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    Factoring community welfare estimates into freshwater allocation decision making in New Zealand : a common good case study : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Natural Resource Management at Massey University, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2020) Walker, Humphrey
    The study recognises the centrality of the ‘common good’ by working to improve the intergenerational well-being of all people in society. The research adopts the Tukituki River catchment in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand as a case study to demonstrate how community welfare estimates can be factored into freshwater allocation planning and decision-making. The Tukituki catchment faces water pollution and allocation challenges that are typical of agricultural landscapes with summer water scarcity. A survey measured both current and future perceptions of the catchment, focussing on comparing perceptions of anglers and gamebird hunters with other recreational users. A second survey estimated the marginal welfare benefits generated by improved water quality and the welfare associated with trust in freshwater advocates and policy-oriented organisations. Most users felt the catchment was in a poor state and wanted a future with improved water quality. There was little or no difference between the perceptions of anglers and other recreational users. Gamebird hunter’s perceptions were different from other recreational users at the p<.05 level. Recreational users were willing to pay a mean $6.67 a month for ten years to improve water quality to a level representative of the successful delivery of current policy goals by 2030. Bayesian trust scores were used to model social capital in the form of a novel social trust economy, which proved to be an effective descriptor of the known political economy. Keywords: Freshwater, Welfare, Perceptions, Trust, Common good, Latent Class Analysis, Best-worst scaling, Non-market valuation, Contingent valuation.
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    The economic and environmental policy evaluation of inland water transport development in Bangladesh : M.Phil. Development Studies project, Massey University, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 1998) Brooks, John F
    Throughout Asia, transport and water resources have followed generally separate paths of development and policy. This is particularly clear in Bangladesh where abstraction of surface water for irrigation, both higher in the international basin and within Bangladesh, contributed significantly to reduced channel depths for navigation. Similarly, dredging for channel improvements has had lower priority than embankment construction for flood protection and all weather road and rail services. These have impeded drainage and have constrained the significant informal inland water transport services. Other constraints include a weak legislatory and policy framework, and policy implementation and enforcement are weak in both sectors. Also, dredging is split under two public sector entities, with little incentive or encouragement of private sector involvement. In Europe and the USA, flood protection improvements, both by river training and dredging, have gone hand in hand over 200 years, and river user management is integrated and controlled under comprehensive legislation, policy, and institutional and user systems. The study has found that some initiatives along these lines are being taken in Bangladesh, especially under an ongoing National Water Management Plan due for completion by 2001, and some project initiatives are being considered. However, concerted effort is needed to recognize the economic and environmental benefits of inland water transport vis-a-vis other transport modes, and to design water resources development projects which also cater to this potential, and allow for inland water transport to make a significant contribution to cost recovery of the waterways improvement. Several potential projects have been identified which will help to address the situation. In parallel, further efforts to build international cooperation among the riparian states and measures to mitigate the potential pollution impacts of inland water transport need to be put into place quickly.
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    The economic valuation of water from the Ashburton River : implications for allocation : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Agricultural Science in Resource Economics at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1992) Lynch, Richard Joseph
    Recent legislative changes in New Zealand allow much greater flexibility in the procedures used by regional authorities to allocate water resources. In certain river catchments where competition for water in alternative uses is high, estimates of the economic value of water could prove useful in designing an allocation scheme. In this study two methods were used to value the water from the Ashburton River. First, a mathematical programming approach to estimate the value of water to farmers in the Ashburton catchment. This value is about $0.62 million. Second, a contingent valuation approach to estimate the value of in­ stream flows of the Ashburton to the residents of the Canterbury region. This value is estimated at between $2.47 million and $5.15 million. We assess the methods and the results for implications in allocating Ashburton water between irrigators and in-stream flows.
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    Reorientation of clean water supply services in Indonesia : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2000) Sihombing, Anor
    There have been major problems with the sustainability of water supply development and provision in urban areas of Indonesia, carried out by PDAMs under local government control. Two critical issues that are being faced by PDAMs are: (1) the capacity of PDAMs to increase the current coverage of the provision, which currently is only 40% of urban population and (2) the capability of PDAMs to carry on their developmental mission in providing clean water in urban areas. The main objective of this thesis is to examine the most influential factors behind the failure of water supply development in urban areas of Indonesia. The research findings in this thesis propose the necessary reformation to be taken in order to give the right orientation to water supply development. Based on a review of the literature, field work, discussions, correspondence and experiences of the author. I argue that the most influential factors concerning sustainable development of urban water supply of Indonesia are related to: population, urbanisation, income, human resources, supervision, private sector participation and central government control. This thesis has drawn the conclusion that the development of water supply in urban areas of Indonesia in the twenty-first century will depend on the success of the government to provide solutions to the following issues: population growth, urbanisation, household and labour income, human resources and a lack of supervision. The establishment of day-to-day supervision and the introduction of a Water Consumers Organisation (WCO) will provide better control over the PDAMs. Development of human resources conducive to the needs of PDAMs is seen as the firmest foundation towards the sustainable provision of clean water in the urban sector of Indonesia.
