Keywords
adaptive integrated water resource management, co-evolutionary approach, ecological quality, sustainable community development
Start Date
1-7-2004 12:00 AM
Abstract
The objective of the AQUADAPT Project (www.aquadapt.net) is to develop strategic toolsto inform adaptive integrated water resource policy using a co-evolutionary approach. In Spain amethodology has been developed in the framework of an integrative study to identify evidence of coevolutionaryprocesses between the hydrological system and the water-using communities of the MarinaBaixa over a period of 50 years. The Marina Baixa is comprised of 18 municipalities each with radicallydifferent land-use patterns spread over an area of 671km2. The research task is complicated by the factthat Spain is a country that is currently debating the merits of a move from demand management tosupply augmentation for this water-using region. Models, processes and assessments are applied to reflecta co-evolutionary perspective of the relationships between water resources, ecological quality andsustainable development. A variety of mosaics have been assembled with which to identify couplings ofelements that could have spawned a co-evolving process. The paper discusses both the challenges and themerits associated with designing new methodologies in an integrative study framework for dealing withthe possibilities, probabilities and uncertainties of adaptive integrated water resource management.
Developing Tools for Adaptive Integrated Water Resource Management in a Semi Arid Region: Possibilities, Probabilities and Uncertainties.
The objective of the AQUADAPT Project (www.aquadapt.net) is to develop strategic toolsto inform adaptive integrated water resource policy using a co-evolutionary approach. In Spain amethodology has been developed in the framework of an integrative study to identify evidence of coevolutionaryprocesses between the hydrological system and the water-using communities of the MarinaBaixa over a period of 50 years. The Marina Baixa is comprised of 18 municipalities each with radicallydifferent land-use patterns spread over an area of 671km2. The research task is complicated by the factthat Spain is a country that is currently debating the merits of a move from demand management tosupply augmentation for this water-using region. Models, processes and assessments are applied to reflecta co-evolutionary perspective of the relationships between water resources, ecological quality andsustainable development. A variety of mosaics have been assembled with which to identify couplings ofelements that could have spawned a co-evolving process. The paper discusses both the challenges and themerits associated with designing new methodologies in an integrative study framework for dealing withthe possibilities, probabilities and uncertainties of adaptive integrated water resource management.
