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International audience ; The Rio Grande/Bravo is an arid river basin shared by the United States and Mexico, the fifth-longest river in NorthAmerica, and home to more than 10.4 million people. By crossing landscapes and political boundaries, the Rio Grande/Bravo bringstogether cultures, societies, ecosystems, and economies, thereby forming a complex social-ecological system. The Rio Grande/Bravosupplies water for the human activities that take place within its territory. While there have been efforts to implement environmentalflows (flows necessary to sustain riparian and aquatic ecosystems and human activities), a systematic and whole-basin analysis of theseefforts that conceptualizes the Rio Grande/Bravo as a single, complex social-ecological system is missing. Our objective is to addressthis research and policy gap and shed light on challenges, opportunities, and success stories for implementing environmental flows inthe Rio Grande/Bravo. We introduce the physical characteristics of the basin and summarize the environmental flows studies alreadydone. We also describe its water governance framework and argue it is a distributed and nested governance system across multiplepolitical jurisdictions and spatial scales. We describe the environmental flows legal framework and argue that the authority over differentaspects of environmental flows is divided across different agencies and institutions. We discuss the prioritization of agricultural usewithin the governance structure without significant provisions for environmental flows. We introduce success stories for implementingenvironmental flows that include leasing of water rights or voluntary releases for environmental flow purposes, municipal ordinancesto secure water for environmental flows, nongovernmental organizations representing the environment in decision-making processes,and acquiring water rights for environmental flows, among others initiatives. We conclude that environmental flows are possible andhave been implemented but their implementation has not ...

The Rio Grande/Bravo is an arid river basin shared by the United States and Mexico, the fifth-longest river in North America, and home to more than 10.4 million people. By crossing landscapes and political boundaries, the Rio Grande/Bravo brings together cultures, societies, ecosystems, and economies, thereby forming a complex social-ecological system. The Rio Grande/Bravo supplies water for the human activities that take place within its territory. While there have been efforts to implement environmental flows (flows necessary to sustain riparian and aquatic ecosystems and human activities), a systematic and whole-basin analysis of these efforts that conceptualizes the Rio Grande/Bravo as a single, complex social-ecological system is missing. Our objective is to address this research and policy gap and shed light on challenges, opportunities, and success stories for implementing environmental flows in the Rio Grande/Bravo. We introduce the physical characteristics of the basin and summarize the environmental flows studies already done. We also describe its water governance framework and argue it is a distributed and nested governance system across multiple political jurisdictions and spatial scales. We describe the environmental flows legal framework and argue that the authority over different aspects of environmental flows is divided across different agencies and institutions. We discuss the prioritization of agricultural use within the governance structure without significant provisions for environmental flows. We introduce success stories for implementing environmental flows that include leasing of water rights or voluntary releases for environmental flow purposes, municipal ordinances to secure water for environmental flows, nongovernmental organizations representing the environment in decision-making processes, and acquiring water rights for environmental flows, among others initiatives. We conclude that environmental flows are possible and have been implemented but their implementation has not been systematic and permanent. There is an emerging whole-basin thinking among scientists, managers, and citizens that is helping find common-ground solutions to implementing environmental flows in the Rio Grande/Bravo basin.

The Rio Grande/Bravo is an arid river basin shared by the United States and Mexico, the fifth-longest river in North America, and home to more than 10.4 million people. By crossing landscapes and political boundaries, the Rio Grande/Bravo brings together cultures, societies, ecosystems, and economies, thereby forming a complex social-ecological system. The Rio Grande/Bravo supplies water for the human activities that take place within its territory. While there have been efforts to implement environmental flows (flows necessary to sustain riparian and aquatic ecosystems and human activities), a systematic and whole-basin analysis of these efforts that conceptualizes the Rio Grande/Bravo as a single, complex social-ecological system is missing. Our objective is to address this research and policy gap and shed light on challenges, opportunities, and success stories for implementing environmental flows in the Rio Grande/Bravo. We introduce the physical characteristics of the basin and summarize the environmental flows studies already done. We also describe its water governance framework and argue it is a distributed and nested governance system across multiple political jurisdictions and spatial scales. We describe the environmental flows legal framework and argue that the authority over different aspects of environmental flows is divided across different agencies and institutions. We discuss the prioritization of agricultural use within the governance structure without significant provisions for environmental flows. We introduce success stories for implementing environmental flows that include leasing of water rights or voluntary releases for environmental flow purposes, municipal ordinances to secure water for environmental flows, nongovernmental organizations representing the environment in decision-making processes, and acquiring water rights for environmental flows, among others initiatives. We conclude that environmental flows are possible and have been implemented but their implementation has not been systematic and permanent. There is an emerging whole-basin thinking among scientists, managers, and citizens that is helping find common-ground solutions to implementing environmental flows in the Rio Grande/Bravo basin.

