Adaptive capacity of water governance arrangements: a comparative study of barriers and opportunities in Swiss and US states

Abstract

Climate variability and change are directly challenging the viability and sustainability of social–ecological systems. This is particularly true for water resources. Effective water governance is at the heart of alleviating water challenges and is thus considered crucial for building adaptive capacity to cope with future uncertainty and impacts from climate change. Despite advances in the conceptualisation of adaptive capacity, there are few empirical examples that look systematically across cases to identify how to implement measures and actions that build and mobilise adaptive capacity. This paper contributes to the understanding of adaptive capacity to climate stress by analysing the bridges and barriers to adaptation across water governance and management regimes in the case of the Canton Valais, Switzerland and the state of Georgia, USA. We find that while there is no single way to build and mobilise adaptive capacity across different scales of governance, the analysis points to a set of common bridges and barriers for building adaptive capacity to a variety of climatic events. Common bridges include trust and actor relationships, regional collaboration, leadership, and regulatory and legislative aspects. Common barriers include political, regulatory and legislative, and perception and cognitive aspects.