Pieter Van Der Zaag
Biographic Data
| ID | 113253 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Pieter Van Der Zaag |
| GIVEN NAMES | Pieter |
| FAMILY NAME | Van Der Zaag |
| SIGNATURE | VAN DER ZAAG P |
| AFFILIATIONS | IHE Delft Institute for Water Education |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1215-2656 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 48 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1998 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Breaking the persisting supply–demand cycle: A critical review of water development and conflict in the Zayandeh-Rud basin
Endorheic basins are more sensitive to changes in the water balance than other basins. Therefore, human activities can create critical conditions. This study examines the complex interactions between water management practices and their various effects in the iconic Zayandeh-Rud basin, focusing on the unintended consequences of water infrastructure development, such as reservoirs and inter-basin transfers. The research highlights phenomena known …
Integrating equity and justice principles in water resources modeling and management
Can grassroots movements in water conflicts drive socio-technical transitions in water management systems
Water conflicts open windows of opportunity for grassroots movements to transform water systems. However, academic fields studying social movements in socio-environmental conflicts are not well equipped to deal with complexity, non-linear dynamics, and emergent properties. Therefore, these fields rarely engage with long-term complex social processes and dynamics leading to systemic socio-technical changes. Researching water conflicts driven by gr…
The Changing Faces of Farmer-Led Irrigation: Lessons from Dynamic Irrigation Trajectories in Kenya and Zimbabwe
Farmer-led irrigation is valued for its resilience and ability to cope with shocks and benefit from opportunities. Yet, typologies of farmer-led irrigation are mostly static categorisations without analysing farmers’ decision-making over time, and without studying ‘failed’ cases. We therefore analysed temporal changes in farmers’ irrigation strategies to expand, downscale or cease practices as part of wider livelihood decisions and aspirations. T…
Irrigation development under uncertainty: A call for adaptive investment pathways
There is an urgent need in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to enhance irrigation access to meet the challenges of growing population and climate risk. To achieve this, big investments are currently planned in large irrigation infrastructure. We believe there is danger in following this conventional approach, which requires big lumpsum investments, locking large capital into projects that do not adapt to deep uncertainties from climatic or socio-politica…
Operational planning of WEF infrastructure: Quantifying the value of information sharing and cooperation in the Eastern Nile basin
Integrating the planning of a multi-reservoir system in nexus with agricultural and electricity infrastructure could alleviate security concerns for these resources in regions where demand is growing while water and land scarcity are exacerbated by climate change and anthropogenic pressures. This study focuses on the benefits of resource integration and cooperation in the Eastern Nile basin. To overcome common limitations of equilibrium and soft-…
Beyond TRL – Understanding institutional readiness for implementation of nature-based solutions
Assessment framework of actor strategies in international river basin management, the case of Deltarhine
The combined effects of socio-economic growth as well as climate change exert increasing pressure on international river basins and require dedicated cooperative efforts to jointly manage international rivers. Cooperative strategies drawn from scientific literature, empirical research and practitioner’s handbooks are explored and clustered into six key dimensions of goals, instruments, structures, actors, leadership and resources to provide an as…
Using nature-based water storage for smallholder irrigated agriculture in African drylands: Lessons from frugal innovation pilots in Mozambique and Zimbabwe
Alluvial aquifers in seasonal rivers are a yet underutilised resource in many (semi-)arid regions of Africa. These so-called sand river aquifers provide nature-based water storage within easy reach because they are shallow. They form a significant potential renewable source of water for irrigation development. Innovative approaches and solutions are needed to sustainably increase productive use of this resource to enhance rural livelihoods. The A…
Production of competing water knowledge in the face of water crises: Revisiting the IWRM success story of the Lerma-Chapala Basin, Mexico
Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is an approach that aims to change conventional water management. International agencies and organizations have promoted IWRM across the globe. The Lerma-Chapala Basin in Mexico is an archetypal case study on basin closure, where IWRM principles were said to have been applied in the early 2000s to help solve a serious water crisis. This paper analyses the controversies around socio-hydrological uncerta…