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    Local handpump manufacture : a development option for aid agencies : attitudes expressed by New Zealand NGOs : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Agricultural Engineering/Development Studies at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1994) Lessells, Norman John
    A major reason for implementing water supply programmes is their potential contribution to health. The recently concluded United Nations International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-1990) attempted to provide access to clean water and sanitation for everyone in the Third World. There are several problems and constraints which preclude success in this area, many of them are sociological factors concerned with the transfer of technology and practices to cultures other than those in which they were conceived. Projects are implemented, often by outsiders, involving handpumps for water supply mounted on wells or boreholes. Such systems have a poor record with regard to their sustainability; often the handpump breaks down after donor withdrawal and is never repaired. Donor assisted projects often use handpumps sourced from the industrialised countries and paid for in hard currency, usually $US. When spare parts are needed they too must be sourced from overseas and paid for in scarce foreign exchange. Local inflation and currency devaluation can make these spares prohibitively expensive. The result has been neglected maintenance and breakdowns. This thesis examined the potential for local handpump manufacture to address operation and maintenance problems and assess the economic contribution local manufacture could make to the local community through employment and income generation. A case study of the Makeni Handpump Workshop in Lusaka. Zambia was used to compare the cost, landed in Lusaka, to an aid agency of handpumps sourced from the U.K. and from a local manufacturing operation. The provision of employment and income to local people arising from patronising the handpump workshop was also assessed as a 'developmental benefit'. This was over and above the acquisition of handpumps alone; aid money would be spent directly in the community by choosing a local source of equipment. Interviews with selected NGOs in New Zealand were conducted to establish their attitudes to water supply projects in general and to local handpump manufacture specifically. It emerged that local handpump manufacture could be profitable at the small-scale level of the case study and a viable form of income generation. New Zealand NGOs agreed that there should be more to water supply projects than a welfare consideration alone, an element of development should be included. They were supportive of local handpump manufacture where it existed but did not invest in it as a means of income generation.
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    A conceptual water resource accounts framework in the Philippines : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree in Master of Agricultural Economics
    (Massey University, 1996) Jacob, Maria Theresa B
    Sustainable development aims to find patterns of production and consumption that can be continued indefinitely without degrading the natural stock -- including 'natural capital' stocks. By so doing care is taken that future generations will have similar options open to them as the current generation. Achievement of sustainable development might bring about conflicts since sustainability implies the setting of limits on resource use. This will imply costs and the need to make decisions about trade-offs. Especially in developing countries, such decisions will be difficult to make and will require good data and information. To know if development is progressing sustainably, full account needs to be taken of improvements in or deterioration of the stock of natural capital. This aspect of resource monitoring is called natural resource accounting (NRA). The tool of NRA addresses some of the shortcomings in the current system of national accounts (SNA), such as the treatment of defensive expenditures, environmental degradation, and the physical depletion of natural assets. Neglect of accounting for the use, degradation and depletion of natural resources may lead to serious implication for a country. Economists in different countries have attempted to adopt, or modify the current SNA through accounting activities using two approaches: physical and monetary accounting of changes in the resource stock over time. Natural resource accounting extensively used the physical approach as it achieves a relatively complete and consistent set of physical accounts for both stocks and flows of the natural and environmental capital. The initial attempt by some has inspired the other to follow. Steps taken with regard to natural resource accounting, in different countries, vary the importance of natural resources in the countries overall development, and the priorities and needs of that country. In the Philippines, priority has been given to resource accounting for fresh water with the aim to improve the management and conservation of this resource as it has become an ecological flashpoint in this country. In most developing countries, one of the major impediments to adjusting the SNA by using NRA, is the incompleteness, inaccuracy, and fragmentation of data and information and, the skepticism held by many regarding the availability of skills within those countries to undertake the work. Further, much controversy has arisen among practitioners regarding a common numeraire for the NRA methodology and possible valuation of resource stock changes. This study basically builds a conceptual water resource accounts framework that should be viewed as an 'ideal'. Specifically, in developing this framework the study aims at demonstrating the need for such accounts and points to research and data gathering that needs to take place to make NRA a reality in the Philippines. The study builds on overseas work that has taken place in this area. The overall conclusion of the study is that the conceptualised framework cannot, as yet, be implemented in the Philippines. The reasons are explained and concern in the main data availability and skills. However, in the building of this framework and the matching of the available data, clear guidelines have been discovered with regard to data gathering, needed accuracy, agency involvement, manpower requirement, and integration with other NRA efforts in the Philippines. The construction of the framework is that be seen as a practical start to think clearly about water, its use and conservation. The framework can now be used as a 'template' to guide further research work and data collection, and in due time become resource accounts for freshwater to aid in decision making process to achieve a sustainable future.
