sustainable development by taking the case study of water

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Understanding the value of water for sustainable development

March 26, 2021.

Angela Lusigi

UNDP Resident Representative in Ghana

Water is the central nervous system in the fight to create resilient and low carbon economies to build back better from the impacts of COVID-19. Access to water and sanitation for all which is Goal 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) contributes to the achievement of most of the SDGs.

Yet 785 million people worldwide still lack safe water. Of these, 490 million live in sub-Saharan Africa mainly in rural areas. In Ghana, though the country has made significant progress in ensuring access to clean water, nearly three million people rely on surface water to meet their daily needs. This leaves them vulnerable to water-related illness and disease. Ghana’s recent environmental analysis report indicates that the cost of environmental degradation due to water pollution is equivalent to three percent of GDP.

Valuing water was the theme for this year's World Water Day. This is apt as many communities struggle to maintain the high level of hygiene required in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Appreciating the true value of water will prompt us to take action to protect this vital resource for the benefit of all.

The availability of water is falling over time and water crisis is the fifth highest risk to society according to the 2020 edition of the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks report . Ghana’s Voluntary National Review report on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development reveals that water availability per capita has decreased but remains above the threshold for water stress (1700m3 per capita). However, climate change could significantly affect water resource availability especially in the Northern Savannah ecological zone.

In this Decade of Action, in the lead up to the 2030 Agenda, valuing the multiple uses of water, from agriculture to power generation, transport, industry, domestic use, ecosystems, fisheries, and livelihoods will help transform this looming crisis into an opportunity for advancing sustainable development. There are three reasons to be optimistic.

Growing momentum for an integrated water resources governance and planning

There is increasing recognition of the power of better planning and integrated governance of water resources to enhance climate resilience. Effective regulatory frameworks and tools for managing and protecting water resources are helping to improve water security. Public awareness and education in water resource management is also growing. And so are improvements in transboundary and international cooperation in the management of shared water resources. However, gaps still exist in these lofty plans. The activities of many small-scale illegal gold miners - “galamsayers”, whose livelihoods depend on mining - are depleting water bodies and raising the cost of clean water. Protecting these resources requires addressing the needs of small-scale mining without undermining the achievement of the SDGs particularly SDG 6.

Ambitious climate plans present opportunities

Ghana is updating its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to raise ambition as part of its commitment under the Paris Agreement on climate change. The ongoing update is an opportunity to ensure sustainable water management. This must ensure efficient irrigation and drainage systems, basin management, wastewater recycling and reuse, and rainwater harvesting in Ghana’s climate plans for a more inclusive, resilient and low carbon development.

A transition to renewable energy will reduce the stress on available water resources in the face of a changing climate. Effective implementation of Ghana’s Renewable Energy Master Plan, developed by the Government, with support from UNDP, will promote the transfer of Ghana’s rich renewable energy resources towards a low carbon economy.

Ensuring gender equality in water resources management is a smart investment

Addressing the differentiated impact of climate change on women and men opens up new opportunities to free up time for more productive use. According to the Ghana Statistical Service, 21 percent of women as against 17 percent of men spend about one to three hours a day collecting drinking water when they don’t have it in their homes. In drought prone areas affected by desertification, particularly in northern Ghana, women and girls especially spend an average of 43.5 hours per week getting water for farming. Lessons from the government and UNDP supported climate adaptation project, funded by the Adaptation Fund, showed that investments in water infrastructure can reduce burdens on women and girls. The project , which has provided 145 boreholes in 50 communities, is benefiting more than 40,000 people mainly women and children because of their distinct roles in water collection and usage.

Looking forward

The cord that binds “people, planet, and prosperity” together is the value that water provides. So, unsustainable management of water resources is a recipe for the destruction of the planet that people depend on and ultimately our collective prosperity. The  recent UNDP  Human Development report : The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene’ argues that as people and planet enter a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene or the Age of Humans, it is time for all countries to redesign their paths to progress by fully accounting for the dangerous pressures humans put on the planet. The planet cannot survive without water and this calls for investments in water infrastructure.

In this regard, the new UNDP’s SDGs Investor Map for Ghana identified investment opportunities in key areas including sanitation services, for unserved areas. The map also provides market intelligence on investment opportunities in the provision of affordable irrigation solar systems and water dams. These highlight emerging opportunities for the government, private sector and citizens to advance development by valuing water. Protecting this valuable resource and reclaiming water bodies destroyed by unsustainable use provides significant investment opportunities for private investors in the water sector.

Water governance should be reinforced at all levels- local, regional and national, to ensure the reliable delivery of water for priority uses, especially for domestic, and agriculture to head off potential crop failures.

The truth is that we cannot live without water, and this requires water bodies to be clean and safe, and citizens have an important role to play. By changing behaviour, people can be the key to a healthy environment and a healthy life for all.   

Editor’s Note: This piece was originally published in ModernGhana .

UNDP’s NDC Support Programme is funded by the European Union and the governments of Germany and Spain as a contribution to the NDC Partnership.

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Photo credit: Itaipu Binacional

CASE STUDIES

This compendium of selected case studies exemplifies activities and experiences using integrated systems and approaches to water and energy. The case studies cover different world regions and different integrated technological systems designed and implemented for different purposes and objectives. Some of them represent innovative approaches and systems that still are being demonstrated but have potential for future use. Others provide enhancements and added efficiencies that support more effective management of water and energy resources following an integrated approach. The case studies illustrate how synergies can be realized taking into consideration the strong interdependence that exists between water and energy. Some of these projects and experiences provide opportunities to accelerate global climate change objectives and to tackle the critical issues of access and reliability, especially for the effective planning and response to emergency situations and world crises such as pandemics.

Location: Spain

Promoting Sustainable Growth and Self-Production of Energy through the Water Industry, as Key Elements for Climate Change Action

Good Practices in Urban Drainage Planning

This case study presents good practices on how to develop urban drainage network projects (sewage and rainwater drainage) to determine what aspects need to be considered based on the experience of Canal de Isabel II S.A.M.P. in the Madrid Region. The conditioning factors that affect the design of the networks, as well as the problems in their operation and ways of resolving them, are described.

Management of NRW at Canal de Isabel II - A Case Study

Reducing Non-revenue water (NRW) is a complex issue that requires many coordinated actions. Canal de Isabel II has been reducing its NRW by applying an integrated approach that deals with every component of NRW at DMA level, which has led to a reduction of 30% over the last decade. To achieve this goal, a comprehensive set of performance indicators were required in order to determine actions to be taken at DMA level as well as assessing their performance. Such actions provide for a cycle of continuous improvement.

This case study sets out to showcase this set of indicators and how they have been instrumental in bringing about tangible results.

New Case Study by CANAL: Advance Measurement of Water Consumption, January 2024

Canal De Isabel II produced a case study on how the measurement of water consumption is an essential element for the proper management of the resource. It is especially relevant in countries with water scarcity, but it undoubtedly brings clear benefits in those that do not have drought problems. In supplies that lack measurement of the consumption made by users, one of the best practices to gain efficiency in management is the installation of water meters

Accelerating the implementation of SDG6 of the 2030 Agenda

Accelerating the implementation of SDG7 of the 2030 Agenda

Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil

Inventory and mapping of water services’ needs as a tool to prioritize investments for water systems’ development, Canal de Isabell II, 2023

17 CASE STUDIES BY ASAZGUA DETAILING ACTIVITIES CONTRIBUTING TO THE 17 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS, MARCH 2023

Itaipu’s 17 Case Studies Responding to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals

Location: Brazil/ Paraguay

Generating Hydropower through Sustainable Management of Natural Resources

Sustainable Desalination, Renewable Energy and Energy Storage in the Canary Islands

Location: Guatemala

Water, Biomass and Energy Nexus: Electricity Generation from Sugarcane Biomass in Guatemala

Location: India

Integrated Water and Energy Solutions for Irrigation in Rural India

Location: Norway

The HydroBalance Project: Energy Storage from Hydropower in Norway Supporting Intermittent Renewable Electricity Generation in Europe

Location: Costa Rica

Sustainable Hydropower Plant at Reventazón River in Costa Rica and Biodiversity Protection 

Location: Various locations, West Asia region

Desalination through Sustainable Water and Energy Solutions in West Asia

Location: Rogun, Republic of Tajikistan

Generating Clean Electricity and Contributing to Climate Change Mitigation Goals: the Rogun Hydropower Plant

Location: Colombia

Resilience of Electricity Generation from Hydropower in Colombia: Coping with the El Niño Event and Associated Drought

Location: Bunda, Ikungi and Busega, Tanzania

Electricity and Clean Water from Integrated, Self-Contained Utility Systems in Tanzania

Location: Anhui, China

Power Generation from Solar Photovoltaic Panels Floating on Water Reservoirs

Location: Rift Valley, Kenya

Sustainable Geothermal Power Generation and Heating of Greenhouses and Spas in Kenya’s Rift Valley

Location: Iffezheim on Rhine River, France and Germany

Run-of-River Hydropower Generation: Modernization and Capacity Expansion at Iffezheim Barrage, Rhine River

Location: Cape Town, South Africa

Sustainable Air-Conditioning and Water Heating/Cooling Systems of Seaside Commercial Buildings Using Seawater

Location: Melbourne, Australia

Generating Hydropower from Water Supply Systems

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Location: Mareslisborg, Aarhus, Demark

Energy Efficiency and Environmental Protection in Wastewater Treatment: the Marselisborg Wastewater Treatment Plant

Location: Rodrigues Island, Republic of Mauritius

Solar Powered Water Desalination for Small Islands: Rodrigues Island of Mauritius

Location: Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany

Hydropower for CO2-Free Electric Buses in Old Town of Regensburg, Germany

Location: Calamul Campeche, Yucatan, Mexico

Purification of Rural Drinking Water Supply Based on Renewable Energy

Location: Orkney Island, Scotland, UK

Ocean Current Power Generation: Example Orbital O2, UK 

Location: Kendal Power Station, Kendal, South Africa

Water Conservation in Dry-Cooled Coal-Fired Thermal Power Plants: Kendal Power Station

Location: Region of Madrid, Spain

Promoting Sustainable Growth and Self-Production of Energy through the Water Sector, as Key Elements for the Recovery after the COVID-19 Crisis

Climate, Land, Energy and Water Strategies in the City of Cape Town

Location: Syrian Arab Republic

The Impact of Environment, Water Resources and Land Protection on the Development of Syrian Energy Supply Strategy

Location: Mauritius

CLEW Case Study: Assessing Interdependencies among Energy, Water, Land-Use and Climate Change in Mauritius

Location: Paranaíba River Basin, Brazil

Impacts of Biofuel Production on Water Resources: Case Study of Ethanol Production from Sugarcane in the Paranaíba Hydrographic Basin

Activities by the Guatemala Sugar Agroindustry supporting the Sustainable Development Goal 13 (SDG 13) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

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• Published: 25 March 2020

Water and health interlinkages of the sustainable development goals in remote Indigenous Australia

• Nina Lansbury Hall   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5410-6332 1 ,
• Sandra Creamer 2 , 3 ,
• Wendy Anders 3 ,
• Anthony Slatyer 4 &
• Peter S. Hill   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7091-5108 5  

npj Clean Water volume  3 , Article number:  10 ( 2020 ) Cite this article

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• Development studies
• Water resources

Australia has committed to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) goals under the UN’s 2030 Agenda. However, these goals may not be fully achieved in Australia under current policy settings. Australia reports success in achieving the goal for quality and access to safe drinking water and sanitation (SDG 6), though for Australians living in remote Indigenous communities, the experience is very different. Furthermore, the burden of disease is higher in remote communities (SDG 3). Many of these diseases are waterborne or hygiene-related, including prevalence in some remote Indigenous communities of endemic trachoma eye infection, preventable through access to functioning water services and available soap. This research provides a case for identifying, then understanding the interlinkages between SDGs 3, 6, and others locally, as well as nationally. This will enable governments to enact policies for long-term sustainable solutions for remotely-located and marginalised peoples in Australia in line with Agenda 2030 commitments.

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Introduction.

The United Nation’s sustainable development agenda sets out a comprehensive vision for economic, social and environmental development, with health integral to sustainable social development, but deeply interconnected within the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that were endorsed in September 2015 for achievement by 2030 1 . The SDGs are richly interlinked, and understanding these connections is important to maximise positive outcomes and minimise negative impacts 2 , 3 , 4 . A recent United Nations (UN) publication outlined the importance of coordination between different government agencies and levels to achieve the goals. It identified that ‘vertical integration efforts aim to create synergies and enhanced consistency across levels of government’ (p.x) but that there are ‘few examples of full and effective vertical integration across national, subnational and local levels for SDG implementation’ (p.xi) 5 .

