Most lakes and streams are affected by regulations of some sort. It may be lowering of water levels, hydropower regulations, regulations for water supply or regulations to create reservoirs. Historically waterpower was used to, propel mills and saws and refine iron. These early dams are now part of our heritage, and have shaped the water landscape.
A river basin often has hundreds of smaller dams or constructions to control water. Mostsmaller dams, once built by individual farmers or other land owners, are often quite old and have not necessarily been legalized through a court process. Existing older legally binding regulations mostly remain from old industrial activities and drainage projects. Today they have a historical interest, as well as relevance for the waterscape, the cultural landscape and the surrounding settlements. There may also be cases where there is a valid right to perform some damming, but the facilities are not maintained.
In other cases the water regulation was conducted by clearing and cleansing a river or water course in order to lower the water level in a lake, and drain an agricultural area.
There are often clear water conflicts in many water regulation projects. The industrialist may want a high level of water for power production, mills, etc., when the farmers want a low level for keeping an area drained for agriculture. Fishermen often want high water during spring for letting the fish reproduce, when farmers want the areas to be drained. Also shipping might be dependent on a high water level. In old times it was not unusual that people executed their rights themselves and destroyed damming constructions, clearly so when it threatened their means of survival.
Water regulation has an important impact on biology in or close to the water. When the annual rhythm of water flow changes also the conditions for biological life do. Calm water species are others than those living in and by streaming water. Obstacles, smaller and larger such as mills and similar constructions along the streams hinder salmon, trout and other fish that migrate upstream. The most serious obstacles are the large hydropower dams. If the problems are too big an entire population or genetic variant of trout may disappear. On the other hand ponds and reservoirs may become important water mirrors for ducks, and other birds dependent on calm water.
Task 8. Split into groups. Within your group discuss the questions below. Share the opinion of your group with others
1. How does the regulation of water courses affect water streams?
2. Water conflicts in water regulation projects.
Unit 5 Water management
Module 1
Task 1. Read the text about integrated water management and highlight the main aspects
Part 1
Water management is the activity of planning, developing, distributing, and sustainably use of water resources under defined water policies and regulations. It may mean:
- management of water treatment of drinking water, industrial water, sewage or wastewater;
- management of water resources;
- management of digesting protection;
- management of irrigation;
- management of the water table.
Integrated water management means putting all of the pieces together. Social, environmental and technical aspects must be considered. Issues of concern include: providing the forums; reshaping planning processes, coordinating land and water resources management; recognizing water source and water quality linkages; establishing protocols for integrated watershed management; addressing institutional challenges; protecting and restoring natural systems; reformulating existing projects; capturing society’s views’ articulating risk; educating and communicating; uniting technology and public policy; forming partnerships; and emphasizing preventive measures. The challenge is to guide water management decision making into flexible, holistic and environmentally sound directions (Ballweber, 1995; Bulkley, 1995; Deyle, 1995).
Providing the right forums
Effective forums for designing implementable water management policies and programs must be arranged. Two types of forums are needed: those relating to resolving or avoiding conflicts (consent building), and those related to solving problems that transcend normal political and/or agency boundaries (system encompassing).
Part 2
Improving planning processes
Plans should range from lists of projects or programs that a constituency desires to have implemented, to comprehensive blueprints for action to meet targeted goals. Water management plans should be proactive. They must be pace-setters in affecting water management decisions.
Coordinating land and water resources management
Water management affects lands, and land use practices affect related waters. Reservoir developments change land use patterns for better or worse. Management of solid wastes may affect water quality; land treatment residues appear in runoff waters; channelizing streams affects their flood plains and wetlands; watershed management practices may affect the amount and quality of water available for use; and facilities siting can disrupt local hydrological regimes.
Water source and water quality linkages
Although water quality and water quantity (surface water and groundwater sources) are inextricably linked, these subjects have been treated too long as if they were independent. Water quality deserves attention because of its implications of affecting the public health, the economy and the quality of ecosystems. Pollutants reach water bodies from point - and non-point sources. Of special importance are the vestiges of toxic and hazardous materials disposal that are transported by surface and ground waters. Ideally, where it is feasible, surface water and ground water systems should be operated jointly (aquifer storage and recovery systems, for example) to take advantage of the specific attributes of each system. Groundwater management must take into consideration: protecting the quality of the resource from degradation by human activities; regulating land use to protect recharge areas; exploring options for artificial recharge and conjunctive use; and establishing sustainable depletion rates for aquifers.
Protecting and Restoring Natural Systems
There is widespread concern about protecting, enhancing and/or restoring natural systems. Dealing with such issues requires special policies, a good data base, and a high degree of inter-governmental and inter-agency coordination. The nations of the world are facing increasingly tough decisions regarding the protection of natural systems and he trade-offs that must be made in order to accomplish this.
The restoration of some structurally modified systems to a condition resembling that of their original undeveloped state is becoming common as a goal of society. The challenge is to maintain a focus on sustainable development while at the same time exploring options for repairing environmental damage. Care must also be exercised to ensure that restoration schemes do not create other impacts that may be as negative as those expected to be corrected.
Constraints to be dealt with
Integrated water management is conceptually sound. It should certainly be he goal, and if at all possible, the practice. Conceptualization, however, is easier to accomplish than implementation. The more comprehensive the management approach, the more tortuous the path. Here are a host of barriers that must be overcome if we are to successfully engage in truly integrated watershed development and management.
They include:
- the manageability of holistic approaches in a practical sense;
- agency, interest group, and political boundaries;
- the lack of effective forums for assembling and retaining stakeholders;
- the narrow focus, lack of implementation capability, poor public involvement, and limited coordination attributes of many water resources planning and management processes;
- the separation of land and water management, surface water and groundwater management and other direct linkage actions;
- Poor collaboration and/or coordination among state, local and federal water- related agencies.