Explores the interface between the state & global environmental flows & their governance. An effort is made to clarify the term "state," offering an overview of how the state has been used in global environmental politics & governance (GEP) in pursuit of a more specified approach. Using a historical & sociological approach to the state, it is contended that statehood & globalization are not necessarily ontologically distinct & in contention, & that states offer a perspective from which to view the variable state-GEP interfaces. The implications of such a historical-sociological approach for understanding the connection between the state & global environmental politics are considered. It is argued the state remains relevant to comprehending global environmental flows, despite the fact that it is no longer a separate, ahistorical, & decontextualized category. References. D. Edelman

Explores the interface between the state & global environmental flows & their governance. An effort is made to clarify the term "state," offering an overview of how the state has been used in global environmental politics & governance (GEP) in pursuit of a more specified approach. Using a historical & sociological approach to the state, it is contended that statehood & globalization are not necessarily ontologically distinct & in contention, & that states offer a perspective from which to view the variable state-GEP interfaces. The implications of such a historical-sociological approach for understanding the connection between the state & global environmental politics are considered. It is argued the state remains relevant to comprehending global environmental flows, despite the fact that it is no longer a separate, ahistorical, & decontextualized category. References. D. Edelman

Environmental flows (e-flows) are important for river protection and restoration under degraded ecological conditions. With increasing public desire for and pursuit of sustainable development, e-flows are widely used to reflect the hydrological regime requirements for sustaining freshwater ecosystems and human livelihoods. Over the past 40 years, e-flows implementation has shifted from static minimum flows to dynamic flow components. However, e-flows standards used to manage flow releases from dams are to a great extent based on expert judgement and government supervision. These attributes make it difficult to effectively implement e-flows in the non-stationary world. The primary focus of this paper is to review the history, management systems and scientific basis of e-flows in China. Firstly, the study classifies the development phases into four periods and then analyses the underpinning legal system for e-flows implementation in each period, including the laws, regulations, policies and responsible authorities. Finally, the scientific basis and methods for e-flows determination and assessment were analyzed. The study showed that: (1) e-flows have been officially regarded as ecological flow in China, which evolved from minimum flow, and the contents and connotations are still broadening ; (2) currently, there are too many authorities related to e-flows and complicated legal documents in China which lead to ineffective implementation ; (3) the scientific basis of e-flows is enriched from the relationship between hydrological alteration and ecological response, so that the practices will be more holistic in China. Despite the successful practices of e-flows implementation in large rivers, there are challenges for implementing future e-flows in small rivers. This study recommended that future e-flows implementation be integrated with sustainable water management by setting clear responsibilities for governments, ministries, and other stakeholders.

AbstractEnvironmental flows (e-flows) management takes place within a complex social-ecological system, necessitating the involvement of diverse stakeholders and an appreciation of a range of perspectives and knowledge types. It is widely accepted that incorporating participatory methods into environmental flows decision-making will allow stakeholders to become meaningfully involved, improving potential solutions, and fostering social legitimacy. However, due to substantial structural barriers, implementing participatory approaches can be difficult for water managers. This paper assesses the effectiveness of an e-flows methodology that combines elements of structured decision-making and participatory modeling, whilst constrained by project resources. Three process-based objectives were identified by the group at the start of the process: improving transparency, knowledge exchange, and community ownership. We evaluated the success of the approach according to those objectives using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis. In evaluating how well the participatory approach achieved the process objectives, we found that at least 80% of respondents expressed positive sentiment in every category (n = 15). We demonstrate that the values-based process objectives defined by the participant group are an effective tool for evaluating participatory success. This paper highlights that participatory approaches can be effective even in resource-constrained environments when the process is adapted to fit the decision-making context.