Event Description
Water resource managers are called upon to maximise the economic and social welfare of water users in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems. This involves complex and seemingly incompatible goals of regulating rivers for hydropower and navigation, tapping rivers for irrigation and domestic water needs, and simultaneously managing river flow regimes to preserve other river goods and services (food, fibre, etc.) supporting riverside communities, especially poor communities, and biodiversity. Environmental Flows have emerged as a conceptual framework and management tool to seek a sustainable balance between river regulation, extractive use, and ecosystem conservation. Environmental flow assessments strive to identify key components of a river’s flow regime that should be preserved in order to maintain a desired level of ecosystem function. By difference, the assessments allow a quantification of the total allocatable flow of a river. This seminar brings together a multidisciplinary panel of experts working at the forefront of these issues to explore the latest approaches to meet environmental flow requirements, weigh trade-offs, and sustain biodiversity while maximising economic and social welfare. We will consider the complicating factors of climate change and open the floor to the views and inputs of all participants in an extended discussion.


Programme

Co-chairs: Michael McClain, UNESCO Institute for Water Education (UNESCO-IHE) and Anna Forslund, World Wide Fund for Nature/Swedish Water House

Implementing and recognising environmental flows is an important step to ensure future water security. Environmental Flow Assessments have evolved from single target species to more robust models addressing whole ecosystems. Indicator specie, such as Yellowfish in South Africa, can be helpful to better understand the link between different flow scenarios and ecosystem impacts and to gain buyin from stakeholders. In the Savanna River TNC has been working with the Army Corps of Engineers to operate the dams to protect ecological health of the river while addressing the growing needs of people for drinking water and other water uses. Climate change is expected to alter the flow regime and cause changes to the environment, but the specific changes are difficult to predict. Ecosystem management will need to adapt to these rapid changes and this will be made easier by utilizing the natural adaptability of freshwater ecosystems maintained by environmental flows.

A full report is available at; www.eflownet.org