as a guide to how future water laws and polices can be made more effective via the use of accurate and up to date hydrological information.

Integrated Assessment of Water Resources and Global Change

Integrated Assessment of Water Resources and Global Change
Author: Eric Craswell
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2007-04-05
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1402055919

This book presents papers from an international conference, held in Bonn, Germany in February 2005, that dealt with integrated water resources management in industrialized and developing countries. The papers detail such emerging concepts as blue and green water, virtual water, the water footprints of nations, multi-agent modeling, linkages between water and biodiversity, and social learning and adaptive management.

Climate Change and Water Resources in Africa

Climate Change and Water Resources in Africa
Author: Salif Diop
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 521
Release: 2021-02-15
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 3030612252

The focus of this book is on the key water-related vulnerabilities to climate change in Africa, particularly in its most vulnerable areas, exploring potential management responses to such vulnerabilities. The African countries are particularly exposed and vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change, with important impacts on water resources and hydrological systems, water availability, water resource management and sea level variations. Already, under various anthropogenic pressures, the status of water resources in Africa has been changing over the past decades, with decreasing water quality, falling groundwater levels, and variability in rainfall, both in terms of timing and intensity. Climate change will further accelerate the rate of change, affecting the ability of people and societies to respond in a timely manner. It is clear that there is no quick fix to the pressures imposed on water resources by climate change. Increasing the resilience of ecosystems and communities to extreme events such as flooding and drought, and integrating climate change risks and opportunities into development decision-making is indeed a key challenge, as much a technical climate-change one, as a political and developmental challenge. The book, in this regard, intends to contribute to the debate around climate change in relation to water resources management in Africa, and in particular inform policy decisions and actions that will improve governments’ and communities’ ability to manage the challenges of climate change and variability in relation to the aquatic ecosystems that they depend on. The knowledge collected in this book will benefit policy makers, researchers, as well as other stakeholders.

Revisiting Integrated Water Resources Management

Revisiting Integrated Water Resources Management
Author: Cecilia Tortajada
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2017-10-02
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1317526872

The book includes seventeen excellent researched and documented papers that reflect the diversity of thought, ideas and experiences related to IWRM. They draw from an extensive, inclusive and geographically representative range of theoretical propositions and practical examples. These include the implementation status of the IWRM concept at local, basin, regional and national levels; its appropriateness for the twenty-first century; main implementation gaps from the institutional, legal, policy, governance, management and technical viewpoints; the likelihood that IWRM’s entrenchment in laws, regulations and policies has led to smoother implementation and the reasons why that has been the case; reflexions on whether the attention given to IWRM is pushing other alternatives to the policy periphery; and the new conceptual constructions that can be put forward for discussion in the international arena. For the development and water communities it is imperative to debate and reach towards more illustrative conclusions regarding whether the promotion of the IWRM concept and its actual implementation status have been beneficial for development and how the notion could evolve to achieve this end. In-depth objective and constructive discussions, arguments, proposals and ideas are put forward for analysis by all interested parties. The book has the objective of fostering scholarly exchange, encouraging intellectual debate and promoting the advancement of knowledge and understanding of IWRM as a concept, as a goal per se and as a strategy towards development goals. This book was published as a special issue of the International Journal of Water Resources Development.