ethiopia
"Difficult Hydrologies" for Everyone
29/05/11 12:31
David Grey and Claudia Sadoff wrote a wonderful paper in a 2007 issue of Water Policy that grouped countries into three categories: “those that harnessed hydrology, those hampered by hydrology, and those held hostage by hydrology.” One of the memorable phrases in the paper is "difficult hydrologies" (e.g., frequent weather extreme, high inter- and intra-annual water availability variations, many ephemeral/temporary surface water bodies, etc.), and how this acts as a constant impediment to maintaining growth trajectories. They estimate, for instance, that a single drought in Ethiopia can reduce economic growth at the national level over a twelve-year period. (Their discussion, incidentally, reminds me of an essay from the nineteenth century ecologist Alfred Russell Wallace, who reflected on how the tropics were so harsh compared to the “temperate” temperate zones of gentle England and western Europe, and how lucky we in the West were to have had the advantage of developing in a moderate, more friendly and less savage vision of nature.)
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Guest blog: Local solutions for global water challenges
12/04/11 14:34
Peter G. McCornick
Director of Water, Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy at Duke University
We already know that the combined effects of a number of major drivers, including climate change, are causing varied, somewhat unpredictable, and increasingly severe effects on water resources. While efforts to determine the specific impacts of climate change on the local hydrological conditions need to continue, prudent decision makers are already incorporating these additional uncertainties into their planning processes, and considering how to secure and sustain water resources for the population, production systems and the environment.