Examples of the need for integration of goals are SDG 3 (‘Good health and well-being’) and SDG 6 (‘Clean water and sanitation’), underlining the extrapolation of ‘health’ described by the SDG targets to include both personal and environmental health. The extended SDG 3 description states: ‘a major risk factor for infectious diseases and mortality is the lack of safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services’ 6 . This statement reinforces the connection to SDG 6. The health impact of unsafe water and the associated risk of contamination from unmanaged sewage is estimated to cause around sixty percent of deaths from diarrhoea globally 7 .

Focusing on Australia, the World Bank’s Development Indicators report that 100 percent of the population are using safely-managed drinking water and sanitation services 8 . However, WASH challenges such as poor drinking water quality, limited access to safely managed water, limited hygiene infrastructure and marginal living conditions have been identified as key factors contributing to risk of infection and disease transmission in remotely-located, discrete Indigenous communities 9 . Given that the UN agenda’s ambition is that ‘no one will be left behind’, it is crucial to determining what needs to be done for Australia to meet its commitments under Agenda 2030 1 , 10 . Understanding the current access to water-related basic services for Indigenous Australians who live in geographically-remote locations and who are already noted to be socio-economically disadvantaged, and the rate of improvement in this, is key to this country-wide consideration.

Given this context, this research uses a case study in remote Australia to further clarify the intersection between SDGs 3 and 6, purposively exploring its complexity in order to provide a basis for integrated progress of the two goals simultaneously. The objective of this research was to clarify the intersection between SDGs 3 and 6, in order to provide a basis for integrated progress of the two goals simultaneously. These findings are likely to be of use to inform the policy–science interface around SDG implementation of both SDGs 3 and 6, and the broader 2030 sustainable development agenda, including for Indigenous Australians.

Australia is one of the 193 UN member countries that unanimously endorsed the SDGs. Unlike the preceding Millennium Development Goals, the SDGs apply to all countries and citizens—irrespective of the country’s level of development 11 , 12 . For Australia, this domestic—as well as regional—focus necessitates considering the development, health and environmental status of Australian issues (see ref. 13 ).

The 17 SDGs are explicated in detail by a total of 169 targets, and 232 indicators outline how to measure the progress of the goal 1 . For example, SDG 6 outlines the UN’s ambition for safe management of drinking water and faecal waste, and the attainment of hygiene 1 . Beyond SDG 6, water is explicitly mentioned in relation to SDG 3 (health impacts from water-borne diseases and contaminated water), SDG 11 (water-related disasters), SDG 12 (water pollution), and SDG 15 (conservation of freshwater ecosystems) 1 , 14 . This complex of linkages to SDG 6 speaks to the interlinkage of all SDGs that provides an integrated set of priorities with interdependent goals and targets 4 .

For example, the goal for health and well-being (SDG 3) is influenced by efforts to reduce poverty (SDG 1), knowledge of health behaviours (SDG 4) and their gendered differences (SDG5), clean water, sanitation and hygiene (SDG 6), safe and healthy living environments (SDG 11), and agricultural products (SDG 15) 15 . Yet currently the systemic links between the SDGs and associated targets are not explicit 16 , despite an acknowledgement within the UN that the SDGs should be considered through an integrated approach, noting that ‘sustainable development interventions cannot be put in an economic, social and/or environmental box’ 17 .

Australia’s commitment to the SDGs arises from its support for the UNGA resolution of 25 September 2015 regarding the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 18 . The 2030 Agenda is not an international treaty and does not create legal obligations; there is no binding obligation on any country or political leader to achieve SDG3 or SDG6 and no sanction for not doing so 19 . Nevertheless, the resolution includes significant processes to encourage political leaders to strive for the agreed results 18 . These include detailed goals and targets specifying objectives and use of the High Level Political Forum to provide peer review of implementation performance 18 , pp. 33–34).

While the targets have been agreed to be “aspirational and global”, with each government free to set national targets appropriate to its circumstances, the 232 agreed indicators for the SDGs are very clear to assist reporting and accountability.

SDG 6 was proposed to the UN as a specific goal in acknowledgement that access to clean, safely managed water, sanitation, and hygiene are key interventions for primary health prevention and could reduce the global disease burden by almost ten per cent 20 , 21 . This is likely to have a flow-on effect on educational attainment, public health costs, and economic productivity 14 , with WASH investments calculated as providing seven-to-one benefits to costs for health outcomes 22 . A recent analysis of interlinkages between a range of SDGs identified that improved water quality and access contributes directly to improved health, which is otherwise difficult to achieve 4 . That analysis noted that interaction between SDGs 3 and 6 is strongest in locations with prevalent waterborne and infectious diseases; it also noted poverty (SDG 1) as a structural factor that influences health 4 .

Australia’s commitment to Agenda 2030 is reflected in the Australian Government’s 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper 23 , which states that in working with partners to achieve the SDGs, Australia will use its overseas development assistance to catalyse sustained and inclusive economic growth to help reduce poverty 23 . Australia’s particular commitment to SDG6 and other water-relevant aspects of the 2030 Agenda was exemplified by the participation in the period 2016–2018 of the then Australian Prime Minister, the Honourable Malcolm Turnbull, in the UN High Level Panel on Water 24 , championing Panel initiatives on water data, water use efficiency and innovation in the water sector 25 .

The Panel’s final outcome document recommends, inter alia, that all countries ‘address gaps in service delivery models, technology and behaviour change which limit access to sustainable drinking water and sanitation for all—including the needs of women, girls, people with disabilities and communities in vulnerable situations, recognising access to water and sanitation services and a fundamental human right’. Since then, the United Nations has issued the World Water Development Report 2019 ‘Leaving No-one Behind’, which sets out clearly the key issues and challenges in achieving the universality objectives of Agenda 2030 26 . These calls to the world require reflections on how well is Australia itself is addressing these gaps 27 .

Indigenous Australians living in remote communities provide a case study for the potential for SDG commitments to significantly improve current health and water status of some of the most disadvantaged members of Australian society. Health status is best described holistically through ‘social determinants’, a term coined by Marmot and Wilkinson 28 to describe how the ‘the health of populations is related features of society and its social and economic organisation’ (p.xi). The complex social and environmental determinants of health and well-being inequalities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians are widely documented, and are acknowledged as being particularly challenging in more remote and isolated communities 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 . One of the key indicators identified as a significant factor in Australian Aboriginal poor health is stress, created in part by ‘a burden of grief, guilt, anger, frustration and bitterness that many people carry’ 34 , p. 3).

Indigenous Australians are significantly disadvantaged by the loss of connection to country and the limited infrastructure associated with the locations in remote areas that they reside. For example, Indigenous Australians are almost four times as likely to die with chronic kidney disease as a cause of death than non-Indigenous Australians 35 . The UN Special Rapporteur released a report in late 2017 on the rights of Indigenous Australians, noting inequalities in resources for remote service management of chronic diseases, and the importance of cultural connection for improving health indicators 36 . The need for continued action, focus and funding is reflected in the Government’s latest report on Closing the Gap (in Indigenous disadvantage). It stated that, in the past 10 years, ‘the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have improved but more gains need to be made. It is clear that continued effort and action is required’ 37 , p. 8).

Discrete, remote Australian Indigenous communities were selected as the case study focus, as these are often both geographically-isolated and economically-disadvantaged, two factors that can affect the quality of health and WASH services. Such communities are defined as permanently inhabited by a predominantly Indigenous population (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders), where housing or infrastructure may be managed on a community basis 38 . Over the past decade, management of housing has changed to a diverse mix of institutional arrangements. A ‘remote’ or ‘very remote’ area is classified according to the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia. Population data from 2011 calculated that the total population in Australian remote Indigenous communities (including those on island communities as well as the mainland) amounted to 116,588 39 .

Although investment in, and access to WASH services have improved in recent years in remote Indigenous communities in Australia, many residents continue to experience challenges with drinking water quality, inadequate and disrupted sanitation services, and associated health issues 29 . The latest Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage review and report card identified that health outcomes for Indigenous communities—particularly those in remote and very remote locations—were compromised by a range of environmental health factors within homes and communities 10 . Concerns raised regarding the quality of infrastructure and services include whether health hardware in remote communities met equivalent standards in non-Indigenous communities 10 .

Results and discussion

The results and discussion are combined into a single section as the social determinants of health are critical in understanding the context of the results and the way in which many of the SDGs are affected. In taking this approach, the focus is on the social environment rather than more specific aspects of health services and behaviour that arise from the determinants 40 . When considering Indigenous health in Australia, social determinants describe the causal pathways of ill-health which can include poverty and inequality, and thus also includes access to essential services, including health services and water and sanitation services 40 .

Statistics reflecting the current status of the total Australian and the Indigenous Australian populations are provided against the selected SDG 3 and 6 targets in Table 1 . Where data exists, the status for individual and environmental health for Indigenous Australians living in remote communities is lower than the total Australian population, indicating that, at a disaggregated level, Australia has not yet delivered against the indicators for the SDG target. As the table displays, specific data was unable to be located for all indicators at a national level, with many gaps even in the SDG progress datasheets of the 2017 UN ESCAP Yearbook 11 . It is noted that some relevant data does exist at a sub-national level, but is reported in an aggregate format for national statistics. While the data is reported in the sections below, in addition to the table, the descriptive case study data was provided in lieu of detailed data at a sub-national level. The section numbers relate to the targets and indicators beneath the two goals in focus: SDG3 (health) and SDG 6 (water).

SDG 3: health

Only targets under SDG 3 with a direct linkage to water-borne diseases and safe water and sanitation are examined, using the indicator numbers for the targets.

Under-5 mortality rate

The health gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians is illustrated by the life expectancy at birth, which has been reported as up to 11.5 years less than the national average 30 . For those children aged under 5 years old, the Australian rate of deaths per thousand live births was 3.8 in 2016 11 , 41 . However, data that specifically considers Indigenous Australians were 6.2 deaths per thousand live births for the same year 42 . This discrepancy, often referred to as the ‘gap’ of Indigenous disadvantage, does reflect an historical improvement for Indigenous child deaths, from 13.5 deaths per 1000 live births in 1998 43 . This change has been attributed in part to improved access to antenatal care, reduced rates of smoking during pregnancy that have reduced low birthweight babies and child immunisation 43 . These data are drawn from the annual ‘Closing the Gap’ report, published by the Australian Government against set criteria within an agreed framework to address Indigenous disadvantage 37 . The annual publication and commitment to specifically address an Australian population with significant overall health burden provides a precedent or exemplar for possible national SDG reporting.

Number of people requiring interventions against neglected tropical diseases

The World Health Organisation lists 20 ‘neglected tropical diseases’, which are prevalent in tropical and subtropical climates and often among populations living in poverty, with limited sanitation and hygiene management- which is often the method for disease transmission 44 . Of these diseases, at least three are prevalent in remote Indigenous communities in Australia:

Scabies is a hygiene-related disease caused by a human itch mite infestation of the skin, usually spread by skin-to-skin contact 45 . Early, repeated infections can be linked to vulnerability to chronic diseases in later life. Recurrent infections by Group A streptococcus (GAS) of traumatised skin after scabies can also lead to acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and to post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis (PSGN) 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 . This association is significant as PSGN and rheumatic fever can lead to chronic kidney disease (CKD) 50 and rheumatic heart disease 51 respectively. Remote Indigenous communities of northern Australia have the highest rates of scabies globally, with hyper-endemic rates in many remote communities 52 . A key contributor to scabies and other skin infections in remote Indigenous populations has been noted to be residential over-crowding, and related infections with Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae have been specifically linked to direct contact transmission exacerbated by levels of crowding in remote and very remote communities 48 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 .

Soil-transmitted helminthiases (STH) infection risk factors involve those living in poverty and the associated lack of access to clean water and toilets, which contribute to unhygienic practices. In Australia, STH are only of concern where they are endemic in some Indigenous communities, particularly Strongyloides stercoralis in Queensland, Northern Territory, Western Australia, and New South Wales 60 . The worm can contribute to mortality and morbidity, particularly in immune-suppressed patients, but the cycle of infection is effectively disrupted by the introduction of sewerage systems 60 .

Trachoma eye infection remains in some of Australia’s Indigenous communities, the only developed country where it has not been eradicated 61 . Infection is correlated with a range of WASH-related factors including irregular washing, limited access to clean water and crowded housing 62 . It is caused by a bacterium that inflames the eye, and recurrent infections cause scarring of the eye and structural changes to the eyelid that can result in blindness 62 . Earlier research described how trachoma infections were sometimes viewed by remote community residents as normal, due to long-term familiarity with the symptoms. In other cases it was seen as a lower priority to more acute diseases such as skin infections, which presented a challenge to preventive and curative measures. The presence of both trachoma and skin infections are indicative of the ongoing need to provide sustainable washing facilities (‘environmental improvements’, within the WHO strategy) 63 , 64 .

