Adaptation and Adaptive Water Management: Reforming Laws and Institutions to Cope with Uncertainty Carl Bruch IUCN Academy of Environmental Law Conference on Climate Law in Developing Countries University of Ottawa, Sept. 2008

Overview Need to reform water laws and institutions to adapt to climate change –Role of adaptation and adaptive management in reducing vulnerability to the impacts of climate change in the water sector Basic elements of legal and institutional frameworks for adaptation and adaptive management Cross-cutting issues The way forward

“Everyone complains about the weather, but no one does anything about it.” -- Mark Twain

Need for Adaptation of Water Law Effects of climate change –Changes in timing, amount, and distribution of precipitation –Changes in temperature –Changes in water quality (e.g., pollution from cyanobacteria) –Changes in frequency(?) and severity of extreme weather events (storms, droughts, etc.) –Increased variability Nonlinear relationship between changes in precipitation and ground water Increased uncertainty

Need for Adaptive Water Management Managing a complex, nonlinear system with inherent uncertainties –Meteorological-Hydrologic cycle –Climate change and variability (precipitation, temperature, extreme events, …) –Socioeconomic dynamics Population growth and changes (urbanization, aging, HIV, etc.) Economic growth and changes (agriculture, energy, housing, commerce, industry) –… and associated pollution and water withdrawals Lifestyle changes –Absence of information upon which to make decisions –Changes in information and understanding –Changes in technology and approaches

Need for Legal Reform Ongoing work to identify the needs for adaptation –There is a clearly articulated need to improve water management in light of climate change –However, few specific implementation measures have been identified (especially legal reforms) Why must we consider legal reform? –Most water laws assume a measure of variability around a status quo. –We now know that these assumptions are no longer valid. –More generally, why is the climate crisis different from any other environmental crisis that we have faced -- almost all of which required reforming existing laws or developing new laws? –Helps to ensure that adaptation is equitable and consistent.

Conceptual Frameworks for Adaptation in the Water Sector Increasing resilience (by addressing other stressors) Early warning (of drought, flooding, changes in timing, etc.) Emergency response Increasing adaptive capacity (particularly through adaptive management)

Laws and Institutions to Reduce Vulnerability Improving efficiency (e.g., through demand-side management, water pricing, and water audits) Expanding water resources available (e.g., re-use of gray water; desalinization; etc.) Water allocation and re-allocation Reducing sources and quantities of pollution Increased monitoring to determine status, threats, and effectiveness of measures. Improving water management institutions for reduced vulnerability (building capacity at the right scales, resource availability, etc.) MOST OF THESE MEASURES ARE NOT NEW! –Climate change increases their relevance and importance. –There is also the need to tailor approaches to adaptation.

Laws and Institutions for Adaptive Water Management Elements –Define objective –Initial response (law, regulation, policy, permit) –Monitoring (indicators, timeline) –Periodic assessment –Revision/modification Contexts –Within the legal framework (e.g., for licenses) –For the legal framework (periodic revision of laws, regulations, and standards)

Implementing Adaptation in the Water Sector Opportunities for integration –Linking development and adaptation (e.g., PRSPs) –IWRM as a potential framework for mainstreaming adaptation Improving inter-institutional coordination on water issues Stand-alone measures Scaling adaptation efforts –Scaling up local adaptation efforts –Transboundary adaptation

The Way Forward Many of the elements for adaptation and adaptive water management currently exist in laws and institutions … … but not generally viewed through the lens of adaptive management –Monitoring often focuses on compliance and enforcement, although some on ambient status –Many people are searching for “silver bullets” –Feedback/revision measures – the linchpin of adaptive management process – are lacking –Focus is on implementation of the law (without necessarily asking if the law and institutions are appropriate, let alone gathering information to answer that question)

The Way Forward (2) Relatively few examples of legal and regulatory frameworks that have specifically incorporated adaptation and/or adaptive water management –Need to analyze those experiences … –and draw upon current practices … –to inform the further development adaptive water laws and institutions