As the Blog post on Tuesday noted, spatial arrangement of a landscape can have implications for the availability of water resources needed in agriculture. Another important consideration is that of transboundary water resources. This issue impacts 145 countries and nearly half of the Earth’s surface. One such example is the Colorado River in North America, which runs from the north central part of the United States down into Mexico. However, most of the water is siphoned off for (primarily) irrigation and drinking water before it ever reaches the Pacific Ocean.
Moreover, the management of such resources inherently involves multiple stakeholders and interests (from policy makers down to the farmers and water users), as well as cuts across different sectors and disciplines (social and natural sciences, culture, etc.). As such, it is of particular interest in a landscape approach – both because of the implications larger scale management of water resources has for nature and food production, but also because of the necessity of engaging in multi-stakeholder processes in order achieve sound management.
2013 has been designated, once again, the International Year of Water Cooperation with the theme holding for World Water Day in March. But Sunday marks the beginning of World Water Week hosted in Stockholm, for which the theme happens to be water and food security. There seems to be great opportunity for overlapping discussion and action with regards to addressing both transboundary water challenges and the food security and water resources nexus. The Swedish Water House (part of the Stockholm International Water Institute) has been involved in advising the management of riparian areas along these waterways that cut across political lines. Its most recent contribution is the launch of an interactive database of the transboundary water resources across the globe.
How might such tools, and the foci of these upcoming meetings and events, be relevant and useful for a landscape approach to sustainable agriculture and food security?
Jeremy
August 27, 2012 at 7:37amI really don’t know enough about trans-boundary water agreements, but isn’t it the case that for the Colorado River the grandfathered rights of farmers just offer them water at too low a price?
rfriedman
August 27, 2012 at 2:36pmThat is generally how water rights work in the Western US. But I guess the point with this example is to show the importance of considering the cross-border implications of water management decisions, and not necessarily transboundary water agreements. Water resource tenure is a variable and complex issue, so your point is well taken.