Mortality rate attributed to unsafe water, unsafe sanitation and lack of hygiene (exposure to unsafe Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for All (WASH) services)

Residents of remote Australian communities, especially Indigenous Australians, continue to experience chronic and hygiene-related diseases at rates higher than the wider Australian population 30 , 65 . Water contamination has been proposed as one of the causes for this higher disease burden. Studies have found that drinking water supplies can be contaminated by microbes or naturally-occurring chemical and wastewater treatment can be poorly maintained with irregular monitoring 66 . For example, the WA Auditor-General’s 2015 report found many WA Indigenous communities had nitrate levels in their groundwater-sourced drinking water that were above the safe level for bottle-fed babies 67 . Another study found that over half of remote communities rated their housing as unsafe or unhealthy, due to environmental risks from dust, water, and sanitation 68 . An analysis of paediatric presentations over 10 years at the main hospital of the Northern territory, Royal Darwin Hospital (2004–2013), found gastroenteritis and other viral infectious to be the most common causes, with a disproportionate rate of presentation and admission among Indigenous children 69 . Pre-existing multiple morbidity in Aboriginal populations causes a disproportionately increasing incidence of Melioidosis, a soil-based bacterial infection associated with tropical flood waters, and a potential mortality rate of forty percent 70 .

SDG 6: water and sanitation

Proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services.

National data for drinking water quality indicates that 99% of Australians in urban areas use ‘improved’ water, although the water quality data for overall rural and remote-living Australians are not available 71 . The literature provides documentation that the provision and maintenance of consistently sufficient and safe water to small communities in remote locations is an ongoing challenge for public utilities, local governments, and other agencies responsible for this provision 63 , 72 .

The detailed data available describe water quality for specific Indigenous communities, not the population. Although community-level data is not comparable to population-level data, the data do highlight significant contamination in direct contrast to the high level of safe drinking water in urban areas. For example, data regarding the 274 remote Indigenous communities in Western Australia indicated that the quality of drinking water supplied to some communities did not meet Australian standards approximately 30% of the time 73 . Further, E. coli and/or Naegleria microbes were detected in at least one community each month over a two-year monitoring period, indicating faecal contamination of the drinking water 33 , 73 . The microbial water-borne disease, Cryptosporidiosis , was found to be disproportionately high in remote Indigenous communities, compared to the non-Indigenous urban population in Western Australia 74 . Other enteric pathogens identified in contaminated water in remote Indigenous communities include Salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter, E. coli and Rotavirus 29 . Furthermore, in the parts Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia where groundwater is the principal source of drinking and household water supply, some communities have been identified as exceeding Australian standards for nitrates and uranium 73 (ABS 38 ).

Proportion of population using safely managed sanitation services, including a hand-washing facility with soap and water

A significant impact on sanitation and hygiene in remote communities is domestic over-crowding. In 2014–15, 38% of the Indigenous adult population in remote areas and very remote areas were living in crowded conditions, almost three times the rate than in non-remote areas (13%) 75 . Compounding the effects of crowding, 28% were living in a dwelling in which one or more of the facilities for washing people, clothes and bedding, for safely removing waste, and/or for enabling the safe storage and cooking of food was not available or did not work 75 .

Regarding the ability to wash hands, faces and bodies with soap and water to prevent such infections as trachoma, very few households in Central Australian remote communities were found to possess soap on a regular basis 30 . These hygiene difficulties can be directly linked to crowding, which impacts on ‘health hardware’, the housing infrastructure that enables the washing of people and clothes, and enables safe preparation of food 63 , 76 . There can also be a high cost of washing supplies, when used by a large number of the house’s residents; this can be a challenge in addition to the cultural expectations of sharing assets among family members 63 .

Proportion of wastewater safely treated

National data indicates that that 74% of Australians use ‘safely managed’ sanitation facilities, defined as safe disposal of faecal material on or off site 71 . In 2006, the majority of remote Aboriginal communities relied on septic tanks as their main sewerage system, while a smaller number used pit toilets and a handful of communities did not have any organised sewerage system 38 . This has now changed following the implementation of state- and territory-funded programmes. The Council of Australian Governments’ (COAG) Strategy on Water and Wastewater Services in remote (including Indigenous) Communities has provided national funding for centralised water treatment infrastructure 77 . Despite the improvement of these wastewater services, there has been evidence of poor maintenance of wastewater treatment facilities. For example, a 2015 audit from Western Australia noted a high rate of communities that did not meet national standards—with reported drinking water contamination from sewage-derived E. coli or Naegleria sp. microbes at least once in 68 communities in the two-year period of reporting 67 .

It is also relevant to note that water and sanitation access are mentioned under basic health services described in SDG1 (indicator 1.4.1, ‘Proportion of population living in households with access to basic services’). Data indicates that the total Australian population is rated 8.8/10 (‘mature’) for health services access 78 . However, descriptive research identified that Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in remote areas often are disadvantaged in access to health services 79 .

Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality

Specific inland water assessments indicate ‘very poor’ to ‘good’ results 80 . Recent years have improved or stabilised water quality, although the condition of water ecosystems was predominantly rated as poor and future improvements are challenged by reduced resources for monitoring and reporting 80 . There is no single national repository of data on surface-water quality, nor are there any regular national or state-scale assessments. Without such data, it is difficult to evaluate or critically analyse this indicator.

In conclusion, in remote Australian Indigenous communities the microbial contamination of drinking water remains a risk, and bore water may contain naturally high levels of chemical contaminants. Sanitation has improved with the increasing installation of centralised wastewater treatment replacing onsite septic tanks, yet concerns remain regarding contamination and poor maintenance. The status of hygiene and related health issues, such as trachoma eye infection, is the area of greatest need—especially as chronic infections in early childhood are often linked to vulnerability to other diseases in later life. Significant crowding limits the ability of individuals to maintain personal and environmental hygiene conditions that can negatively affect health.

These findings directly link personal and environmental health (SDG 3) to the status of drinking water, sewage and hygiene maintenance (SDG 6). When reading such results, it is informative to understand them through the approach of social determinants of health. Beyond these three SDGs, the remaining SDGs also provide important context that contributes to health. For example, SDG 1 (poverty) mentions how disadvantage can arise from limited access to basic services, SDG 8 (decent work) requires consideration of unemployment rates in remote communities that lack resources and industries, SDG 10 (equality) considers equality both within and between societies, and SDG 11 (cities) considers different aspects of sustainable and resilient communities.

Beyond understanding and acting on interlinkages, further research is required to ensure accurate data that reflects the complete and detailed status of each country’s progress against the SDGs. As shown by the JMP data presented in this research, the granularity of data from most sources is lacking. Given that high-income countries should be aiming for 100% compliance with SDG indicators, ensuring detailed data from an appropriately local-level sources is required. With Indigenous peoples estimated around 4% of the Australian population, and fewer again in remote communities, their health challenges are easily glossed over in the aggregate data. But if “no-one is to be left behind”, such specific data—which differs significantly from the other health-monitoring and water-monitoring regimes, must be provided in a format that is not lost in the reporting of the SDG indicators.

Despite the challenges, these interrelationships indicate that addressing the relevant SDGs in combination can more effectively progress the goals and targets. In this case study, identifying then understanding the interlinkages between SDG 3, 6, and others can enable development of long-term sustainable solutions for remotely-located and marginalised peoples in Australia and internationally.

The research team included two Aboriginal Australians, to ensure appropriate portrayal and communication of the results. The research employed a case study design to respond to this objective.

The case study approach involved three methods. Firstly, a literature and information review was conducted to understand the range of issues on which health interacts with water and sanitation. Secondly, and building on this initial review, the relevant SDG targets and their associated indicators for health (SDG 3) and WASH (SDG 6) were selected, drawn from the 13 targets within SDG 3 and 8 targets within SDG6. Targets were identified as relevant if there was current literature that described the relationships between health and water and sanitation. Finally, an analytical process of deliberation connected the data from the review to the SDG targets. This was undertaken by the authors through dialogue and debate drawn from the supporting literature.

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All data is available from public sources.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to our colleagues within the Australian water industry who engaged with earlier discussions of this topic to shape this resulting publication.

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N.L.H. and P.S.H. developed the article idea. N.L.H. lead the data collation and analysis with oversight from P.S.H. S.C. and W.A. provided expert input on discussion, consideration and portrayal of Indigenous Australians, drawing from both their personal identities as Aboriginal women and as professionals working in Indigenous rights. A.S. wrote the contextual information and N.L.H. oversaw the integration of discussion. All authors reviewed article drafts and approved the final manuscript, and N.L.H. submitted and corresponded on the article. All authors reviewed the peer reviewer comments, and N.L.H. led the revisions.

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Hall, N.L., Creamer, S., Anders, W. et al. Water and health interlinkages of the sustainable development goals in remote Indigenous Australia. npj Clean Water 3 , 10 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41545-020-0060-z

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Achieving sustainable development goals 5 and 6: the case for gender-transformative water programmes, attachments.

INTRODUCTION

In March 2020, we commemorate both International Women’s Day and World Water Day. The year 2020 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, the Beijing Declaration, and the ten-year anniversary of the General Assembly resolution 64/292, recognizing the human right to water and sanitation. This year, we also begin the 10-year countdown to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As we approach these milestones, it seems apt to take stock of the progress (or lack thereof) made on SDG 5 – gender equality and women and girls’ empowerment, and SDG 6 – access to water and sanitation for all. While gender equality and the right to water and sanitation are intrinsically linked, we are far from achieving either of these goals.

Today, more than two billion people lack access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation services. An estimated 673 million people practice open defecation, and data suggest that achieving universal access to even basic sanitation services by 2030 would require doubling the current annual rate of progress. Water scarcity affects more than 40% of the global population and is projected to rise, with more than 1.7 billion people currently living in river basins where water use exceeds recharge. With the impacts of climate change increasing, issues of water access and scarcity will worsen and disproportionately affect poor communities.

At the same time, gender inequality persists as a result of unfair social norms, legal discrimination, women’s under-representation in politics, and violence against women and girls. One in five women and girls aged 15–49 have reported experiencing sexual and/or physical violence by an intimate partner in the past year. Women spend three times as much time as men on unpaid care and domestic work. Globally, women’s representation in national parliaments and elected local deliberative bodies averages only 24% and 26%, respectively. At the current rate of progress, it will take 170 years before we achieve full economic gender equality.

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are deeply relevant for women’s and girls’ empowerment, affecting their education, health, income and safety. The 1992 Dublin Statement on Water and Sustainable Development stated: ‘Women play a central part in the provision, management and safeguarding of water’ and policies should ‘address women’s specific needs’ and ‘empower women to participate at all levels in water resources programmes, including decision-making and implementation, in ways defined by them’. The 1995 Beijing Declaration also referenced gender equality in relation to water, stating ‘inadequate access to safe water, sanitation facilities … all overburden women and their families and have a negative effect on their health’. The Declaration calls for ensuring that ‘women's priorities are included in public investment programmes for economic infrastructure, such as water and sanitation’.

We know that women and girls – especially those living in poverty – are disproportionately affected by a lack of water and sanitation services, making SDG 5 and 6 fundamentally interdependent. Inadequate sanitation and hygiene put women’s health and survival at risk during pregnancy and childbirth. Girls may drop out of school or suffer psychological stress because of the lack of adequate sanitation and hygiene facilities in their communities. In 8 out of 10 households without a water source on the premises, women and girls are responsible for water collection. Globally, they spend an estimated 200 million hours collecting water every day. In addition to placing them at risk of violence and harassment, spending time on water collection can prevent girls from attending school and limits women’s ability to engage in other productive activities. Furthermore, despite being responsible for household water needs, women are often under-represented in water governance, including water user committees. As a result, development policies fail to recognize women as key stakeholders in water management and perpetuate cycles of gender inequality.

The only explicit reference to women and girls under SDG 6 relates to sanitation and hygiene (Target 6.2) – but not to water access and management. Of the Voluntary National Reports submitted for the 2018 High-Level Political Forum, only five countries mentioned the interlinkages between water and women as priorities for achieving the SDGs. The SDGs do not highlight the role of women in water beyond Targets 6.1 and 6.2, which only relate to water access, sanitation and hygiene – and not, for example, to water governance. Indicators under SDG 6 mostly rely on data from water utilities and institutional records, which do not necessarily reflect quality or equity of services, or informal service delivery. In sum, the theoretical recognition that women and girls are key water and sanitation stakeholders has not translated to best practices on the ground. As Miletto et al. (2019) note: ‘Despite the countless number of gender and inclusion strategies within the water management sector, a clear gap remains evident between policies and practice and, most importantly, on the ground, where progress remains limited.’

