Critical Review of the Public Participation Process in Drought Management Plans. The Guadalquivir River Basin Case in Spain

Abstract

In an ever-growing environment of uncertainty, complex interactions and climate extremes, the effective implementation of Public Participation (PP) into water management is sought as a key step to address water challenges and achieve holistic solutions. This requirement was already set out in the EU Water Framework Directive (Art. 14) 20 years ago. However, is PP successfully implemented in water management decisions, practices and policies nowadays? The literature review has revealed that there are few recent and detailed studies that assess this issue at the river basin scale. The aim of this paper is to contribute towards building evidence base on this topic. The learnings could be applied during the current consultation and development of the 3rd cycle River Basin Management Plans across EU. This study presents the complex and paradigmatic case of the Guadalquivir River Basin (GRB) in southern Spain. This work evaluates the real influence of PP on the most recent (2018) GRB Drought Management Plan (DMP) and draws important conclusions and recommendations in this regard. The findings showed that PP had, actually, negligible influence on shaping the final (2018) GRB DMP. In fact, there was a very limited incorporation of the local knowledge and experience received from participants, highlighting the absence of a truly inclusive participation strategy. In contrast to this, PP should proactively involve all interested parties at an early stage when there are still opportunities to alter the strategy. This could bring significant benefits such as taking more ownership and responsibility by water users.