Social network analysis for identifying actors engaged in water governance: An endorheic basin case in the Middle East

Abstract

Water networks play an important role in complex multi-faceted water governance regimes in which the involvement of various actors could potentially lead to coherent policies. Identifying the collaborating actors and their interaction is essential for the establishment of joint water decision-making. Hence, the present study was aimed at distinguishing entities involved in water governance in Zayandeh-Rud basin, which is known as an endorheic basin in Iran. From an analytical perspective, it also tries to describe and analyze the collaborative pattern of knowledge and information exchange in the basin. Using semi-structured interview protocols, the social network data was gathered from 14 water governance-related organizations, ranging from governmental to non-governmental organizations. Identifying water governance in this basin resulted in an understanding of how human and non-human actors contribute in the practice of supply, delivery, use, and outflow processes. Moreover, considering the power relations and densities of actors’ involvement in supply, delivery, use and outflow processes the integrity and coherence of the network power relations were analyzed. The power analysis findings demonstrated how the dominant role of governmental bodies and weak contribution of the private organizations and civil society resulted in up-down decision-making (on the actor component). The coherence criterion (density index) results revealed that water governance network is more coherent among the state actors within the national and extra-basin level (on the scope component). Based on the findings on the dimension component, most attention was focused on the political, administrative and economic dimensions. According to the local experience of water governance gained in this basin, practical ideas would be developed to promote water-governance in the context of transitional countries of the Middle-East.