Gender equality and access to water are basic human rights and are thus foundational for achieving the other SDGs. If we are to achieve these ambitious goals by 2030, leaving no one behind, we must promote more gender-transformative water and sanitation programmes. In particular, we must address the hidden causes of gender inequality, transforming power dynamics. This briefing note sets out three key policy recommendations to do so:

Increase the availability and quality of sex-disaggregated data on water, sanitation and hygiene, including water governance;

Increase women’s leadership and meaningful participation in water governance and integrated water resources management (IWRM) at all levels (household, community, national, and transboundary);

Challenge social norms around unpaid care work, women’s leadership, and genderbased violence.

This note highlights only some of the shortfalls in our approaches to achieving SDG 5 and 6. For example, it is also important to consider how age influences women’s and girls’ water and sanitation needs. In addition, with the increasing impacts of climate change, and as conflict over scarce water resources escalates, we must consider how women and girls will be affected differently – for example, whether such trends place them at greater risk of gender-based violence.

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Water resource management: IWRM strategies for improved water management. A systematic review of case studies of East, West and Southern Africa

Roles Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

* E-mail: [email protected]

Affiliations Soil, Crop, and Climate Sciences, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa, School of Engineering, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, Varmac Consulting Engineers, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

Roles Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Civil & Structural Engineering, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, Kakamega, Kenya

Roles Conceptualization, Methodology, Supervision, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Soil, Crop, and Climate Sciences, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa

Roles Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Agriculture and Engineering Services, Irrigation Engineering Section, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria

• Tinashe Lindel Dirwai, 
• Edwin Kimutai Kanda, 
• Aidan Senzanje, 
• Toyin Isiaka Busari

• Published: May 25, 2021
• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236903
• Reader Comments

The analytical study systematically reviewed the evidence about the IWRM strategy model. The study analysed the IWRM strategy, policy advances and practical implications it had, since inception on effective water management in East, West and Southern Africa.

The study adopted the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) and the scoping literature review approach. The study searched selected databases for peer-reviewed articles, books, and grey literature. DistillerSR software was used for article screening. A constructionist thematic analysis was employed to extract recurring themes amongst the regions.

The systematic literature review detailed the adoption, policy revisions and emerging policy trends and issues (or considerations) on IWRM in East, West and Southern Africa. Thematic analysis derived four cross-cutting themes that contributed to IWRM strategy implementation and adoption. The identified four themes were donor effect, water scarcity, transboundary water resources, and policy approach. The output further posited questions on the prospects, including whether IWRM has been a success or failure within the African water resource management fraternity.

Citation: Dirwai TL, Kanda EK, Senzanje A, Busari TI (2021) Water resource management: IWRM strategies for improved water management. A systematic review of case studies of East, West and Southern Africa. PLoS ONE 16(5): e0236903. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236903

Editor: Sergio Villamayor-Tomas, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, SPAIN

Received: July 12, 2020; Accepted: May 2, 2021; Published: May 25, 2021

Copyright: © 2021 Dirwai et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: All relevant data are within the paper.

Funding: This study was supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) in the form of a grant awarded to TLD (131377) and VarMac Consulting Engineers in the form of a salary for TLD. The specific roles of the authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section. The funders had no additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing interests: The authors have read the journal’s policy and have the following potential competing interests: TLD is a paid employee of VarMac Consulting Engineers. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products associated with this research to declare.

1 Introduction

Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is a concept that is meant to foster effective water resource management. GWP [ 1 ] defined it as “the process which promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources, to maximise the resultant economic and social welfare equitably without compromising the sustainability of vital systems”. A holistic approach, in the form of the Dublin statement on Water and Sustainable Development (DSWSD), emerged and it became the backbone of IWRM principles.

According to Solanes and Gonzalez-Villarreal [ 2 ] the Dublin priciples are: “ (1) Freshwater is a finite and vulnerable resource , essential to sustain life , development and the environment; (2) Water development and management should be based on a participatory approach , involving users , planners and policy-makers at all levels , (3) Women play a central part in the provision , management , and safeguarding of water , and (4) Water has an economic value in all its competing uses , and should be recognised as an economic good .” The seamless conflation of the DSWSD and the Agenda 21 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992 further strengthened the IWRM discourse and facilitated the policy approach of IWRM [ 3 , 4 ]. Since its inception the IWRM policy has been the holy grail of water resource management in Africa, Asia, and Europe to mention a few. For policy diffusion, countries were required to develop an IWRM policy blueprints for effective water use [ 5 ].

This review sought to unveil the innovative IWRM strategy approach by critically examining its genesis, implementation, adoption and the main drivers in in East, Southern and West Africa. Secondary to this, the study endeavoured to determine whether the IWRM implementation has been a success or failure. The choice of East, West and Southern Africa was influenced by the regional dynamics of Sub-Saharan Africa which have unique problems in water resources management and the hydropolitical diversity in this region. The isolated cases provide a holistic representation t the implementation dynamics of IWRM. In addition, sub-Sahara Africa was the laboratory for IWRM with Zimbabwe and South Africa being the early implementers [ 6 ]. Apart from the IWRM strategy being a social experiment in sub-Sahara, there exists a gap on an overarching review on the performance and aggregated outcomes of the IWRM adopters in the continent. The selection of the countries of interest was based on the authors geo-locations and their expert experiences with the IWRM strategy in their respective localities. The study sought to draw trends, similarities, and potential differences in the drivers involved in achieving the desired IWRM outcome.

IWRM strategy approach and implementation are ideally linked to individual country’s developmental policies [ 7 ]. Southern Africa (Zimbabwe and South Africa) is the biggest adopter of the water resource management strategy and produced differed uptake patterns [ 8 ]. In East Africa, Tanzania,Uganda and Kenya also adopted the IWRM strategy, whilst in West Africa, Burkina Faso latently adopted the IWRM strategy in 1992 [ 4 ] and in Ghana, customary and traditional water laws transformed into latent IWRM practices [ 9 ].

Various initiatives were put in place to aid the adoption of IWRM in sub-Sahara Africa. For example, Tanzania benefited from donor funds and World Bank programmes that sought to alleviate poverty and promote environmental flows. The World Bank radically upscaled and remodelled IWRM in Tanzania through the River Basin Management—Smallholder Irrigation Improvement Programme (RBM-SIIP) [ 10 ]. The government of Uganda’s efforts of liberalising the markets, opening democratic space and decentralising the country attracted donor funds that drove the IWRM strategy agenda. The long-standing engagement between Uganda and the Nordic Fresh Water initiative helped in the diffusion of IWRM strategy in the country. Finally, in West Africa, Burkina Faso and Ghana made significant strides in operationalising the IWRM strategy by adopting the West Africa Water Resources Policy (WAWRP). A massive sense of agency coupled with deliberate government efforts drove the adoption status of Burkina Faso.

Total policy diffusion can be achieved when the practice or idea has supporting enablers. Innovation is key in developing plocies that altersocietal orthodox policy paths that fuel hindrance and consequently in-effective water governance [ 11 ]. Acknowledging the political nature of water (water governance and transboundary catchments issues) is the motivation to legislate water-driven and people-driven innovative policy [ 12 ]. Water policy reform should acknowledge the differing interests’ groups of the water users and its multi-utility nature; thus, diffusion channels should be tailored accordingly, avoiding the ‘one size fits all’ fallacy. IWRM as an innovative strategy approach diffused from the global stage to Africa and each regional block adopted the approach at different times under different circumstances.

The rest of this paper is outlined as follows; section 2 presents the conceptual framework adopted and the subsequent methodology. Section 3 presents the results and discussion. The discussion is structured around innovation driver in each respective region. Thereafter, sub-section 3.4 presents the prospect of IWRM in the East, West and Southern Africa regions. Lastly, the paper presents the conclusion.

2 Methodology

2.1 conceptual framework and methodology.

The analytical framework applied in the study is based on the water innovation frames by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) [ 13 ]. The UNDESA [ 13 ], classified water frames into three distinct categories namely water management strategies (e.g., IWRM), water infrastructure and water services. The former partly involves IWRM strategies and the latter encompasses economic water usage such as agriculture, energy production and industrial applications [ 12 ].

The literature review identified research gaps that informed the employed search strategy. The literature that qualified for inclusion was thoroughly analysed and discussed. The aggregated outcomes were used for excerpt extraction in the thematic analysis.

2.2 Literature handling

The study performed a systematic review as guided by the Arksey and O’Malley [ 14 ] approach. The approach details methods on how to scope, gather, screen and report literature. The study further employed a constructionist thematic analysis to extract common recurring themes amongst the regions.

2.2.1 Eligibility criteria.

Eligibility criteria followed an adapted SPICE (Setting, Perspective, Intervention, Comparison and Evaluation) structure ( Table 1 ). The SPICE structure informed the study’s search strategy ( Table 2 ) and the subsequent formulation of the inclusion-exclusion criteria ( Table 3 ). The evidence search was conducted from the following databases: Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, UKZN-EFWE, CABI, JSTOR, African Journals Online (AJOL), Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), J-Gate, SciELO and WorldCat for peer-reviewed articles, books, and grey literature. The study did not emphasize publication date as recommended by Moffa, Cronk [ 15 ]. Databases selection was based on their comprehensive and over-arching nature in terms of information archiving. It is worth mentioning that the search strategy was continuously revised by trial and error until the databases yielded the maximum number of articles for screening.

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2.2.2 Search strategy.

The search strategy or query execution [ 16 ] utilised Boolean operators ( OR & AND ). The dynamic nature of the search strategy required the authors to change the search terms and strategy, for example, if digital databases did not yield the expected search items the study would manually search for information sources. The search queries included a string of search terms summarised in Table 2 .

2.2.3 Selection process.

DistillerSR © software was used for article screening. Online data capturing forms were created in the DistillerSR © software and two authors performed the article scoring process that eventully led to article screening. The screening was based on the article title, abstract and locality. The study employed a two-phase screening process [ 17 ], the first phase screened according to title and the second phase screened according to abstract and keywords. During the screening process, studies that the matched information in the left column of Table 3 we included in the literature review syntheses, whilst those that matched the exclusion list were discarded.

2.3 Thematic analysis

The review also adopted the thematic analysis approach by Braun and Clarke [ 18 ] to extract, code, and select candidate converging themes for the systematic review. The selected lieterature was subjected to qualitative analysis to capture recurring themes amongst the selected regions (East, West and Southern Africa). Data extracts from the respective regional analysis were formulated into theoretical themes. Thereafter, the extracted data was coded according to the extracted patterns from the information source to constitute a theme. It is worth mentioning that the authors used their discretion to extract and code for themes.

3 Results and discussion

Data charting comprised of the PRISMA flow-chart ( Fig 1 ). The study utilised 80 out of 183 records (n = 37, 46%) for East Africa, (n = 37, 46%) for Southern Africa, and (n = 6, 8%) for West Africa.

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3.1 Case studies

The introduction of IWRM in the East African region was initiated in 1998 by the water ministers in the Nile basin states due to the need for addressing the concerns raised by the riparian states. These water sector reforms revolved around the Dublin principles initiated by the UN in 1992 [ 20 ]. In 1999, Kenya developed the national water policy and the enabling legislation, the Water Act 2002 was enacted [ 21 ]. The Act was replaced by the Water Act 2016 which established the Water Resources Authority (WRA) as the body mandated to manage water resources in line with the IWRM principles and Water Resource Users Association (WRUA) as the lowest (local) level of water management [ 22 ].

Similarly, Uganda developed the national water policy in 1999 to manage, and develop the available water resources in an integrated and sustainable manner [ 23 ]. The National Water Policy further provides for the promotion of water supply for modernized agriculture [ 24 ]. Tanzania’s water policy of 2002 espouses IWRM principles, and its implementation is based on a raft of legal, economic, administrative, technical, regulatory and participatory instruments [ 25 ]. The National Irrigation Policy (NIP), 2010 and the National Irrigation Act, 2013 provides the legal basis for the involvement of different actors on a private-public partnership basis [ 26 ].

West Africa possesses an unregistered IWRM strategy that is espoused in the West Africa Water Resources Policy (WAWRP) of 2008. The WAWRP is founded on the following legal principles; (a) “promote, coordinate and ensure the implementation of a regional water resource policy in West Africa, in accordance with the mission and policies of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)and (b) “harmonization and coordination of national policies and the promotion of programmes, projects and activities, especially in the field of agriculture and natural resources”. The founding legal basis resonates with the Dublin principles.

The WAWRP design actors were ECOWAS, Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine (UEMOA), and Comité Permanent Inter-État de Llutte Contre la Sécheresse au Sahel (CILSS). CILSS is the technical arm of ECOWAS and UEMOA. The institutional collaboration was driven by the fact that West Africa needed a sound water policy for improved regional integration and maximised economic gains. ECOWAS established the Water Resources Coordination Centre (WRCC) to (a) oversee and monitor the region’s water resources and management activities and (b) to act as an executive organ of the Permanent Framework for Coordination and Monitoring (PFCM) of IRWM [ 27 ].

