by Matthew McCartney

1. Water Resource Planning: integrating natural
and built infrastructure
GTZ project
Matthew McCartney

2. Water infrastructure for development
Water infrastructure is a cornerstone of
development and of water security
Water resource projects provide the
basis for regional development with
“significant direct and indirect benefits
for poor people” (World Bank, 2004).
Least developed countries are the
most poorly served
Climate change adds further urgency
to investing in water infrastructure

3. However…
43
687 1,104 1,277
2,486
3,386
4,717
5,961
14,275
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
Ethiopia
SouthAfrica
Mexico
Thailand
China
Brazil
Australia
NorthAmerica
Ghana
m3/capita
Not a simple relationship – some countries with greater infrastructure
development have greater poverty
Water infrastructure is often highly contested
Significant debate about what sort of infrastructure is best for poverty
alleviation

4. And worse….
y = -27.51ln(x) + 62.462
R² = 0.9149
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Malariacases/1000people Distancefrom thereservoir (km)
Dams, reservoirs, irrigation
systems can undermine peoples’
livelihoods (i.e. create poverty)

5. Natural ecosystems provide services
• Livelihoods and wellbeing of
many poor people are
dependent on these services
• Construction of built
infrastructure can damage or
destroy ecosystem services
by draining/flooding wetlands
or disrupting seasonal
patterns of river flow.

6. There are always trade-offs
Optimise
Overall Benefit
Impacts
•Livelihoods
•Health
•Biodiversity
Irrigated
Agriculture
Domestic
Water Supply Hydropower Industry
Floodplain
products
Dam operation
options
Fisheries Recession
Agriculture
Floodplain
Grazing
Legislation
• local/national laws
• international obligations
Water availability
• hydrological regime Engineering
• reservoir storage
• outlet structures
Social/economic
conditions
• livelihoods adaptation to
dams
Development drive
• political imperatives
Key
Objective
Variables
Decisions
Constraints
Desired ecosystem
condition
• present/future condition

7. Provisioning services
Regulatory services
Cultural services
Supporting services
Natural basin
Crops
Hydropower
Industrial
Regulation of
water balance
Erosion control
Climate
regulationSoil
formation
Nutrient
cycling
Recreation
Crops
Hydropower
Industrial
Regulation of
water balance
Erosion control
Climate
regulationSoil
formation
Nutrient
cycling
Recreation
Intensively utilized basin
Crops
Hydropower
Industrial
Regulation of
water balance
Erosion control
Climate
regulationSoil
formation
Nutrient
cycling
Recreation
Multifunctional “green” basin
Striking a balance

8. The issue
How can ecosystem services from “natural
infrastructure” be integrated into investment
planning and decisions for “portfolios” of
infrastructure development to improve water security
outcomes for poor people and developing countries?
The reality
Water infrastructure development for poverty
reduction = a social-ecological optimisation
problem, complicated by unknowns, uncertainties,
contested facts and complex systems.
Decisions are shaped as much or more by politics
and political economy as scientific knowledge.

9. Potential Research
.
• Methods to quantify and value ecosystem services
• Tools for guiding investment in “portfolios” of built and
natural infrastructure (understanding of trade-offs etc.)
• Knowledge useful for decision making and building
consensus within political-economic realities (for
negotiating).
• Strategies for managing uncertainties and risk to
increase resilience to climate change and variability

10. Quantifying regulating functions
Monthly flow upstream and downstream
of the Luswishi floodplain
0
20
40
60
80
100
1-Oct-80
1-Nov-80
1-Dec-80
1-Jan-81
1-Feb-81
1-Mar-81
1-Apr-81
1-May-81
1-Jun-81
1-Jul-81
1-Aug-81
1-Sep-81
Flow(m3s-1)
Daily flow with and without floodplain
Without floodplain (simulated) With floodplain (observed)
Some ecosystems act like natural
reservoirs and regulate flows:
• decrease wet season flows
• increase dry season flows
Method (based on reference FDC and
spatial interpolation technique) enables
generation of a flow series “without” the
ecosystem
This enables quantifiable comparison of
flow with and without the ecosystem.

11. Flow analyses
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
1 10 100
Peakfloodflow(m3s-1)
Return period (yrs)
FloodFrequency
With floodplain (observed) Without floodplain (simulated)
Extrapolated
Impacts of Luswishi floodplain on floods
Return Period
(yrs)
Flood magnitude (m3
s-1
)
With floodplain Without floodplain
2 47 73
10 65 105
25 71 115
50 75 122
100 79 128
200 82 133
BFI Mean annual minimum (m3
s-1
)
1-day 10-day
With floodplain 0.994 2.96 3.04
Without floodplain 0.886 2.02 2.13

12. Combining ecosystem services and
water productivity concepts
Expanding the water productivity
concept?
Natural Basin Increasingly
modified Basin
Benefits from
natural
components
Benefits from
modified basin
components
Sum of benefits
Total
productivity
(i.e. overall
benefits)
Quantifiable Non-quantifiable
Benefits
Wateruse
DepletingusesNon-depletinguses

13. Objectives
alternative infrastructure investment paradigm
water resources development incorporating
the priorities of poor people…
sustainable
water security
growth
reducing disaster risk
climate resilience
knowledge and tools for real-world decision
making
how to “do development” without ruining
things?

14. Thank you

16. • There are always trade-offs – some
people benefit and some lose
• Divergence of values, needs and
interests of different groups
• Biases and subjectivity in valuations
and interpretations of “facts”
• Disagreements in which cultural, social,
economic and ecological dimensions
are intertwined
• Unequal power and influence of actors
Why decision-making about water
infrastructure is difficult

17. Physical Storage Continuum

18. Aim: maximizing productivity/benefits
Natural Basin Increasingly
modified Basin
Benefits from
natural
components
Benefits from
modified basin
components
Sum of benefits
Total
productivity
(i.e. overall
benefits) All change needs to be
considered in relation ecosystem
services and trade-offs

19. Range of physical storage options