Abstract
When water problems extend beyond the borders of local communities, the river basin is generally seen as the most appropriate unit for analysis, planning, and institutional arrangements. In this paper it is argued that addressing water problems at the river basin level is not always sufficient. Many of today’s seemingly local water issues carry a (sub)continental or even global dimension, which urges for a governance approach that comprises institutional arrangements at a level beyond that of the river basin. This paper examines a number of arguments for the thesis that good water governance requires a global approach complementary to the river basin approach. Subsequently, it identifies four major issues to be addressed at global scale: Efficiency, equity, sustainability and security of water supply in a globalised world. Finally, the paper raises the question of what kind of institutional arrangements could be developed to cope with the global dimension of water issues. A few possible directions are explored, ranging from an international protocol on full-cost water pricing and a water label for water-intensive products to the implementation of water footprint quotas and the water-neutral concept.
Highlights
Many water problems extend beyond the borders of local communities, often due to upstream-downstream linkages within catchments and river basins
It is shown that a substantial part of today‘s water issues carries an intrinsicallycontinental or even global dimension, which urges for a governance approach that comprises coordination and some form of institutional arrangements at a level above that of the river basin
The central argument of the paper is that the relevance of external coordination for effective water governance brings with it the necessity of including coordination at higher spatial levels than that of the river basin
Summary
Many water problems extend beyond the borders of local communities, often due to upstream-downstream linkages within catchments and river basins. In this paper it is argued that addressing water problems at the river basin level is not always sufficient. It is shown that a substantial part of today‘s water issues carries an intrinsically (sub)continental or even global dimension, which urges for a governance approach that comprises coordination and some form of institutional arrangements at a level above that of the river basin. ̳Governance‘ in its general sense refers to the processes and systems through which a society operates It relates to the broad social system of governing, which includes, but is not restricted to, the narrower perspective of government as the main decision-making political entity. The central argument of the paper is that the relevance of external coordination for effective water governance brings with it the necessity of including coordination at higher spatial levels than that of the river basin. Explorative means in this case that it is not intended to be exhaustive and that identification of possible types of arrangements has priority over reviewing the political feasibility of the identified arrangements
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