The inception and triggers of IWRM in West Africa can be traced back to the General Act of Berlin in 1885 which, among other things, dictated water resources use of the Congo and Niger rivers [ 28 ]. A multiplicity of agreements around shared watercourses in West Africa led to the realisation of the IWRM policy approach. For example, the Senegal River Basin (SRB) Development Mission facilitated collaboration between Senegal and Mauritania in managing the SRB. Another noteworthy agreement was Ruling C/REG.9/7/97, a regional plan to fight floating plants in the ECOWAS countries [ 28 ]. GWP (2003) categorised the West African countries according to the level of adoption into three distinct groups namely; (a) Group A comprised of countries with the capacity to develop and adopt the IWRM approach (Burkina Faso and Ghana), (b) Group B comprised of countries needing “light support” to unroll the IWRM plan (Benin, Mali, Nigeria, and Togo), and (3) Group C comprised of laggards which needed significant support to establish an IWRM plan (Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone).

Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional bloc has over 15 shared transboundary river basins (For detailed basin and catchment arrangement in SADC see [ 29 ]). SADC member states established the Protocol on Shared Water Systems (PSWS) which meant to encourage sustainable water resources utilisation and management. The PSWS was perceived to strengthen regional integration [ 30 ]. The regional bloc formulated the Regional Strategic Action Plans (RSAPs) that sought to promote an integrated water resources development plan. The action initiative mimicked IWRM principles and the shared water resources initiatives acted as a catalyst for the genesis of IWRM in Southern Africa [ 31 ]. SADC houses the Waternet and the GWP-SA research and innovation hubs upon which SADC’s IWRM adoption was anchored on. Besides the availability of trained water experts in the region who were willing to experiment with the IWRM policy approach, water scarcity fuelled by climate change prompted the region’s adoption of the IWRM policy approach at the local level.

3.2 Diffusion drivers of IWRM in East, West and Southern Africa

3.2.1 water scarcity..

The adoption of IWRM in East Africa was necessitated by water scarcity which is experienced by the countries in the region, which formed the need for adoption of prudent water resources management strategies as envisaged under the Dublin principles which was championed indirectly, according to Allouche [ 5 ], by the World Bank. Specifically, the need to give incentives and disincentives in water use sectors to encourage water conservation.

Kenya is a water-scarce country with per capita water availability of 586 m 3 in 2010 and projected to 393 m 3 in 2030 [ 32 ]. Uganda is endowed with water resources, however, it is projected that the country will be water-stressed by 2020 which could be compounded by climate variability and change, rapid urbanization, economic and population growth [ 33 ].

Using water scarcity was in essence coercing countries to adopt the IWRM principles with the irrigation sector, the contributor of the largest proportion of water withdrawals, becoming the major culprit [ 5 ]. The researchers opine that the effects of water scarcity in the region can be countered by adopting IWRM strategy, but adaptively to suit the local context and thus, persuasive rather than coercive, is the appropriate term. Indeed, as put forward by Van der Zaag [ 34 ], IWRM is not an option but it is a necessity and therefore, countries need to align their water policies and practices in line with it.

West African climatic conditions pose a threat on the utilisation of the limited water resource. Water resource utilisation is marred by erratic rainfalls and primarily a lack of water resources management know-how [ 27 ]. Countries in the Sahelian regions are characterised by semi-arid climatic conditions. Thus, dry climatic conditions account as an IWRM strategy driver to ensure maximised water use efficiency. Although the region acknowledges the need for adopting the IWRM strategy, they have varied adoption statuses (GWP, 2003).

Southern African countries also face serious water scarcity problems. Rainfall in South Africa is low and unevenly distributed with about 9% translating to useful runoff making the country one of the most water scarce countries in the world [ 35 ]. Generally, SADC countries experience water scarcity resulting in conflicts due to increasing pressure on the fresh water resources [ 36 ]. Thus, the researched opine that water scarcity pushed the region to adopt the IWRM strategy inorder to mitigate the looming effects of climate change on surface water availainility.

3.2.2 Trans-boundary water resources.

Water resources flow downstream indiscriminately across villages, locations, regions and nations/states and therefore necessitates co-operation. The upstream and downstream relationships among communities, people and countries created by the water is asymmetrical in that the actions upstream tend to affect the downstream riparian and not the other way round [ 34 ]. In East Africa, the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) and the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) plays a critical component in promoting the IWRM at regional level [ 20 ].

The Nile River system is the single largest factor driving the IWRM in the region. Lake Victoria, the source of the Nile River is shared by the three East African states of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Irrigation schemes in Sudan and Egypt rely exclusively on the waters of River Nile and are therefore apprehensive of the actions of upstream states notably Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. The source of contention is the asymmetrical water needs and allocation which was enshrined in the Sudan–Egypt treaty of 1959 [ 37 ]. All the riparian countries in the Nile basin have agricultural-based economies and thus irrigation is the cornerstone of food security [ 38 ]. Therefore, there was the need for the establishment of basin-wide co-operation which led to the formation of NBI in 1999 with a vision to achieve sustainable socio-economic development through the equitable utilisation of the Nile water resources [ 39 ].

The Mara River is another trans-boundary river which is shared between Tanzania and Kenya and the basin forms the habitat for the Maasai Mara National Reserve and Serengeti National Park in Kenya and Tanzania, respectively, which is prominent for the annual wildlife migration. Kenya has 65% of the upper part of the basin, any development on the upstream, such as hydropower or water diversion, will reduce the water quantities and therefore affect the Serengeti ecosystem and the livelihoods of people in Tanzania [ 40 ]. The LVBC, under the East African Community, developed the Mara River Basin-wide—Water Allocation Plan (MRB-WAP) to help in water demand management and protection of the Mara ecosystem [ 41 ]. The mandate of the LVBC is to implement IWRM in Lake Victoria Basin riparian countries [ 20 ].

Other shared water basins include the Malakisi-Malaba-Sio River basin shared between Uganda and Kenya and the Kagera River basin traversing Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. The two river basins form part of the Upper Nile system and are governed through the LVBC and the NBI.

The universal transboundary nature of water creates dynamics that warrant cooperation for improved water use. West Africa has 25 transboundary watercourses and only 6 are under agreed management and regulation. The situation is compounded by the fact that 20 watercourses lack strategic river-basin management instruments [ 28 ]. Unregistered rules and the asymmetrical variations associated with watercourses warranted the introduction of the IWRM principle to set equitable water sharing protocols and promote environmental flows (e-flows). The various acts signed represent an evolutionary treaty development that combines th efforts of riparian states to better manage the shared water resources (for detailed basin configuration in West Africa see [ 42 ]). Hence, adoption of the IWRM strategy driven WAWRP of 2008 ensured the coordinanted and harmonised regional water usage mechanisms.

The SADC region has 13 major transboundary river basins which calls for development of agreements on how to handle the shared water resources with the contraints of varying levels of economic development and priorities among the member states. The multi-lateral and bi-lateral agreeements on shared water resources in the SADC is hampered by the hydropolitics where economic power dynamics favour South Africa as in the case of the Orange-Senqu basin [ 43 ].

3.2.3 Donor influence.

The World Bank has been pushing for IWRM principles in the East Africa through the NBI and by pressurising Egypt to agree to co-operate with the upstream riparian countries in the Nile basin [ 38 ]. In the early 1990s, the World Bank had aligned its funding policies to include sustainable water resources management [ 44 ].

In Tanzania, Norway, through NORAD, played a key role in implementing IWRM by promoting water projects including hydropower schemes [ 45 ]. Indeed the transformation of the agricultural sector in Tanzania through Kilimo Kwanza policy of 2009 which emphasised on the commercialization of agriculture including irrigation was driven by foreign donors such as the USAID and UK’s DFID [ 26 ].

In Uganda, however, the reforms in the water sector were initiated devoid of external influence [ 46 ]. However, this assertion is countered by Allouche [ 5 ] who pointed that Uganda had become a ‘darling’ of the donor countries in the early 1990s and that DANIDA helped to develop the Master Water Plan and the country was keen to show a willingness to develop policy instruments favourable to the donor. East African countries are developing economies and therefore most of their development plans are supported by external agencies, which to some extent come with subtle ‘conditions’ such as free-market economies. In fact imposition of tariffs and other economic instruments used to implement IWRM in water supply and irrigation is a market-based approach which was favoured by the World Bank and other development agencies.

Donor aid cannot be downplayed in pushing for IWRM diffusion in low-income aid-dependent countries of West Africa. GoBF [ 47 ] reported that from the period 1996–2001, more than 80% of water-related projects were donor funded. Cherlet and Venot [ 48 ] also found that almost 90% of the water investments in Mali were funded outside the government apparatus. It can, therefore, be argued that donor-aid plays a pivotal and central role in diffusing policy and innovation in aid-depended countries because of the incentive nature it provides for the low-income countries in the sub-Sahara region.

Southern Africa’s experience with western donors including the World Bank in terms of IWRM adoption favoured the urban areas and neglected rural areas (see [ 8 ]). The National Water Act drafting process in South africa was a multi-stakeholder and intersectoral activity that brought in international consultancies. Notable IWRM drivers were Department of International Development—UK (DFID), Danish Danida, and Deustsche Gesellschaft fur Zusammernarbeit (GIZ). The DFID was instrumental in water reform allocation law whilst the GIZ and Danida were active in experimental work in the catchments [ 3 ]. On the contrary, in Zimbabwe, a lack of access to international funding and fleeting donor aid exacerbated the policy uptake as such the anticipated implementation, operationalisation and continuous feedback mechanism for policy revision and administering process was never realised.

3.2.4 Government intervention and pro-active citizenry.

This was predomint in West Africa. For example the Burkinabe government exhibited political goodwill such that in 1995 the government brought together two separate ministries into one ministry of Environment and Water thus enabling coherent policy formulation and giving the ministry one voice to speak on water matters. The dynamic innovation arena (where policy players interact) allows continuous policy revision and redesign thus water policy reform diffusion, and policy frameworks are in a perpetual state of shifting. For example, in the 1990s the Burkinabe government was engaged in several water-related projects and was continuously experimenting with local governance and privatization (from donors) [ 1 ]. This policy shift according to Gupta [ 49 ] qualifies as an innovation driver.

Burkina Faso and Mali’s adoption story is accentuated by heightened agency, the individual enthusiasm on influencing the outcome facilitated policy diffusion and can be argued to be a potential innovation diffusion driver for the IWRM policy approach in the region. The individual policy diffusion fuelled by an enthusiastic citizenry was a sure method that effectively diffused awareness around the IWRM innovation and acted as a driver of the IWRM practices in the region. Individual strategies were honed in smallholder farming institutions to diffuse the IWRM practice and drawing from the Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith [ 50 ] advocacy coalition theory, having individuals with common agendas promoted the transfer and diffusion of water reforms in parts of West Africa.

3.2.5 Legal, political and institutional incoherence.

This was a major factor which dictated the pace of IWRM implementation in Southern Africa. For example, the Fast Track Land Reform (FTLR) programme in Zimbabwe disaggregated the large-scale commercial farms and created smallholder farming [ 51 ], consequently influencing and dictating IWRM policy path. The FTLR programme had a negative impact on the spread and uptake of IWRM. A series of poor economic performance and poor policy design compounded the limited diffusion and the adoption of IWRM practices at local levels in Zimbabwe. The FTLR programme compounded the innovation diffusion process as the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) lost account of who harvested how much at the newly created smallholder farms. Thus, water access imbalance ensured, and ecological sustainability was compromised.

Policy incoherence was a major factor in poor IWRM diffusion and adoption, for example, the government did not synchronise the land and water reforms thus it meant at any given point in time there was a budget for one reform agenda [ 8 ] and the land reform agenda would take precedence because of political rent-seeking. IWRM in its nature couples growth to the coordinated consumption of finite resources, hence the circular approach cannot be easily realised because finte resources are at the core of the strategy’s existence.

South Africa’s transition from Integrated Catchment Management (ICM) strategies to the IWRM strategy, hindered the operationalisation and diffusion of the IWRM strategy [ 52 ]. Despite acknowledging the “integration”, researchers argued that the word lacked a clear-cut definition thus failing to establish a common ground for water’s multi-purpose use [ 53 ]. For maximised adoption of a practice, incremental innovation is required, which was Danida’s agenda in the quest to drive IWRM in South Africa. According to Wehn and Montalvo [ 54 ] incremental innovation “is characterised by marginal changes and occurs in mature circumstances”,

Land reform in South Africa is characterised by (a) redistribution which seeks to transfer land from the white minority on a willing buyer willing seller basis, (b) restitution which rights the discriminatory 1913 land laws that saw natives evicted from their ancestral land, and (c) land tenure that provides tenure to the occupants of the homelands. This new pattern created a new breed of smallholder farmers that are, more often than not, excluded from diffusion and water governance channels [ 55 ]. In addition, researchers argue that a farm once owned by one white farmer is owned by multiple landowners with different cultural backgrounds and, more often than not, IWRM strategy is met with resistance [ 56 ]. Another challenge posed by multi-cultural water users is the interpretation and translation of innovations.

