Water governance: Facing the limits of managerialism, determinism, water-centricity, and technocratic problem-solving

G. J. Teisman, M. W. van Buuren, J. Edelenbos, Erasmus University

J. F. Warner, Wageningen University

From the introduction:

We are proud to present you the very first issue of the International Journal on Water Governance (IJWG). The aim of this journal is to become an important source of knowledge on governance of complex water systems, and a source of inspiration for all professionals in the water domain to improve the governance capacity. We want to focus on actual and viagra femele improved urgent theoretical issues and bring them further by application and elaboration in the domains of water. From a variety of disciplines, we will gather new insights on what constitutes the governance capacity with regard to specific topics, like water quality, flooding and scarcity.

The Spanish water “pressure cooker”: Threading the interplay between resource resilient water governance outcomes by strengthening the robustness of water governance processes

E. Lopez-Gunn, B. Willaarts, M. Rica, J. Corominas and R. Llamas

Water Observatory, Fundacion Botin, Departamento de Geodinamica Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Abstract:  

This paper uses the metaphor of a pressure cooker to highlight how water problems in Spain are highly geographical and sectorial in nature, with some specific hotspots which raise the temperature of the whole water complex system, turning many potentially solvable water problems into ‘wicked problems’. The paper discusses the tendency for water governance to be hydrocentric, when often the drivers and in turn the “solutions” to Spanish water problems lie outside the water sphere. The paper analyzes of the current water governance system by looking at water governance as both a process, and its key attributes like participation, trans- parency, equity and wow it's great scam viagra from candad rule of law, as well as an analysis of water governance as an outcome by looking at efficiency and sustainability of water use in Spain. It concludes on the need to have a deeper knowledge on the interactions of water governance as a process and as an outcome and potential synergies and arguing that water governance is an inherently political process which calls for strengthening the capacity of the system by looking at the interactions of these different governance attributes.

Key words:

Water governance, institutional reform, water resources, water scarcity, water framework directive

Adaptation of irrigated agriculture to adversity and variability under conditions of drought and likely climate change: Interaction between water institutions and social norms  

A. Dinar and U.K. Jammalamadaka  

Water Science and Policy Center, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside

Abstract:  

Agriculture is an important source of welfare in many developed and developing countries. It is also the most vulnerable to climate change of all the other sectors in any economy. The adaptation literature demonstrates how concerted adaptation strategies can minimize the resulting negative impacts on rural households. Adaptation may include modification of existing or developing new institutions and infrastructures to support the necessary adaptation options and strategies. Institutions can be developed by the state or by the community. The community faces a set of social norms under which it operates, that interact with new institutions and affects it adaptability to changing conditions. This paper addresses the role of official institutions and local social norms in adaptation of irrigated agriculture to adversity from changes in climatic conditions. A simple analytical framework is developed to demonstrate the effectiveness of several institutions along with the existing social norms and infrastructure, using conditions of drought and flood, as representative cases of climate change. Evidence from exiting studies is used to assess the role of institutions, social norms, and infrastructures in supporting various adaptation strategies, including developing and adopting different agriculture and water management technologies and other related adaptation strategies.

Can water governance deepen democracy in South Africa? Towards a new social charter for mining

A. Turton

Centre for Environmental Management, University of Free State

Abstract:  

The transition to democracy in South Africa 18 years ago has changed the governance land- scape of the country in a fundamental way. Mining, traditionally the mainstay of the national economy, is clearly in a state of decline, just as water constraints are rising and the pollution of water through acid mine drainage (AMD) is becoming front page news. The recent mas- sacre of protesting miners at Marikana, currently the subject of a judicial board of enquiry, has highlighted the existence of major tensions left unresolved from the democratic transition. The recent downgrade of the South African sovereign risk profile by various international ratings agencies has shown how vulnerable the country is with respect to the raising of capital to fund future job creation initiatives. Actions by aggressive but well-meaning NGO’s have further undermined confidence, resulting in the unintended consequence of the potential hostile takeover by foreign interests of mining companies that retain major undeveloped resources on their books, not reflected in the plummeting share prices driven down by persistent contestation. This paper explores these issues by suggesting a framework for empirical investigation, using a recent event as a case study. This suggests that while the mining sector is in deep turmoil, water resource governance has the potential to deepen democracy in South Africa. The emergence of what is being dubbed a New Social Charter for Mining is documented, in which the management of water resources is emerging as a central driver. In conclusion, the frame- work originally offered as a method of testing the governance processes, is further developed by populating it with empirical evidence gleaned from the case study.

