This paper highlights the need in South Asia for basin-wide water allocation plans that include environmental requirements. This paper also describes the application of a basin planning model (i.e., Water Evaluation and Planning model or WEAP) to assess present and alternative water management options which incorporate environmental flows in the Upper Ganges River in India (total area: 87000 km2). The paper summarizes the environmental flow assessment methodology which was conducted through a multidisciplinary, multi-stakeholder approach (Building Blocks Methodology or BBM).

This study identifies and prioritizes subbasins/watersheds in the middle and high mountains of Nepal that are significantly vulnerable to climate change. The approach of the vulnerability assessment framework of the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was the guide for this study. The study is produced by consultants for the Building Climate Resilience of Watersheds in Mountain Eco-Regions in Nepal.

Media stories often speak of a future dominated by large-scale water wars. Rather less attention has been paid to the way water conflicts play out at local levels and form part of people's everyday lives. Based on case study studies from Vietnam, Bolivia and Zambia, this paper examines the strategies of poor households in local water conflicts. It is shown how such households may not only engage actively in collaborative water management but may also apply risk aversion strategies when faced with powerful adversaries in conflict situations.

Humanity is facing an enormous challenge in managing water to secure adequate food production. By the middle of this century, the world?s population is projected to reach 9.1 billion, 34 percent higher than today. Nearly all of this increase will occur in developing countries. In order to respond to the expected demand of this larger, more urban and, on average, richer population, food production must increase by about 70% as estimated by the FAO.

India's National River Linking Project (NRLP), which has been on the drawing board for some three decades, is the largest inter-basin water transfer planned to date in India or elsewhere. The idea has waxed and waned depending upon the political dispensation at any given point in time. Under the Challenge Program for Water and Food, IWMI undertook a broad strategic exploration of the basic idea of NRLP and its assumptions. This Highlight examines few contentious issues of the NRLP that received considerable attention in the national discourse.

The Volta River is one of the major rivers in Africa. A transboundary basin, which is the principal water source for approximately 24 million people in six riparian states, it is likely to experience increasing stress in the near future as a consequence of both greater water demand and climate change.

Modern bioenergy systems are attracting increasing attention from governments in Asia as a potential solution to a range of policy problems related to energy security and sustainable development. Despite growing interest in bioenergy systems, there is still a limited understanding of how their expansion could impact on natural resources such as water. This paper aims to shed some light on the relationship between modern bioenergy development and water depletion using a case study on the biofuel sector in Thailand.

Ethiopia is often highlighted as a country in which a lot of foreign land acquisition is occurring. The extent to which these investments also constitute significant acquisitions of water is the subject of this paper. It is apparent that water availability is a strong driver of the recent surge of investments in agricultural land globally, and in general the investments occur in countries with significant 'untapped' water resources. Ethiopia is no exception.

This paper examines the water dimensions of recent large-scale land acquisitions for biofuel production in the Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo and Northern regions of Ghana. Using secondary sources of data complemented by individual and group interviews, the paper reveals an almost universal lack of consideration of the implications of large-scale land deals for crop water requirements, the ecological functions of freshwater ecosystems and water rights of local smallholder farmers and other users.

Wetlands occur extensively across the Nile Basin and support the livelihoods ofmillions of people. Despite their importance, there are big gaps in the knowledge about the current status of these ecosystems, and how populations in the Nile use them. A better understanding is needed on the ecosystem services provided by the difl:erent types of wetlands in the Nile, and how these contribute to local livelihoods.

В настоящем отчете представлены результаты последнего исследования, проведенного в шести странах региона Центральной Азии, и анализируются изменения, произошедшие в течение 10 лет после первого исследования. Следуя методике АКВАСТАТ, исследование в максимальной возможной степени руководствовалось страновыми статистическими данными информацией. Отчёт состоит из трех разделов. Раздел I детально описывает использованную методику и содержит глоссарий использованных терминов.