Correlation and causation between the UN Human Development Index and national and personal wealth and resource exploitation
Human development is increasingly on global policy agendas, in particular related to the Sustainable Development Goals. Here, the UN Human Development Index is analysed for correlation and causation with economic and resource parameters using novel quantitative techniques. Global datasets at national resolution are used to explore correlation and causation with the HDI. The whole HDI is not correlated to national totals of wealth or resource use,…
The Political Morphology of Drainage—How Gully Formation Links to State Formation in the Choke Mountains of Ethiopia
To understand why soil erosion is persistent despite three decades of massive investments in soil conservation, this paper explores how drainage and soil conservation change a hill slope in the Choke Mountains. By paying close attention to the practices that reshape the hill, we account for the active roles of people and material flows in shaping their identities, forms, and power relations. Social relations can be read in the landscape as their …
An interdisciplinary political ecology of drinking water quality. Exploring socio-ecological inequalities in Lilongwe’s water supply network
Urban political ecology attempts to unravel and politicize the socio-ecological processes that produce uneven waterscapes. At the core of this analysis are the choreographies of power that influence how much water flows through urban infrastructure as well as where it flows, thereby shaping conditions and quality of access in cities. If these analyses have been prolific in demonstrating uneven distribution of infrastructures and water quantity, t…
Why infrastructure still matters: Unravelling water reform processes in an uneven waterscape in rural Kenya
Since the 1980s, a major change took place in public policies for water resources management. Whereas before governments primarily invested in the development, operation and maintenance of water infrastructure and were mainly concerned with the distribution of water, in the new approach they mainly focus on managing water resources systems by stipulating general frameworks for water allocation. This paper studies the rationales used to justify th…
The Politics of Water Science: On Unresolved Water Problems and Biased Research Agendas
May 01 2009 The Politics of Water Science: On Unresolved Water Problems and Biased Research Agendas Joyeeta Gupta, Joyeeta Gupta Joyeeta Gupta is Professor of Climate Change Law and Policy at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and of Water Law and Policy at the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education in Delft. She is editor-in-chief of International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics and is on the editorial board of Carbon and C…
The Practice of Smallholder Irrigation: Case Studies from Zimbabwe
An interdisciplinary political ecology of drinking water quality. Exploring socio-ecological inequalities in Lilongwe’s water supply network
Urban political ecology attempts to unravel and politicize the socio-ecological processes that produce uneven waterscapes. At the core of this analysis are the choreographies of power that influence how much water flows through urban infrastructure as well as where it flows, thereby shaping conditions and quality of access in cities. If these analyses have been prolific in demonstrating uneven distribution of infrastructures and water quantity, t…
The Politics of Water Science: On Unresolved Water Problems and Biased Research Agendas
May 01 2009 The Politics of Water Science: On Unresolved Water Problems and Biased Research Agendas Joyeeta Gupta, Joyeeta Gupta Joyeeta Gupta is Professor of Climate Change Law and Policy at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and of Water Law and Policy at the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education in Delft. She is editor-in-chief of International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics and is on the editorial board of Carbon and C…
Using nature-based water storage for smallholder irrigated agriculture in African drylands: Lessons from frugal innovation pilots in Mozambique and Zimbabwe
Alluvial aquifers in seasonal rivers are a yet underutilised resource in many (semi-)arid regions of Africa. These so-called sand river aquifers provide nature-based water storage within easy reach because they are shallow. They form a significant potential renewable source of water for irrigation development. Innovative approaches and solutions are needed to sustainably increase productive use of this resource to enhance rural livelihoods. The A…
Beyond TRL – Understanding institutional readiness for implementation of nature-based solutions
Production of competing water knowledge in the face of water crises: Revisiting the IWRM success story of the Lerma-Chapala Basin, Mexico
Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is an approach that aims to change conventional water management. International agencies and organizations have promoted IWRM across the globe. The Lerma-Chapala Basin in Mexico is an archetypal case study on basin closure, where IWRM principles were said to have been applied in the early 2000s to help solve a serious water crisis. This paper analyses the controversies around socio-hydrological uncerta…
