Key Question for Discussion

1. Could water re-allocation be a useful means of re-balancing water uses in your basin or country to meet environmental flow needs, and if so, what would be the primary obstacles to such re-allocation? Key Question for Discussion

2. Molden, D. ed. 2007.Water for Food, Water for Life, Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture. Earthscan. Part 4 – Chapter 16. The Over-Allocation Problem

3. The water management system and the underlying water rights are not designed to enable re-allocation It is difficult to trade water or to reallocate water until water rights are defined There are large socio-economic and political costs and implications when re-allocating water from one sector to another Investment in water is a long-term process, so people are unwilling to give up water rights The localism of water - water is very specific to time and place which makes reallocating it between sectors and between purposes complex Limited institutional capacity to give effect to re-allocation Six Major Challenges

4. Discuss the full range of possible approaches for re-allocating water to environmental flows, including regulatory approaches, market approaches, and other strategies, and identify the primary opportunities and obstacles for such re-allocation. Roundtable Discussion