Format design for a sustainability evaluation sheet for water resources use | |
| Author | Khan, Arif Jabbar |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.WA-94-16 |
| Subject(s) | Water resources development--Environmental aspects Sustainable development |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering, School of Civil Engineering |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | The Rio Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 culminated in the global acceptance of Sustainable Development as the goal for the 21st century. This study gives a methodology for outlining the requirements for achieving sustainable water resources development in a given area, by introducing a Sustainability Evaluation Sheet for Water Resources Use. Making use of the recommendations of the Rio Conference as well as the pre and postconference expert group meetings, available literature and views of engineers and scientists working in the field of sustainable water resources development and the views and experiences of the local people of the study area, the various parameters of sustainability were identified. The sustainability evaluation sheet was then prepared, which consists of two parts. The first part gives' the importance or priority of a parameter for an area as well as the present condition of the parameter in that area. The second part of the evaluation sheet combines the parameters as per their priority requirements and gives the causes due to which these parameters deviate from the path of sustainability. The evaluation sheet was then applied to River Swat Basin to assess its sustainability and hence check the applicability of the evaluation sheet. The evaluation sheet prioritized the parameters as primary, secondary and tertiary, with the time scale of imrnediate,upto year 2005 and year 2025 respectively. The present conditions of the parameters in the area were then defined. The sustainability requirements were then grouped together as primary, secondary and tertiary in the second part of the evaluation sheet and the causes of these parameters for not following the path of sustainability were identified. The results were then obtained by grouping together the parameters according to the causes of unsustainability. The results of the evaluation sheet showed that one of the important requirements for achieving sustainability in River Swat Basin is a change in human attitude towards the use and protection of natural resources. An indirect method of changing the perception of the people, especially in predominantly religious areas like Swat could be to give training to the religious leaders about the importance of sustaining our natural resources. Another important result is the lack of environmental issues in planning principles. Hence, planning principles at all levels should have sustainability as their main target, besides focussing on the social and economic development of the area and they should focus on the underlying factors responsible for the unsustainability of the system. As regards the applicability of the evaluation sheet, it was found that a considerable amount of data and information is required for applying the evaluation sheet, which may be a (v) major constraint in its use. Also, sustainability requires a multidisciplinary approach and the application of the evaluation sheet by a single individual may be subject to the lack of expertise in fields other than his own field of speciality. Besides this, his judgement and analysis of the area may be different from that of another individual. It is therefore recommended that the application of the evaluation sheet should generally be carried out by a multidisciplinary group of individuals or organizations. |
| Year | 1994 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Civil Engineering |
| Department | Other Field of Studies (No Department) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Water Resources Research Engineering (WA) |
| Chairperson(s) | Ammentorp, Hans Christian |
| Examination Committee(s) | Harboe, Ricardo ;Gupta, Ashim Das ; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Government of Japan ; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1994 |