The Political Morphology of Drainage—How Gully Formation Links to State Formation in the Choke Mountains of Ethiopia
To understand why soil erosion is persistent despite three decades of massive investments in soil conservation, this paper explores how drainage and soil conservation change a hill slope in the Choke Mountains. By paying close attention to the practices that reshape the hill, we account for the active roles of people and material flows in shaping their identities, forms, and power relations. Social relations can be read in the landscape as their …
Can grassroots movements in water conflicts drive socio-technical transitions in water management systems
Water conflicts open windows of opportunity for grassroots movements to transform water systems. However, academic fields studying social movements in socio-environmental conflicts are not well equipped to deal with complexity, non-linear dynamics, and emergent properties. Therefore, these fields rarely engage with long-term complex social processes and dynamics leading to systemic socio-technical changes. Researching water conflicts driven by gr…
Assessment framework of actor strategies in international river basin management, the case of Deltarhine
The combined effects of socio-economic growth as well as climate change exert increasing pressure on international river basins and require dedicated cooperative efforts to jointly manage international rivers. Cooperative strategies drawn from scientific literature, empirical research and practitioner’s handbooks are explored and clustered into six key dimensions of goals, instruments, structures, actors, leadership and resources to provide an as…
Why infrastructure still matters: Unravelling water reform processes in an uneven waterscape in rural Kenya
Since the 1980s, a major change took place in public policies for water resources management. Whereas before governments primarily invested in the development, operation and maintenance of water infrastructure and were mainly concerned with the distribution of water, in the new approach they mainly focus on managing water resources systems by stipulating general frameworks for water allocation. This paper studies the rationales used to justify th…
The Practice of Smallholder Irrigation: Case Studies from Zimbabwe
The Practice of Smallholder Irrigation: Case Studies from Zimbabwe
The Politics of Water Science: On Unresolved Water Problems and Biased Research Agendas
May 01 2009 The Politics of Water Science: On Unresolved Water Problems and Biased Research Agendas Joyeeta Gupta, Joyeeta Gupta Joyeeta Gupta is Professor of Climate Change Law and Policy at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and of Water Law and Policy at the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education in Delft. She is editor-in-chief of International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics and is on the editorial board of Carbon and C…
Why infrastructure still matters: Unravelling water reform processes in an uneven waterscape in rural Kenya
Since the 1980s, a major change took place in public policies for water resources management. Whereas before governments primarily invested in the development, operation and maintenance of water infrastructure and were mainly concerned with the distribution of water, in the new approach they mainly focus on managing water resources systems by stipulating general frameworks for water allocation. This paper studies the rationales used to justify th…
Correlation and causation between the UN Human Development Index and national and personal wealth and resource exploitation
Human development is increasingly on global policy agendas, in particular related to the Sustainable Development Goals. Here, the UN Human Development Index is analysed for correlation and causation with economic and resource parameters using novel quantitative techniques. Global datasets at national resolution are used to explore correlation and causation with the HDI. The whole HDI is not correlated to national totals of wealth or resource use,…
The Political Morphology of Drainage—How Gully Formation Links to State Formation in the Choke Mountains of Ethiopia
To understand why soil erosion is persistent despite three decades of massive investments in soil conservation, this paper explores how drainage and soil conservation change a hill slope in the Choke Mountains. By paying close attention to the practices that reshape the hill, we account for the active roles of people and material flows in shaping their identities, forms, and power relations. Social relations can be read in the landscape as their …
An interdisciplinary political ecology of drinking water quality. Exploring socio-ecological inequalities in Lilongwe’s water supply network
Urban political ecology attempts to unravel and politicize the socio-ecological processes that produce uneven waterscapes. At the core of this analysis are the choreographies of power that influence how much water flows through urban infrastructure as well as where it flows, thereby shaping conditions and quality of access in cities. If these analyses have been prolific in demonstrating uneven distribution of infrastructures and water quantity, t…
