The Draft Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP) was first introduced in Vietnam at the National Consultant Workshop organized by Vietnam Water Partnership (VNWP) in November 2009. Although the structure of HSAP is relatively complex and new to Vietnam, the participants (from Government agencies, experts, investors, and Vietnamese and international civil society organizations) had the impression that the HSAP has the potential to be a useful tool for participatory assessment of the sustainability of a hydropower project and broader planning.

The project focuses on access and control of water/land, and the associated management and governance mechanisms. L4 seeks to provide the people and governments of the Limpopo Basin with:

1. A package of ways to better understand and organise access rights to water for multiple uses from farm level to the basin and regional level,

2. A package of ways to organise technologies for different physical and socio-economic contexts so as to improve the management and control of water for multiple uses from one or more water sources,

El artículo plantea la importancia de integrar el concepto de cuenca a la distribución de los recursos. Se propone integrar un trabajo detallado por cuenca que involucre el cálculo del caudal de agua, la variación de la napa freática, el caudal ecológico, los volúmenes de erosión y la distribución actual del agua, para de allí plantear la distribución del agua en la cuenca. El aprovechamiento y distribución de los recursos naturales se encuentran estrechamente vinculados a la distribución del agua.

L’université de Stellenbosch, en Afrique du Sud, a annoncé que ses chercheurs avaient mis au point un nouveau système de fi ltrage de l’eau. Elle faisait allusion à un fi ltre jetable de haute technologie qui ressemble à un sachet de thé et rend potable l’eau très polluée. Il s’agit d’un fi ltre à eau facile d’emploi
et respectueux de l’environnement qui s’installe dans le goulot d’une bouteille. Selon l’université, cette invention doit permettre aux communautés vulnérables, par exemple celles qui vivent à proximité de cours d’eau pollués, d’accéder facilement à l’eau potable.

Use-value or performance: Towards a better understanding of small reservoirs in sub- Saharan Africa

El presente trabajo intenta describir brevemente la situación del derecho al agua en nuestro subcontinente.

Unstable geological conditions and steep topography, combined with frequent extreme weather conditions, make the Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region prone to many natural hazards. Among these, flash floods – severe flood events that occur with little warning – are particularly challenging for communities, threatening lives, livelihoods, and infrastructure. Vulnerable groups such as the poor, women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities are often the hardest hit.

This paper compares the Hoa Binh (constructed 1979-1994) and Son La dams (under construction since 2005) to investigate how Vietnam’s resettlement policies and programmes have evolved over time. The comparison between a dam built in 1970s-80s and one now under construction shows that improvements in policy may bring only limited improvements in Vietnam’s dam development planning and practices.

Increasing water withdrawals for urban, industrial, and agricultural use have profoundly altered the hydrology of many major rivers worldwide. Coupled with degradation of water quality, low flows have induced severe environmental degradation and water has been rendered unusable by downstream users. When supply of water falls short of commitments to fulfil demand in terms of water quality and quantity within the basin and at the river mouth, for part or all of the year, basins are said to be closing.

During 2008 the world witnessed a global food crisis which caused social unrest in many countries and drove 75 million more people into poverty. The crisis resulted from sharply higher oil prices, increased bio-fuel production, dwindling grain stocks, market speculation, changing food consumption patterns in emerging economies, and changes in world trade agreements, among other factors. Although the rise in food prices was sudden, the fragility of global food security had been developing for years.

Trans-boundary water agreements are usually conceived as allocation agreements. In other words, water is treated as if it were a pie to be divided among the riparian states. The treatment of water as if it were as immobile as land may be useful in the short term, but it is fundamentally flawed as a means to avoid conflict as well as to ensure efficient, equitable, and sustainable management of water over the long term.