Delta Waters Research to Support Integrated Water and Environmental Management in the Lower Mississippi River (2013) / Chapter Skim
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6 Comparative International Deltaic Research: Transferring and Applying Knowledge
6 Comparative International Deltaic Research: Transferring and Applying Knowledge
Pages 89-100
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From page 89... ...
. Emerging international delta networks include Connecting Delta Cities, Delta Alliance, Louisiana Universities Gulf Research Collaborative, National Center for Earth Surface Dynamics, USGS DRAGON, the German-Vietnamese WISDOM initiative, the World Estuary Alliance, and others.
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From page 90... ...
Pursuing international opportunities within the context of practical constraints can be achieved in part through a strategic approach for screening research projects. A FRAMEWORK FOR COMPARATIVE INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH The comparative water research field contains many examples of disparate short-term studies and conference proceedings assembled with little rigorous analysis across cases or variables (Wescoat, 2009)
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From page 91... ...
. All levels of international comparison can shed light on problems in the lower Mississippi River delta, and can help build human and social capital.
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From page 92... ...
• To help prioritize its own international activities and its collabora tions with other delta regions, the Water Institute could develop and employ a simple framework of international research aims and methods to screen, rank, and select its international activities. EXAMPLES OF COMPARATIVE DELTAIC RESEARCH Global Delta Comparisons Based on a Large Number of Cases Several major scientific research programs have included scores of delta cases.
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From page 93... ...
Datasets of this size situate the lower Mississippi River delta quantitatively within global rates of deltaic land loss, inundation, turbidity, change in land use and land cover, and populations at risk. Thematic Delta Comparisons Based on an Intermediate Number of Cases The intermediate level of comparison usually involves around 5 to 15 cases.
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From page 94... ...
comparisons relevant for integrated water and environmental management in the Mississippi River delta and transferring lessons to other regions. Detailed Delta Comparisons Based on a Small Number of Cases The most frequent, and often most difficult, type of comparison involves two detailed case studies.
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From page 95... ...
COMPARATIVE INTERNATIONAL DELTAIC RESEARCH 95 TABLE 6-1 Research Needs and gaps for the Four Layers of Delta Management SOURCE: Bucks et al., 2010. this reason, detailed case studies often involve the construction of analogies between cases, which is a type of research used in climate change adaptation research (e.g., Glantz, 1988)
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From page 96... ...
Use of these analogies could suggest integrated water and environmental management approaches for the Mississippi Ganges-Brahmaputra-Mississippi comparisons have historically operated in the other direction, with lessons drawn from the Mississippi to Bengal delta from the time of economist Radhakamal Mukerjee (1938) to the early work of the LSU Coastal Studies Institute, and critical studies of the Bangladesh Flood Action Plan in the 1990s (e.g., Brammer, 2010; Rogers et al., 1989)
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From page 97... ...
This project has involved the first geomorphically based analysis of probable sediment-starvation impacts of dams as currently proposed, reservoir operation and sediment transport modeling for selected tributaries and mainstem sites, and development of alternative dam designs in workshops with staff of the lower basin states. Other international research groups are actively engaged in the Mekong, making it a focus of international scientific inquiry on sediment, sea level, fishing, and agriculture (Renaud and Kuenzer, 2012)
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From page 98... ...
The Zhujiang delta is polluted by sewage discharge from a dense network of cities that lie along its path. The Changjiang delta has been threatened by upstream sewage discharge untreated and salt water intrusion due to sea level rise.
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From page 99... ...
A conservative position on knowledge transfer to other regions may be appropriate for the Water Institute in its initial years. One lesson of late twentieth century international water resources research and development involved risks and failures caused by uncritical transfer of water management practices.
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From page 100... ...
Some promising examples include the Mississippi-Bengal deltas for applied research on hydrodynamics, sediment transport, coastal hazards, demography, health and epidemiology; Mississippi-Chinese deltas for applied research on sediment transport, deltaic urbanism, infrastructure, and environment; Mississippi-Mekong deltas for applied research on sediment, fisheries, and ecohydrology; and the Mississippi-Niger deltas and other petrochemical-based industrializing deltas for applied research on energy development, environmental management, and social equity. In the near term, the Water Institute may have the most promise for collaborative research with international delta researchers and organizations that seek to exchange knowledge between the Mississippi River delta and other regions.
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