The Sustainable Use of Water Resources: A Technical Support for Planning. A Case Study

Meta-Evaluation for the Evaluation of Environmental Management: Standards and Practices

Environmental management plays a key role in the sustainable development of cities. The effectiveness of environmental management is commonly examined through some evaluation schemes, but the effectiveness of such evaluation schemes also needs to be verified. As such, in this study, meta-evaluation was creatively introduced into environmental management to improve the evaluation of environmental management (EEM). Meta-evaluation is the evaluation of an evaluation scheme, and can verify and enhance the evaluation quality. First, a set of new meta-evaluation standards and criteria was proposed based on the unique characteristics of environmental management, which made meta-evaluation standards more adaptable and effective. After that, the efficacy of the proposed meta-evaluation standards was verified through their application to two evaluation schemes used in different fields of EEM. Based on meta-evaluation, suggestions for improving these two EEM schemes were also provided. The major contributions of this study are to introduce meta-evaluation into environmental management, establish new evaluation standards, and examine the efficacy of EEM. The research showed that it is critical to carry out meta-evaluation before and/or after the implementation of EEM.

Risk Analysis Related to Impact of Climate Change on Water Resources and Hydropower Production in the Lusatian Neisse River Basin

Water resources are one of the most important issues affected by climate change. Climate scenarios show that in the upcoming decades, further climate change can occur. It concerns especially air temperature and sunshine duration, whose prognosis indicates a significant rising trend till the end of the century. The goal of the paper was the evaluation of water resources and hydropower production in the future, depending on climate scenarios with a consideration of risk analysis. The analysis was carried out on the basis of observation data for the Lusatian Neisse river basin (Poland) for 1971–2015 and climate projections till 2100 for the RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 (representative concentration pathways) scenarios. The results of the research showed that, especially in terms of RCP8.5, very high risk of decrease in water resources and hydropower production is expected in the future. Therefore, recommendations for mitigation of the possible effects are presented.

Application of Game Theory against Nature in the Assessment of Technical Solutions Used in River Regulation in the Context of Aquatic Plant Protection

The anthropogenic transformation of riverbeds causes a violation of the dynamic equilibrium of the river and its environment, threatening the ecological safety of aquatic ecosystems and dependent waters. However, the differing results of these transformations are dependent on many factors and it is difficult to determine them precisely before the works start. The designers and contractors of these works are dealing with the riverbed, which in terms of hydromorphological and biological features is variable, unique, and strongly diverse. Thus, decisions are followed by an unknown result concerning changes in the riverbed ecosystems. The aim of this study is to determine the suitability of game theory as a tool supporting decision-making in the design of regulatory works including ecological aspects, as well as an indication of a regulatory works model that would meet the expectations of water users while corresponding to environmentally friendly riverbed regulation. The analysis was made on the basis of observed changes in the number of species in aquatic plant vascular communities—one of the most important elements of a riverbed ecosystem. Using game theory, it is possible to create an effective tool for the design of regulatory works and decision-making process.