Key words:

Governance, offset benefits, mine closure.

Water governance capacity: The art of dealing with a multiplicity of levels, sectors and domains

J. Edelenbos and G. J. Teisman

Erasmus University

Abstract:  

This paper elaborates water issues as a problem of water governance capacity to face multi- plicity of levels, sectors and domains. In order to do so, we will apply a complexity embracing theoretical approach, aiming to understand the interdependencies in the system that decline the effectiveness of one-sided top down interventions and urge for high quality interaction. Physical water systems as well as social systems dealing with water are considered to be complex and interconnected. The systems are compounded in the sense that there is no clear hierarchy and interconnected in the sense that the quality of the one can be heavily influenced by the other. The water systems touch upon other domains like agriculture, economic development, social development, ecology, health, etc. And along with these other physical system a variety of stakeholders, like industries, municipalities, farmers, recreational sector and environmental organizations comes along. All stakeholders do approach the problem and the possible solutions differently. In this paper we argue that complex nature of water governance processes call for the need for boundary spanning that leads to acting between domains, levels and sectors. Building up trustworthy relationships is crucial for gaining water governance capacity. We recommend a complexity embracing approach that focuses on boundary crossing capacities and capabilities.

Remediable institutional alignment and water service reform: Beyond rational choice    

E. Lobina

Public Services International Research Unit, Business School, University of Greenwich

Abstract:  

A growing body of empirical evidence fails to support rational choice expectations of superior private sector efficiency in the urban water sector. Drawing on Oliver Williamson’s work on comparative institutional analysis, I suggest that institutional adaptability explains the efficiency and effectiveness of the public sector relative to the private sector. Under private sector participation, lowly remediable institutional adaptability favours the deployment of asymmetric power and the production of outcomes unaligned to reform objectives. Conversely, institutions supporting public operations are designed to facilitate the achievement of collective goals. This makes the alignment of individual attitudes, resources and institutions under in-house service provision less resilient to sustainability-oriented change. Remediable institutional alignment undergirds the comparative advantage of public water operations, as more ample opportunities are provided for compliance, allocative efficiency and adaptive per- formance. I thus call for a critical realist account of the outcomes of water service reform, free of rational choice dogma. Key words: Rational choice, institutional alignment, institutional adaptability, remediableness, comparative institutional analysis, water service reform, private sector, public sector, public enterprise performance, policy networks, transaction cost economics, agency, sustain- able development, critical realism.

Water governance regimes: Dimensions and dynamics

H. Bressers and S. Kuks

University of Twente

Abstract:  

The concept of water governance is distinctive through its focus on not only public in- tervention, but also on self-organisation as a way to deal with water issues. This article first elaborates a framework with five dimensions to describe governance regimes. Thereafter it illustrates and uses this analytical framework with a cross country comparison of the evolu- tion towards more integrated water governance regimes. Furthermore four qualities of such regimes are introduced and used to assess the degree to which a governance regime is support- ive for integral and adaptive water management. Lastly the article explores how governance regimes evolve over time and what forces shape this combination of stability and dynamics.

Keywords:

Dynamics of governance, international comparison, good governance assessment, adaptive water governance.

Knowledge for water governance: Trends, limits, and challenges

M.W. van Buuren

Erasmus University

Abstract:

Current discourse about water governance in Western countries is strongly influenced by approaches such as integrated, adaptive and participatory water management. These ap- proaches put different demands on the production and application of knowledge in water governance processes, but mainly implicitly and without attention for the possible limits and trade-offs between these demands. In this article I explicate the role of knowledge within these various paradigms based upon an initial literature review and find out to what extent these de- mands are taken into account in two recent Dutch water governance programs with regard to flood safety. This theoretical exploration and empirical illustration results in a critical reflection on the limits and trade-offs between these various demands and suggest some lines for a research agenda about organizing knowledge for water governance which are different from the dominant perspectives currently dominating the literature on adaptive, integrated and participatory water management.