This report analyzes the evolving water-management institutions and their performance of five core water management functions, in the context of the ongoing economic and agrarian reform in the Kyrgyz Republic. These core water-management functions are, operation of water systems, maintenance, resource mobilization, conflict resolution and organizational management. The report also identifies key issues and challenges that constrain effective stakeholder participation in water-resources management.

“There is more than enough water in the world for domestic purposes, for agriculture and for industry. (...) In short, scarcity is manufactured through political processes and institutions (...). ” (United Nations Human Development Report 2006: 3) Water scarcity, water crisis, water wars – since the beginning of the 1990s these terms have appeared again and again in scientific debates, political strategies, and media reports. Water is perceived as a scarce resource that needs efficient management in order to satisfy all needs and to prevent violent conflicts over its distribution. Considerable research has been devoted to this topic. In this research, water is commonly referred to as a common pool resource: a n- excludable public good with rivalry in terms of consumption. Hence, research has long focused on collective action problems in managing this common pool resource (e. g. Ostrom 1990, 1992). In recent years, anthropological and sociological scholars in particular have criticized that in these studies the complexity of water, its embeddedness in a wider cultural and social c- text, and the role of power have been neglected. Water is different from other natural - sources in some important aspects: its mobility, its variability, and its multiplicity (Mehta 2006: 2f; Linton 2006: [10]). Mobility makes ownership claims difficult: Water moves, transcending state borders, not fixed like other resources. Variability refers to the fact that its availability varies temporarily, depending on weather conditions.

This paper reports on a form of multi-criteria analysis that provides a formal approach for evaluating the suitability of a wetland for specific agricultural uses, and ensures that explicit consideration is given to the possible consequences of such utilization. The method is based on a hybrid of ideas taken from concepts and methodologies related to: environmental flow assessments, land suitability classification and the hazard evaluation procedures used in the design of dams. The approach, which elaborates the idea of working wetlands, is generic, though the examples presented are for case studies from southern Africa.

In this report, we test the hypothesis that the primary factors behind the farming system changes in Ban Lak Sip lay not in the village itself but rather in the broader Laotian social, economic and political setting. The study uses an integrated approach that examines both the physical and social dimensions of land use and soil erosion in Ban Lak Sip within this broader system environment.

The book provides an analysis of impacts of climate change on water for agriculture, and the adaptation strategies in water management to deal with these impacts. Chapters include an assessment at global level, with details on impacts in various countries. Adaptation measures including groundwater management, water storage, small and large scale irrigation to support agriculture and aquaculture are presented. Agricultural implications of sea level rise, as a subsequent impact of climate change, are also examined.

This report draws on a survey and case study evidence from 28 watershed management groups in Haryana to argue that participatory watershed management projects need not necessarily safeguard the interests of poorer rural households.