Governance and Water Need Issues. Claudia Pahl-Wostl Co-Chair GWSP Professor for Resources Management University of Osnabrück

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1 Governance and Water Need Issues Claudia Pahl-Wostl Co-Chair GWSP Professor for Resources Management University of Osnabrück

2 GWSP Activities on Water Governance Governance requirements for sustainable management of global water resources in times of global change Comparative studies of basins and development of global data base on multi-level governance regimes Assessment of global water governance and multi-level interactions Establishment of global professional network of water governance scholars Series of focused workshops conferences

3 Global Water Governance A descriptive and a normative perspective Global Water Governance is taking place Global Water Governance is required

4 Water Governance Concept Water governance refers to the range of political, social, economic and administrative systems that are in place to regulate development and management of water resources and provisions of water services at different levels of society (UNDP, 2000)

5 Global Water Governance happens. Major processes World Water Council and World Water Forums UN Conventions on Water Human Right on Water Millennium Development Project of the UN European Water Initiative Global Players in Water Industry Global Diffusions of Norms/Institutions

6 Global Water Governance is needed. Global feedback in hydrological system teleconnections (e.g. deforestation) Global change impacts with global driving forces (e.g. trade, climate change) Local/regional phenomena occur globally and may require global paradigm shifts to stop global trends (e.g. change in hydrological regimes, regulated rivers, lack of horizontal integration)

7 Global Water Governance insights and knowledge gaps Global Water Governance is diffuse and fragmented in character problems with legitimacy Lack of global coordination and leadership Assessment of current global water governance system and its ability to deal with present and emerging challenges Possible and desirable future developments of global water governance Possible and desirable role of the UN system in global water governance

8 Balance Human and Environmental Water Needs A multi-level governance challenge

9 GWNI Activity on Environmental Flow Requirements (EFR) Towards a shared framework for Envivonmental Flow Assessments

10 Environmental Flows Concept Environmental flows are defined as the quantity, timing and quality of water flows required to sustain freshwater and estuarine ecosystems and the human livelihoods and well-being that depend on these ecosystems (Brisbane Declaration).

11 Gaps in research and practice Prevalence of case study specific approaches for EFR determination with hardly any comparative analyses across larger number of cases. Lack of robust relationships between flow modifications and impacts on ecosystems and their functions and services. Lack of a widely accepted classification scheme for climate-ecohydrological and socio-economic types of river basins as a basis for testing concepts and developing transferable flow rules. Methodological gap in science in particular data and large-scale models for including EFRs in global water assessments. Absence of research on role of characteristics of governance systems for developing and implementing policies for environmental flows. Lack of research on the role of the ecosystem services concept in implementing environmental flows. Empirical evidence derived from interdisciplinary research is rare.

12 ELOHA Framework (Ecological Limits Of Hydrologic Alteration) Bottleneck in societal processes! Poff et al, 2010

13 Trade-Off Analysis & Negotiation PARTICIPATORY ASSESSMENT Requirements and Barriers for Implementation for each GMS Type GMS Type Requirements and Barriers for setting Goal State for each GMS Type Desired Ecosystem Services Analyse Governance and Management System (GMS)

14 Implementing environmental flows for the benefit of humans and nature: a cross-scale integrated assessment develop universally applicable classification system for sustainable EFRs based on eco-hydrological as well as socio-economic, governance and management characteristics, identify socio-eco-technical regimes based on general classification system, identify eco-hydro regions and hotspots, analyse relationships between socio-eco-technical regime types and the state of river basin in terms of degree of flow modification and ecosystem services provisions. Implement set of regional case studies for further testing of concepts and in depth analyses.

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