To foster water as an economic good aspect of IWRM the licensing system was enacted in South Africa. The phenomenon was described by van Koppen (2012) as paper water precedes water, thus the disadvantaged black smallholder farmers could not afford paper water which consequently limits access to water. The licensing system can be interpreted as stifling the smallholder sector and hence negative attitudes develop and hinder effective policy diffusion. Another issue that negatively impacted adoption was that issuing a license was subject to farmers possessing storage facilities. The smallholder farmers lack resources hence the requirement for obtaining a license excluded the small players in favour of the large-scale commercial farmers. This consequently maintains the historically skewed status-quo, where “big players” keep winning. Van Koppen [ 57 ] and Denby, Movik [ 58 ] argue the shift from local water rights system to state-based water system have created bottlenecks making it hard for smallholder farmers to obtain “paper water” and subsequently “wet water”. The state-based system is characterised by bureaucracies and local norms are in perpetual change, hence denying the IWRM innovation policy approach stability efficiency.

A lack of political will and pragmatism amplified the poor adoption and operationalisation of IWRM, a poorly performing economy and fleeing donor agencies resulted in less funding for water-related project. Political shenanigans created an imbalance that resulted in two forms of water i.e., water as an economic good vs. water as a social good [ 59 ]. Manzungu [ 60 ] argued post-colonial Zimbabwe continuously failed to develop a peoples-oriented water reform policy. In a bid to correct historical wrongs by availing subsidised water to the vulnerable and support the new social order, the initiative goes against the neo-liberalism approach that defines the “water as an economic good” [ 61 ] which is a founding principle of IWRM.

Water redistribution in South Africa has been fraught with political and technical issues, for example, the Water Allocation Reform of 2003 failed to reconcile the apartheid disparity hence the equity component of IWRM was compromised. IWRM suffered another setback caused by the governing party when they introduced radical innovations that sought to shift from the socialist to neoliberal water resource use approach. The radical innovation through the government benefited the large-scale commercial farmers at the expense of the black smallholder farming community [ 53 ].

3.3 Systematic comparison of findings on East, West and Southern Africa

Data extracts from the respective regional analysis were formulated into theoretical candidate themes. The thematic analysis extracted recurring themes common to all the three regions. An independent reviwer performed the subjective thematic analysis and the authors performed the review on the blind thematic analysis outcome. The analysis performed a data extraction exercise and formulated codes ( Fig 2 ). Themes were then generated from the coded data extracts to create a thematic map. It is worth mentioning that the data extracts were phrases/statement from with in the literature review.

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3.3.1 Donor aid and policy approach.

Donor activity invariably influenced the policy path that individual countries took. The three regions had significant support from donors to drive the IWRM strategy. Zimbabwe experienced a different fate. The political climate caused an exodus of donor support from the nation, which consequently caused a laggard. The absence of donor support was at the backdrop of the two formulated water acts namely National Water Act [ 62 ] and the Zimbabwe National Water Authority Act of 1998 [ 63 ], which were meant to promote equitable water provision amongst the population. This highlights the latent adoption of IWRM strategy. The 2008/2009 cholera outbreak raised alarm and facilitated the return of donor activity in Zimbabwe’s water sector. The availability of donor support motivated the redrafting of a water clause in the 2013 constitution that espoused the IWRM strategy to water management [ 64 ].

Whilst Mehta, Alba [ 64 ] argue that South Africa enjoyed minimal donor support it cannot be downplayed how much donor influence impacted the IWRM strategy adoption. For instance, the Water Allocation Reform (WAR) was drafted with the aid of the UK Department of International Development. The WAR fundamentals are informed by IWRM principles. The economic structural programmes spearheaded by The World Bank and the IMF were active in facilitating the diffusion of the IWRM strategy in Kenya and Uganda. Uganda made strides because of a long-standing relationship with donor nations. The Uganda—donor relationship dates back to early 1990 where Uganda was elected to be the NBI secretariat, this in itself evidence of commitment to water policy reform [ 4 , 65 ]. Donor aid acts as an incentive and augments the low African goverments’ budgets, as such proper accountability and usage of the funds ensures that more funds come in for projected water related projects.

3.3.2 Transboundary water resources.

The Nile River system is the single largest factor driving the IWRM in the region since it is shared across several upstream and downetream nations. Irrigation schemes in Sudan and Egypt rely exclusively on the waters of River Nile and are therefore apprehensive of the actions of upstream states notably Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. The source of contention is the asymmetrical water needs and allocation which was enshrined in the Sudan–Egypt treaty of 1959 [ 37 ]. Over time, the upstream countried demanded equitable share of the Nile waters and this led to the establishment of NBI. In Eastern Africa, the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) and the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) plays a critical component in promoting the IWRM at regional level [ 20 ]. The LVBC is deeply intertwined with the East African Community (EAC) and thus has more political clout to implement policies regarding utilization of the Lake Victoria waters [ 66 ]. This, therefore, implies that for NBI to succeed, it must have a mandate and political goodwill from the member countries.

The conflicts around the utilization of the Nile water resources persists due to the treaty of 1959 which led to the signing of Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) by a number of the Nile basin countries, with the notable exceptions of Egypt, Sudan and South Sudan [ 67 ]. The CFA was signed between 2010 and 2011 and establishes the principle that each Nile Basin state has the right to use, within its territory, the waters of the Nile River Basin, and lays down some factors for determining equitable and reasonable utilization such as the contribution of each state to the Nile waters and the proportion of the drainage area [ 68 ]. The construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has been a source of concern and conflict among the three riparian countries of Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt [ 67 ]. The asymmetrical power relations (Egypt is the biggest economy) in the Nile Basin is a big hindrance to the co-operation among the riparian countries [ 69 ] and thus a threat to IWRM implementation in the shared watercourse. While Ethiopia is using its geographical power to negotiate for an equitable share in the Nile water resources, Egypt is utilizing both materials, bargaining and idealistic power to dominate the hydro politics in the region and thus the former can only succeed if it reinforces its geographical power with material power [ 70 ].

Therefore, IWRM implementation at the multi-national stage is complex but necessary to forestall regional conflicts and war. The necessity of co-operation rather than conflict in the Nile Basin is paramount due to the water availability constraints which is experienced by most countries in the region. The transboundary IWRM revolves around water-food- energy consensus where the needs of the riparian countries are sometimes contrasting, for example, Egypt and Sudan require the Nile waters for irrigation to feed their increasing population while Ethiopia requires the Nile waters for power generation to stimulate her economy. The upstream riparian States could use their bargaining power to foster co-operation and possibly force the hegemonic downstream riparian States into the equitable and sustainable use of Nile waters [ 71 ].

The SADC region has 13 major transboundary river basins (excluding the Nile and Congo) of Orange, Limpopo, Incomati, Okavango, Cunene, Cuvelai, Maputo, Buzi, Pungue, Save-Runde, Umbeluzi, Rovuma and Zambezi [ 72 ]. The Revised Protocol on Shared Watercourses was instrumental for managing transboundary water resources in the SADC. The overall aim of the Protocol was to foster co-operation for judicious, sustainable and coordinated management, the protection and utilization of shared water resources [ 73 ].

Ashton and Turton [ 74 ] argue that the transboundary water issues in Southern Africa revolved around the key roles played by pivotal States and impacted States and their corresponding pivotal basins and impacted basins. In this case, pivotal States are riparian states with a high level of economic development (Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe) and a high degree of reliance on shared river basins for strategic sources of water supply while impacted States are riparian states (Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania, and Zambia) that have a critical need for access to water from an international river basin that they share with a pivotal state, but appear to be unable to negotiate what they consider to be an equitable allocation of water and therefore, their future development dreams are impeded by the asymmetrical power dynamics with the pivotal states. Pivotal Basins (Orange, Incomati, and Limpopo) are international river basins that face closure but are also strategically important to anyone (or all) of the pivotal states by virtue of the range and magnitude of economic activity that they support. Impacted basins (Cunene, Maputo, Okavango, Cuvelai, Pungué, Save-Runde, and Zambezi) are those international river basins that are not yet approaching a point of closure, and which are strategically important for at least one of the riparian states with at least one pivotal State.

The transboundary co-operation under IWRM in Southern Africa is driven mainly by water scarcity which is predominant in most of the SADC countries which may imply the use of inter-basin transfers schemes [ 74 ]. Further, most of the water used for agriculture, industry and domestic are found within the international river basins [ 75 ] which calls for collaborative water management strategies. The tricky feature hindering the IWRM is the fact that States are reluctant to transfer power to River Basin Commissions [ 76 ]. Indeed most of the River Basin Organizations (RBO) in Southern region such as the Zambezi Commission, the Okavango River Basin Commission, and the Orange-Sengu River Basin Commission have loose links with SADC and therefore lack the political clout to implement the policies governing the shared water resources [ 66 ]. Power asymmetry, like in Eastern Africa, is also a bottleneck in achieving equitable sharing of water resources as illustrated by the water transfer scheme involving Lesotho and South Africa [ 77 ]. The hydro-hegemonic South Africa is exercising control over any negotiations and agreements in the Orange-Senqu basin [ 43 ]. Limited data sharing among the riparian States is another challenge which affects water management in transboundary river basins e.g. in the Orange-Senqu basin [ 78 ].

West Africa has 25 transboundary watercourses and only 6 are under agreed management and regulation. The situation is compounded by the fact that 20 watercourses lack strategic river-basin management instruments [ 28 ]. Unregistered rules and the asymmetrical variations associated with watercourses warrant the introduction of the IWRM principle to set equitable water sharing protocols and promote environmental flows (e-flows). The various acts signed represent an evolutionary treaty development that combines the efforts of riparian states to better manage the shared water resources. It is important to note that evolutionary treaties are incremental innovation. Water Resources Coordination Centre (WRCC) was established in 2004 to implement an integrated water resource management in West Africa and to ensure regional coordination of water resource related policies and activities [ 79 ].

The Niger River basin covers 9 Countries of Benin, Burkina, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger and Nigeria. The Niger River Basin Authority (NBA) was established to promote co-operation among the member countries and to ensure basin-wide integrated development in all fields through the development of its resources, notably in the fields of energy, water resources, agriculture, livestock, forestry exploitation, transport and communication and industry [ 80 ]. The Shared Vision and Sustainable Development Action Programme (SDAP) was developed to enhance co-operation and sharing benefits from the resources of River Niger [ 81 ]. The Niger Basin Water Charter together with the SDAP are key instruments which set out a general approach to basin development, an approach negotiated and accepted not only by all member states but also by other actors who utilize the basin resources [ 82 ].

The main agreement governing the transboundary water resource in River Senegal Basin is the Senegal River Development Organization, OMVS (Organisation pour la mise en valeur du fleuve Sénégal) with its core principle being the equitably shared benefits of the resources of the basin [ 82 ]. The IWRM in the Senegal River Basin is hampered by weak institutional structures and lack of protocol on how shared waters among the States as well as conflicting national and regional interests [ 83 , 84 ]. The Senegal River Basin, being situated in the Sudan-Sahelian region, is faced by the threat of climate change which affects water availability [ 84 ] The Senegal River Basin States have high risks of political instability.

3.4 Prospects of IWRM Africa

The countries in the three regions are at different stages of implementation ( Table 4 ). In East Africa, Uganda and Kenya are at medium-high level while Tanzania is medium-low. Majority of the countries in the Southern Africa region are at medium low. Comoros Islands is the only country at low level of implementation in the region. West African countries are evenly spread between low, medium-low and medium-high levels of implementation. Generally, East Africa is ranked as medium-high level with average score of 54% while Southern Africa and West Africa are ranked as medium low-level at 46% and 42% respectively. However if you include, medium low countries of Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia and South Sudan and the low-level Somalia, then East Africa’s score drops to 39% (medium-low).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236903.t004

The implementation of IWRM in the continent, and more so the inter dependent and multi purpose water use sectors, will continue to evolve amid implementation challenges. The dynamics of water policies, increased competition for finite water resources from rapid urbanization, industrialization and population growth will continue to shape IWRM practices in the region. Trans-boundary water resources management will possibly take centre stage as East African countries move towards full integration and political federation as envisaged in the four pillars of the EAC treaty. Decision support tools such as the Water—Energy—Food (WEF) nexus appraoch will be very relevant in the trans-boundary water resources such as the Nile system, Mara and Kagera river basins. The approach can potentially ameliorate the after effects of the devolved governance system in Kenya that consequently created a multiplicity of transboundary sectors.