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    Water accounting in the Oroua River Catchment : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Applied Science in Agricultural Engineering at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1999) Recile, Santiago T
    With growing population and limited water resources, there is an increasing need worldwide for better management of water resources. This is especially true when all-or nearly all-water resources are allocated to various uses. Effective strategies for obtaining more productivity while maintaining or improving the environment must be formulated. This can be achieved only after the water quantity, quality and uses have been understood and evaluated. One tool to analyse the situation in order to gain a deeper understanding and possibly identify opportunities for better water management is the recently-proposed methodology of water accounting, which considers components of the water balance and classifies them according to uses and productivity of these uses. Identified changes in quantity and quality of water can provide important clues on increasing water productivity. The water accounting methodology was tried in the Oroua River Catchment to evaluate its use as a way of assessing water availability, and to identify opportunities for water savings in the catchment. The use of the methodology in a basin-wide water assessment was not successful due to insufficient rainfall data-especially at the State Forest Park where most of the streamflow (approximately 80%) comes from during low flows. In addition, the monthly climatic water balance model used failed to produce a reliable estimate of streamflow. The volume of estimated streamflow was greatly underestimated as compared to the actual recorded streamflow. Streamflow water accounting was able to assess the water availability in the lower portion of the Oroua River for the indicators gave a clear picture of the existing state of the river during the summer months. Water depletions from instream uses, which include waste assimilation, environmental maintenance, and free-water evaporation, comprised the largest part of the total streamflow depletions in the lower Oroua River. In some instances, combined depletion from waste assimilation and free-water evaporation was more than 3 times the available water. Depletions from offstream uses, including municipal and industrial, and irrigation abstractions comprised only a small portion of the total streamflow depletion. However, one limitation of the approach is that it did not account for the other return flows from irrigation and M&I diversions. Despite the limitations of the study, the use of the indicators helped in understanding the situation since the Depleted Fraction (DF available) indicator clearly showed how much further abstraction is allowed, and the use of the Process Fraction (PF depleted) readily shows an opportunity for better use of water. It is recommended that the pollution effect also be included in the original water accounting methodology of Molden (1997). The pollution effect of different contaminants could be quantified by their dilution factor i.e., the physical amount of water lost to pollution from the discharge of effluents is measured by the amount of upstream water which would be required to dilute it back down to the maximum allowed concentration of pollutants.
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    An investigation of alternative dispute resolution in resource use conflict and options for the improvement of its use in resource management : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Resources and Environmental Planning at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1993) Blair, Adam Scott
    For the first time, New Zealand resource management legislation has included alternative dispute resolution (A.D.R.). In this thesis A.D.R. theory, particularly mediation, is explored. Conclusions from case studies and a questionnaire are drawn on to suggest ways in which the use of A.D.R. in resource management can be improved. The introduction explains how confrontational or adversarial modes of dispute resolution have dominated the way in which resource use conflicts have been resolved in the past. What alternative dispute resolution is, its non zero sum philosophy, and what it purports to achieve is covered. It introduces the consents process in the Resource Management Act and discusses how effective public participation in that process is a moral necessity. Alternative dispute resolution can provide, in part, a mechanism by which effective public participation can be achieved. Chapter one looks at the theory of alternative dispute resolution. The works of various A.D.R. theorists are drawn on to explain the advantages of alternative dispute resolution and when it will be effective. A typical mediation process is outlined, again drawing from the works of theorists. Problems associated with alternative dispute resolution are explored. Some of the mediator training and skill requirements are discussed. Most of the case studies involve Maori cultural and spiritual values and the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. One of the mechanisms Maori use to safe guard their interests and redress past 'injustices' is the Treaty of Waitangi and the 'principles' of the Treaty. To facilitate greater understanding of the case studies how Maori view the world, and the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi are discussed in Chapter two. The major case study in this work, Chapter three, shows how a substantial resource use conflict involving cultural and spiritual values has been successfully resolved using Mediation. An analysis of that case study is conducted using points drawn from Chapter one. Chapter four presents four 'minor' case studies. These detail techniques which are not strictly mediation but promote the philosophy of A.D.R.. The positive aspects and problems which were encountered in all of these studies are drawn on in the conclusion. The results of a questionnaire focusing on the attitudes to and use of A.D.R., by planning staff, in Local Government are discussed in Chapter five. Some conclusions are drawn about the way in which the A.D.R. provisions in the Resource Management Act have been used. The conclusion suggests: agreements between parties should include some provision for re-negotiation should unforeseen circumstances arise; some gauge of the likely reaction of political decision makers to settlements needs to be made prior to entering an A.D.R. process; A.D.R. techniques could be introduced at the beginning of the consents process rather than at its concluding stages; training in mediatory techniques for planners should be introduced at the tertiary level; A.D.R. in the planning system cannot be conducted in isolation from the judicial decision makers.