Production of competing water knowledge in the face of water crises: Revisiting the IWRM success story of the Lerma-Chapala Basin, Mexico
Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is an approach that aims to change conventional water management. International agencies and organizations have promoted IWRM across the globe. The Lerma-Chapala Basin in Mexico is an archetypal case study on basin closure, where IWRM principles were said to have been applied in the early 2000s to help solve a serious water crisis. This paper analyses the controversies around socio-hydrological uncerta…
Assessment framework of actor strategies in international river basin management, the case of Deltarhine
The combined effects of socio-economic growth as well as climate change exert increasing pressure on international river basins and require dedicated cooperative efforts to jointly manage international rivers. Cooperative strategies drawn from scientific literature, empirical research and practitioner’s handbooks are explored and clustered into six key dimensions of goals, instruments, structures, actors, leadership and resources to provide an as…
Using nature-based water storage for smallholder irrigated agriculture in African drylands: Lessons from frugal innovation pilots in Mozambique and Zimbabwe
Alluvial aquifers in seasonal rivers are a yet underutilised resource in many (semi-)arid regions of Africa. These so-called sand river aquifers provide nature-based water storage within easy reach because they are shallow. They form a significant potential renewable source of water for irrigation development. Innovative approaches and solutions are needed to sustainably increase productive use of this resource to enhance rural livelihoods. The A…
Operational planning of WEF infrastructure: Quantifying the value of information sharing and cooperation in the Eastern Nile basin
Integrating the planning of a multi-reservoir system in nexus with agricultural and electricity infrastructure could alleviate security concerns for these resources in regions where demand is growing while water and land scarcity are exacerbated by climate change and anthropogenic pressures. This study focuses on the benefits of resource integration and cooperation in the Eastern Nile basin. To overcome common limitations of equilibrium and soft-…
Beyond TRL – Understanding institutional readiness for implementation of nature-based solutions
Irrigation development under uncertainty: A call for adaptive investment pathways
There is an urgent need in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to enhance irrigation access to meet the challenges of growing population and climate risk. To achieve this, big investments are currently planned in large irrigation infrastructure. We believe there is danger in following this conventional approach, which requires big lumpsum investments, locking large capital into projects that do not adapt to deep uncertainties from climatic or socio-politica…
The Changing Faces of Farmer-Led Irrigation: Lessons from Dynamic Irrigation Trajectories in Kenya and Zimbabwe
Farmer-led irrigation is valued for its resilience and ability to cope with shocks and benefit from opportunities. Yet, typologies of farmer-led irrigation are mostly static categorisations without analysing farmers’ decision-making over time, and without studying ‘failed’ cases. We therefore analysed temporal changes in farmers’ irrigation strategies to expand, downscale or cease practices as part of wider livelihood decisions and aspirations. T…
Integrating equity and justice principles in water resources modeling and management
Can grassroots movements in water conflicts drive socio-technical transitions in water management systems
Water conflicts open windows of opportunity for grassroots movements to transform water systems. However, academic fields studying social movements in socio-environmental conflicts are not well equipped to deal with complexity, non-linear dynamics, and emergent properties. Therefore, these fields rarely engage with long-term complex social processes and dynamics leading to systemic socio-technical changes. Researching water conflicts driven by gr…
Breaking the persisting supply–demand cycle: A critical review of water development and conflict in the Zayandeh-Rud basin
Endorheic basins are more sensitive to changes in the water balance than other basins. Therefore, human activities can create critical conditions. This study examines the complex interactions between water management practices and their various effects in the iconic Zayandeh-Rud basin, focusing on the unintended consequences of water infrastructure development, such as reservoirs and inter-basin transfers. The research highlights phenomena known …
Business (10 works) · Economics (9 works) · Geography (9 works) · Political science (9 works) · Water resources management and optimization (9 works) · Environmental Science (7 works) · Computer Science (6 works) · Environmental resource management (6 works) · Water Governance and Infrastructure (6 works) · Environmental economics (5 works)