Adoption of the IWRM policy in West Africa is fraught with many challenges. For example, despite having significant water resources, the lack of a collective effort by the governments to train water experts at national level presents a challenge for adoption. Unavailability of trained water experts (who in any case are diffusion media) results in a lack of diffusion channels that facilitate policy interpretation, translation and its subsequent implementation. Helio and Van Ingen [ 27 ] pointed out how political instability possesses a threat to current and future implantation initiatives. The future collaboration projects and objective outlined by ECOWAS, CILSS, and UEMO highlight a major effort to bring the region to speed with the IWRM policy approach. The WAWRP objectives can potentially set up the region on an effective IWRM trajectory which can be mimicked and upscaled in other regions. Positives drawn from the region are the deliberate institutional collaborations. Burkina Faso and Mali have the potential to operationalise and facilitate policy diffusion to other neighbouring states. Donor driven reform is essential and national ownership is critical in ensuring the water reform policies and innovation diffusion processes are implemented at the national level.

The IWRM policy approach and practice in South Africa was government-driven whereas in Zimbabwe external donors were the main vehicles for diffusion. For both countries, the water and land reform agenda has a multiplicity of overlapping functionaries; however, they are managed by separate government departments. The silo system at national level prevents effective innovation diffusion and distorts policy interpretation and the subsequent dissemination at the local level.i.

Water affairs are politicised and often, the water reform policy fails to balance the Dublin’s principles which form the backbone of the IWRM innovation policy approach. Failure by national governments to address unequal water access created by former segregationist policies is perpetuated by the lack of balance between creating a new social order and recognising the “water as an economic good” principle.

4 Conclusion

Africa as a laboratory of IWRM produced varied aggregated outcomes. The outcomes were directly linked to various national socio-economic development agendas; thus, the IWRM policy took a multiplicity of paths. In East Africa, Kenya is still recovering from the devolved system of government to the County system which created new transboundary sectors with the country. Water scarcity, trans-boundary water resource and donor aid played a critical role in driving the IWRM policy approach in the three regions. Southern Africa’s IWRM experience has been fraught with policy clashes between the water and land reforms. Similar to Africa, the transboundary issue in Europe and Asia and the subsequent management is a major buy-in for formulating water resources strategies that are people centric and ecologically friendly. Global water scarcity created fertile grounds for IWRM adoption in Asia, specifically India. Thus, we postulate that some of the drivers that influenced the uptake and diffusion in Africa are not only unique to the continent.

For the future, IWRM policy approach can be implemented in Africa and the continent has the potential to implement and adopt the practice. Endowed with a significant number of water bodies, Africa must adopt a blend of IWRM strategy and the water energy food nexus (WEF) for maximising regional cooperation and subsequent economic gains. WEF nexus will help combat a singular or silo approach to natural resources management. WEF nexus and IWRM is a fertile area for future research as it brings a deeper understanding of the trade-offs and synergies exsisting in the water sector across and within regions. In addition, the WEF nexus approach can potentially facilitate a shift to a circular approach that decouples over dependence on one finte resource for development.

Supporting information

S1 checklist..

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236903.s001

S1 Table. Data extracts with the applied codes.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236903.s002

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Achieving the sustainable development goals: a case study of the complexity of water quality health risks in Malawi

Affiliations.

• 1 School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Washington State University, 2710 Crimson Way, Richland, WA, 99354, USA. [email protected].
• 2 Mzuzu University, P/Bag 201, Mzuzu 2, Malawi. [email protected].
• 3 School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University, Hulbert 103h, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA.
• 4 Department of Entomology, Food & Environmental Quality Lab, Washington State University, 2710 Crimson Way, Richland, WA, 99354, USA.
• 5 Mzuzu University, P/Bag 201, Mzuzu 2, Malawi.
• PMID: 27417313
• PMCID: PMC5025986
• DOI: 10.1186/s41043-016-0057-x

Background: Suppose 35 % of the households with children under 5 years of age in a low-income suburban neighborhood in a developing country have diarrhea where improved water sources are available. Clearly, something is amiss-but what? In addition to focusing on the need to examine water quality among water sources that meet the 'improved' category when assessing health risk, the relative importance of the range of transmission routes for diarrhea is unknown. In Malawi, relevant baseline data affecting human health are simply not available, and acquiring data is hampered by a lack of local analytical capacity for characterizing drinking water quality. The objective of this work is to develop a risk communication program with partnership among established regional development professionals for effectively meeting the sustainable development goals.

Methods: A field study was conducted in the city of Mzuzu, Malawi, to study water quality (total coliform and Escherichia coli) and human dimensions leading to development of a public health risk communication strategy in a peri-urban area. A structured household questionnaire was administered to adult residents of 51 households, encompassing 284 individuals, who were using the 30 monitored shallow wells.

Results: The water quality data and human dimension questionnaire results were used to develop a household risk presentation. Sixty-seven percent and 50 % of well water and household drinking water samples, respectively, exceeded the WHO health guideline of zero detections of E. coli. Technology transfer was advanced by providing knowledge through household risk debriefing/education, establishing a water quality laboratory at the local university, and providing training to local technicians.

Conclusions: Communicating the science of water quality and health risks in developing countries requires sample collection and analysis by knowledgeable personnel trained in the sciences, compiling baseline data, and, ultimately, an effective risk presentation back to households to motivate behavioral changes to effectively protect future water resources and human health.

Keywords: Communication; Groundwater; Human dimensions; Malawi; Risk; Water quality.

• Child, Preschool
• Communication*
• Developing Countries
• Diarrhea / microbiology*
• Drinking Water / microbiology*
• Enterobacteriaceae / growth & development
• Escherichia coli / growth & development*
• Health Education
• Laboratories
• Program Development
• Risk Assessment
• Surveys and Questionnaires
• Technology Transfer
• Water Microbiology*
• Water Quality*
• Water Supply / standards*
• Water Wells
• Drinking Water

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Results and discussion, data availability statement, conflict of interest, evaluation of sustainable development capacity of water sources: a case study of china.

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Jingqi Zhang , Shaohua Jiang; Evaluation of sustainable development capacity of water sources: a case study of China. Water Sci Technol 15 March 2024; 89 (6): 1482–1496. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2024.084

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The issue of water scarcity has drawn attention from all over the world. The coordination of the interaction between ecological and environmental development of water sources and socio-economic development is currently an essential issue that needs to be solved in order to safeguard the water resources environment for human survival. In this essay, we suggest a paradigm for assessing the sustainable exploitation of water resources. First, three ecological, economic, and social factors are investigated. Twenty essential evaluation indexes are then constructed using the Delphi approach, along with an index system for assessing the potential of water sources for sustainable development. The weights of each evaluation index were then determined using the combination assignment approach, which was then suggested. The coupled degree evaluation model of the capability for sustainable development of water sources was then developed. In order to confirm the viability and validity of the suggested model, the model was used to assess the Liwu River water source's capacity for sustainable growth in the context of the South-North Water Transfer in Shandong, China. It is believed that the aforementioned study would serve as a helpful resource when evaluating the capacity of water sources for sustainable development.

Proposes a novel coupled coordination degree evaluation model for water source sustainability, expanding upon traditional methods to offer a comprehensive understanding of sustainable development status, aiding in strategic planning.

Introduces an improved weight determination method using the coefficient of variation combined with the combination assignment approach, enhancing the precision and reliability of sustainability evaluations by mitigating outlier effects.

Establishes a comprehensive evaluation index system from ecological, economic, and social perspectives, providing a holistic framework for assessing water source sustainability, serving as a reference for future sustainable development efforts.

Schematic diagram of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project.

In this paper, a coupled coordination degree evaluation model for the sustainability of water sources is proposed. It is an innovation and expansion of the traditional evaluation method. Through this model, we can understand the sustainable development status of water sources in a more comprehensive and in-depth way and provide a scientific basis for formulating corresponding protection and management strategies.

Since the index weights obtained by the entropy method are too equalized, this paper introduces the coefficient of variation method to improve it. It can weaken the influence of outliers and make the evaluation results more accurate and reasonable. In order to make the evaluation results more scientific and objective, this paper adopts the combination assignment method to determine the weights of each evaluation index. It enables to reflect more accurately the importance of each index in the evaluation and improves the accuracy and credibility of the evaluation.

There is no complete evaluation index system for the study of the sustainable development capacity of water sources. From three aspects, ecological, economic, and social, this paper assesses the sustainable development capacity of water sources with a view to providing useful references for the sustainable development of water sources.

The rest of this study is organized as follows. Section 2 introduces the current status of research on water sources and the evaluation method of water source sustainability. The third section discusses the research methodology of this paper. Results and discussion are in the fourth part. Finally, conclusions and further work are given in Section 5.

Studies on water sources

The environmental conditions of water sources have an important impact on regional water supply security and sustainable economic development and are also closely related to people's life and health safety. Wu et al. (2019) concluded that organic micropollutants in the water environment have potential impacts on ecological safety and human health. By analyzing four drinking water sources in Henan Province, China, water contaminants were found to be of high risk to algae and invertebrates ( Wu et al. 2019 ). Cao et al. (2019) collected long-term monitoring data of conventional physicochemical parameters and metal elements in water bodies from 2005 to 2017. Multivariate statistical techniques were also used to evaluate the elements' sources. It was discovered that the presence of trace elements was significantly impacted by both endogenous releases and human activity ( Cao et al. 2019 ). Yang et al. (2020) analyzed the current status of ecological compensation in the Yellow River Basin in China and discussed the types and key areas of ecological compensation in the Yellow River Basin. After a series of analyses, it was suggested to strengthen basic research and key case studies on ecological compensation mechanisms in the Yellow River basin ( Yang et al. 2020 ). Sun et al. (2020) realized that the main cause of nonpoint source pollution in drinking water sources is unreasonable management of commercial forests in upstream areas. The relationship between soil factors and surface runoff pollutants was studied using redundancy analysis. It was concluded that effective measures were to increase vegetation cover and improve the soil environment ( Sun et al. 2020 ). Yu et al. (2021) used a questionnaire survey method to statistically analyze the sustainable development of the Sun Moon Lake Reservoir in Taiwan. The study found that the development of the reservoir has brought a large amount of waste. This caused the disappearance of culture and architecture ( Yu et al. 2021 ). Wang et al. (2021) found that the main cause of water source pollution is eutrophication of water bodies. Realizing the importance of implementing clean agricultural production to protect the environment of water sources, a series of feasible measures were proposed ( Wang et al. 2021 ). Leya et al. (2022) used key information interviews to assess the status of water source security in six areas with urban fringe characteristics in Bangladesh. The study showed that partnership among key stakeholders can enhance water source security in similar urban peripheral environments ( Leya et al. 2022 ). In summary, scholars have conducted a large number of studies on contaminants and environmental safety of water sources. A foundation has been laid for the study of the sustainability of water sources.

Research on water source evaluation system

In recent years, significant results have been achieved in the application of water source evaluation index weighting, ranking of evaluation objects, and correction of evaluation results. In order to improve the accuracy of water source evaluation and reduce the influence caused by subjective factors, water source evaluation systems are usually combined with statistical methods. Ding et al. (2019) used a two-dimensional water quality detection model to generate a computational network. A safety platform for drinking water sources in the Three Gorges Reservoir area of China was developed ( Ding et al. 2019 ). Wang et al. (2020) realized that identifying the spatial and temporal variability of nonpoint source pollution is a prerequisite for improving water quality. A combined model based on land use types was used to simulate pollution loads. And the spatial and temporal characteristics of pollution sources in typical urbanized areas were identified by assessing the pollution loads in typical urbanized areas ( Wang et al. 2020 ). Zhang et al. (2020) used a cloud model to analyze the ecological environmental vulnerability of water sources. The ecological environmental vulnerability evaluation index system of water sources was constructed by studying the water sources of the South-North Water Diversion Central project in China ( Zhang et al. 2020 ). Qin et al. (2021) combined multiple linear regression models with Bayesian networks to identify and assess contaminants in water sources ( Qin et al. 2021 ). Liu et al. (2021) combined the water quality index (WQI) and entropy weighting method to evaluate the environmental quality of groundwater in the Dawu water source. Full index method, Delphi method, and multivariate statistical analysis were used to analyze the evaluation results. The conclusion of overall good water quality was drawn ( Liu et al. 2021 ). Xiao et al. (2022) proposed a combined assignment method for the comprehensive evaluation of coastal water quality. The study showed that riverine input is the main source of pollutants in the study area ( Xiao et al. 2022 ). Zhang et al. (2022) proposed an evaluation method that combines the intrinsic vulnerability of aquifers with pollution source loads. The contamination risk of groundwater in the Guanzhong Basin, China, was evaluated from a macroscopic perspective ( Zhang et al. 2022 ). Hou et al. (2022) considered that controlling nonpoint source pollution is crucial. It is necessary to estimate the nonpoint source pollution export and identify the pollution sources. After studying rainfall and topography and investigating the characteristics of pollution sources and surface sources, an improved output coefficient model was developed ( Hou et al. 2022 ). From the existing literature, it can be seen that scholars have focused on qualitative studies and a few scholars have conducted quantitative analyses. However, the single evaluation method is too subjective and has poor evaluation results.

