Abstract
Climate change in many local and regional scales is expected to include climate hazards and extreme conditions including hailstorms, droughts, floods, hurricanes, hail, tornadoes and storms. Droughts are serious climate hazards threatening water supply for human consumption and also agricultural production and are anticipated to increase in intensity and duration in both Mendoza, Argentina and southern Alberta, Canada. Both Mendoza and Alberta have irrigated agriculture and their rivers are fed primarily by snowmelt and rainfall runoff from mountainous headwaters. Many similarities exist between water law and governance in the Mendoza river basin, Argentina and the Oldman river basin in southern Alberta, Canada. However, many differences also exist. Can these governance systems ensure the continuation of agricultural production in the area into the future given increased development and climate change?Utilizing the institutional design principles of adaptive capacity and water governance, this paper will compare and contrast the water governance institutional structures in the two study areas. Data was obtained from two multi-disciplinary studies of institutional adaptation to climate change studying vulnerability of local agricultural producers and communities to climate change, and the interplay of water governance structures, and adaptive capacities. The water governance systems of both countries show concerns relating to gaps in information and equitable outcomes; in addition there are concerns of a lack of capacity to enable reflexivity. Both systems have been responsive (although there is room for improvement). Through strengthening these identified weaknesses these systems can continue to be resilient into the future.
Highlights
There is increasing consensus that the impacts of climate change will not be uniform; there may be a readjustment among the components of regional climate systems creating conditions of unexpected climate patterns including loss of species, invasion of non-native species, changes in regional ecosystems, sea levels, precipitation patterns, as well as increased flooding and water scarcity (Parry et al, 2007)
Irrigation has allowed both study areas the ability to develop an oasis in otherwise dryland river basins; irrigation is regarded as a key adaptation, and has allowed expansion of both nations’ agricultural productivity (Wheat et al, 2008; Montaña et al, 2005)
Can this state of affairs continue into the future given the pressures of increased development and climate change on the two basins studied in Alberta and Mendoza? This paper has explored this question by utilizing in depth research projects in both areas exploring vulnerability and the institutional water governance regime and analyzing this data through the lens of adaptive governance
Summary
There is increasing consensus that the impacts of climate change will not be uniform; there may be a readjustment among the components of regional climate systems creating conditions of unexpected climate patterns including loss of species, invasion of non-native species, changes in regional ecosystems, sea levels, precipitation patterns, as well as increased flooding and water scarcity (Parry et al, 2007). The arguments about a potential “tipping point” in the near future add another level of complexity in that the process of climate change may be non-gradual and potentially dangerous, filled with sudden and abrupt changes to natural and social systems (Henson, 2006: 16; Brown, 2007: 42-45). Vol 8, No 1; 2015 water governance structures may facilitate these dryland irrigated areas to weather a future changing climate. Past accommodation of climate conditions made by government and policy, will be inadequate to respond to the increasing variability of climate patterns and potentially sudden and abrupt changes. This paper will consider water governance in relation to irrigation farmers of Alberta, Canada, and Mendoza, Argentina, in the context of climate change, extreme drought, and adaptive governance. This paper will conclude with recommendations to improve water governance in the future
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