In general, there exists a significant disparity between China and developed countries concerning both theoretical research and practical approaches to water source protection. Many efforts fall short in addressing the driving mechanisms behind changes in water quality, and only a few delve into the effective safeguarding of water sources from the perspective of watershed or catchment land use. The rights and interests of various stakeholders in water sources have not received adequate attention. The absence of operational and promotional mechanisms for water source protection hampers the effectiveness of implemented measures. Research on the evaluation of water sources remains limited, and the existing evaluation system cannot be fully applied to assess water sources. Moreover, the current evaluation methods lack scientific rigor, highlighting the need to identify a suitable evaluation approach. These constitute the primary focus areas of this paper.

Establishing an index system for evaluating the sustainability of water sources

Evaluation index system of sustainable development capacity of water source.

Research process

Flow chart of evaluation model of sustainable development capacity of water source.

Determine the weight of each evaluation index

The significance of each indicator in the evaluation system is gauged through weighting. A judicious distribution of weights is crucial for ensuring the reliability of evaluation results. To attain a balanced weight composition, this paper employs the entropy value method, wherein the utility value of information entropy is utilized to objectively calculate the weights of indicators. Effective information in the original data is fully utilized under the premise of the interference of subjective factors ( Liu et al. 2022 ). However, the shortcoming of the method is the equalization of indicator weight. There is no horizontal comparison of the degree of influence of each indicator on the sustainability of water sources. The variation coefficient method directly uses the valid information in the original data, which can better overcome the disadvantage of weight equalization distribution ( Jin et al. 2022 ). Therefore, this paper proposes an objective portfolio assignment method based on the coefficient of variation method and the entropy value method.

Entropy method to determine the weight

The entropy method calculates the information utility value based on the information entropy provided in the raw data of each indicator. It is an objective weighting method to determine the weight of each index ( Lee & Lee 2022 ). The steps to determine the index weight by using the entropy method are as follows:

Coefficient of variation method to determine the weight

The coefficient of variation method is an objective weighting method that uses the coefficient of variation and standard deviation of the data to calculate the weight coefficient of each indicator ( Yosboonruang et al. 2022 ). The steps for determining the weight of indicators using the coefficient of variation method are as follows:

Combination weighting methods to determine weights

Integrated development level model, coupling coordination degree models.

In this study, the coupled coordination degree model is employed to assess the sustainable development of the ecological–social–economic complex system within the water source region. This model serves to depict the level of coordination among two or more systems in a manner that closely aligns with real-world scenarios. Its application mitigates the influence of subjective human factors, thereby enhancing the objectivity and validity of the evaluation results across diverse complex situations ( Li et al. 2022 ). The coupling degree mainly reflects the strength of interactions and interactions between systems.

Step 2. The coupling coordination degree function is calculated. Compared with the coupling degree model, the coupling coordination degree can better measure the coordination degree of interactive coupling between systems. It is very necessary to go further to evaluate the coupling coordination degree of the region, where D is the coupling coordination degree; T is the integrated coordination index of the three subsystems; α , β , γ are the coefficients to be determined.

In accordance with the index system for assessing the sustainable development capacity of water sources outlined in Part 3, the weights are initially determined using the combination assignment method. Subsequently, the comprehensive development level is computed and applied to assess the coupling coordination degree among the subsystems. The Zhangwei New River Basin encompasses six or five rivers situated on both sides of the Chen Gong Dike, featuring 12 tributaries ranging from 300 to 1,000 km 2 . Beyond these major tributaries, there are an additional 53 tributaries with a watershed area of 100–300 km 2 and 114 tributaries with a watershed area of 30–100 km 2 . This has essentially formed a network of interconnected dry and branch rivers, facilitating the discharge and transfer of river water throughout the basin. However, recent years have seen a water shortage from the Yellow River, and the rivers within the region primarily rely on rainfall. The water quantity is intricately linked to the climate characteristics of the upstream areas, and the distribution of precipitation in the city is highly uneven. During the rainy season, water levels rise, leading to floods that can escalate into disasters. Conversely, in the dry season, many rivers progressively dry up. The sustainability of water sources has attracted widespread attention from scholars. The data in this paper are from the 2013–2022 Shandong Statistical Yearbook, see S2.

Calculation of the social-economic-ecological coupling coordination of water sources in Shandong from 2013 to 2022

Entropy method calculation results

Calculation results of coefficient of variation method

Calculation results of combined weights

Levels of economic development of the eco-economic-social subsystems.

Criteria for discriminating the type of coordinated development.

Step 7. The coupling coordination degree between the three subsystems is calculated according to the coupling coordination degree model, which is shown in S3.

Analysis of social–economic–ecological system coupling coordination in the study area

2013–2022 couplings and coordination among water source systems in Shandong.

However, a pivotal shift occurred in 2018 when the coupling coordination degree reached its lowest point. In response, local governance initiatives sought to address this challenge by expediting the transformation and upgrading of the service industry. This strategic move resulted in a significant shift in the industrial structure from the previous ‘two, three, one’ configuration to a more balanced ‘three, two, one’ paradigm ( Qiu et al. 2017 ). This restructuring aimed to alleviate the dissonance and enhance coordination among the social, economic, and ecological dimensions.

Despite these efforts, the coupling coordination degree witnessed a continuous decline after 2019, accompanied by an increase in the absolute deviation of the evaluation index. This trend highlights the intricate relationship between the three subsystems, where inhibiting factors within one subsystem impact the others. The data underscore a crucial insight – the absolute value of the deviation in the comprehensive evaluation index is inversely proportional to the coupling coordination degree. This implies that true harmony can only be achieved through mutual promotion and collective improvement.

The findings reveal that the ecological environment construction and socio-economic development in the Shandong water source area did not achieve synchronized progress. Instead, there is evidence of a reciprocal inhibition and influence between socio-economic development and ecological environment development. This suggests that the rapid socio-economic advancements in the region are intricately linked to the state of the ecological environment, emphasizing the need for a holistic approach to achieve sustainable and coordinated development.

Suggestions on sustainable development of the Liwu River water source

For the sustainable and healthy development of the water source area of six or five rivers, the following aspects should be emphasized when carrying out ecological construction of the water source area: as the origin of six or five rivers in Xiajin County, Shandong Province, the implementation of the water transfer project has undoubtedly intensified the burden of ecological protection for the people of the water source area. For Xiajin County, which provides high-value ecosystem services and is poor and backward, ecological compensation can be provided by the ecological beneficiary area as a way to improve the sustainable development of people in the water source area.

In the social development factor, the urbanization level of the water source area should be improved. Increase the proportion of non-agricultural population in the total population and improve the living conditions of residents in the water source area. In terms of economic development factors, efforts should be made to increase farmers' income and local financial income; in terms of ecological environment factors, environmental pollution control needs to be further strengthened. Reduce the amounts of pesticides and chemical fertilizers used in agriculture and strictly control industrial waste gas and wastewater emissions.

Water source is an important ecological barrier of a region, and it is necessary to provide a scientific method for the evaluation of the sustainability of a water source. It has been proved that the method can effectively solve this problem. It also provides a reference for the sustainability evaluation of other water sources. Second, in view of the shortage of current methods, this paper proposes a method for combining the entropy value method and variation coefficient method, which lay a solid foundation for the determination of weight. Next, to address the shortcomings of the current method, this paper proposes a method that combines the entropy value method and the coefficient of variation method. A solid foundation is laid for the determination of weight. Finally, a study is conducted on the example of the South-North Water Transfer of Six or Five Rivers in Shandong, China, and the coupled coordination degree model is applied to the evaluation of the sustainable development capacity of water sources. The rationality and validity of the evaluation model in the evaluation of the sustainable development capacity of water sources were verified. It provides a new research idea for the evaluation of water sources. The issue of water source development has always been a focus of attention, but there is little literature on the study from the perspective of coupled social–ecological–economic coordination, and this paper attempts to contribute to this part. Despite the valuable insights gained in this study, certain limitations and gaps exist in our evaluation of water source sustainability. The current evaluation index system is hindered by a lack of hands-on experience in water source engineering projects. Additionally, limitations stemming from the researcher's experience and knowledge background are acknowledged.

To address these shortcomings, future research endeavors can focus on innovating the identification method for water source evaluation indexes. This innovation can contribute to a more comprehensive and robust evaluation framework. Furthermore, staying attuned to emerging evaluation methods is crucial, and conducting a comparative study of these methods can enhance the sophistication of our assessments. Improvements in data selection are essential for enhancing the representativeness of our findings. Future studies should aim for more diverse and scientifically rigorous data sources to ensure the accuracy of the evaluation model. As the field evolves, researchers should strive to refine the evaluation process, incorporating new methodologies and ensuring a more holistic understanding of water source sustainability.

All relevant data are included in the paper or its Supplementary Information.

The authors declare there is no conflict.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

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The Potentials and Pitfalls from National Blue Economy Plans Towards Sustainable Development

Local Perspectives on Marine Ecotourism Development in a Water-Insecure Island Region: The Case of Bocas del Toro, Panama Provisionally Accepted

• 1 Dalhousie University, Canada
• 2 Center for Tropical Island Biodiversity Studies, School for Field Studies, Panama

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As a dimension of a blue economy, marine ecotourism should, in theory, not only increase economic viability and environmental sustainability but, most importantly, pursue socially equitable outcomes. In tropical and sub-tropical island regions, where substantial tourism development is often coupled with widespread strains on public infrastructure and services, including water access, there exists a need to better understand the expansion of this industry is felt at the community level; more importantly by individuals who are reliant on these infrastructures and services. Through a case study of the Bocas del Toro Archipelago, where water insecurity is becoming acute, we draw on and mobilize stories from local community members, alongside non-participant observations and document collection, to 1) document the experience of some community members with water insecurity and shortages, including how they perceive the roles played by the central government and marine ecotourism sector, and 2) examine how community members feel about how communities feel about policies and investment priorities of the central government regarding water insecurity, including the extent to which they view marine ecotourism development as undermining or promoting local needs. Our results underline the complex nature of marine ecotourism governance and infrastructure development outcomes in a resource-insecure island region, demonstrating that current issues are greatly impacted by historical and social underpinnings of neo-colonialism and systemic racism, misalignments of community vs. government development priorities, and eroded political trust, that shape local experiences with sustainable development and local residents’ perceptions of the ability of marine ecotourism to address issues of water insecurity. Moreover, while our focus is on the marine ecotourism industry, the significance of these findings contributes to a growing body of literature that places local experiences at the forefront of research into the implications of sustainable development in island regions.

Keywords: marine ecotourism1, water security2, blue economy3, island systems4, Bocas del Toro5, sustainable development6

Received: 26 Jan 2024; Accepted: 02 May 2024.

Copyright: © 2024 Kim, Scott and Swartz. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Mx. Abigael Kim, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada

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Sustainable development research of resource-exhausted cities based on system dynamics: a case study of Sdzz

• Published: 30 April 2024

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• Junhai Ma 1 ,
• Bing Zhang 2 ,
• Lixia Liu 3 &

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As suppliers of basic energy and raw materials, resource-based cities have played an important role in China's induzzstrialization process. However, with the high intensity of resource development and utilization, many resource-based cities are faced with economic and social problems such as resource exhaustion and economic stagnation. How to achieve sustainable development of resource-based cities has become a hot topic both in government and academia in recent times. Zaozhuang City of Shandong Province (Sdzz) was once a famous coal resource-based city in China, but after more than half a century of mining, coal resources have been almost exhausted. Taking Sdzz as an example, based on the theory of complexity, this paper analyzes the development situation of the major industries in Sdzz by using location entropy. On this basis, we use system dynamics to analyze the economic development of Sdzz from the perspectives of resources, environment, population, technology, economy, etc. The research results indicate that prioritizing the development of high-end manufacturing and strengthening financial and technological investment are effective ways to improve the efficiency of Sdzz's economic development. Finally, several constructive countermeasures and suggestions are put forward based on balancing the interests of all parties.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the reviewers and associate editor for their careful reading and helpful comments on the revision of paper. The research was supported by the Tianjin Planning Leading Group Office of Philosophy and Social Sciences under Grant (Number TJYJ21-001) and the Innovation Fund of Tianjin University. The Tianjin Planning Leading Group Office of Philosophy and Social Sciences under Grant (Number TJYJ21-001).

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Ma, J., Zhang, B., Liu, L. et al. Sustainable development research of resource-exhausted cities based on system dynamics: a case study of Sdzz. Environ Dev Sustain (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-024-04839-4

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Received : 28 March 2023

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-024-04839-4

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