Good Water Governance Research Articles

The right to water and its relevance to sustainable water governance

Over the past decade, the focus of water sector improvements in developing countries has moved away from enhancing physical infrastructure towards strengthening water sector governance. However, good water governance is a mechanism for improvement, not an end in itself, and the ultimate goal of governance reforms is still rarely defined clearly. One notable exception is the water reform process in South Africa; the right of access to water services is enshrined in South Africa's constitution and defined in subsequent legislation. Unfortunately, the implementation of reforms has been less straightforward and has recently brought water service providers into conflict with consumers who consider their right to water is being violated. This paper demonstrates the utility of the United Nations (UN) general comment No. 15 on the ‘right to water’ in assisting those responsible for the planning and implementation of sustainable water sector governance reforms. The key aspects of the right to water are explained and a number of myths refuted. The paper discusses some of the problems encountered by water services institutions in South Africa and how these could have been avoided had more attention been given to the principles embodied in the UN general comment.

Good water governance and IWRM in Zambia: challenges and chances

The implementation of principles for water governance is widely accepted but challenging for the whole water sector of a developing country like Zambia, because of the legal and administrative changes and organizational requirements involved. In February 2010, a revised water policy for Zambia was approved by the Cabinet. The revised National Water Policy 2010 aims to improve water resources management by establishing institutional coordination and by defining roles as well as responsibilities for various ministries. Taking into account the previous political and administration changes, this paper points out the problems and challenges of the implementation of good water governance mechanisms in Zambia. Focusing on the Kafue River Basin, from which water is abstracted for a variety of conflicting purposes (like municipal supplies, industrial use, mining, irrigation of agricultural land, fishery activities, wetland reserves and hydropower production), the gaps in implementing good water governance and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in Zambia are identified, as well as the factors causing these gaps in the Zambian water sector. The paper finishes with a overview of the opportunities given by the new water policy through Water User Associations (WUAs) at a local level.

Strengthening post-conflict peacebuilding through community water-resource management: case studies from Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan and Liberia

This article highlights the importance of water-resource management and its contribution to peacebuilding. It presents learning from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan and Liberia. The article showcases the positive contribution empowered communities can make to public-health improvement, good water governance, economic revitalization, and restoration of peace. It lays emphasis on how equitable and sustainable management of water resources can contribute towards peacebuilding in post-conflict environments by supporting basic human needs, livelihoods, economic revitalization, public health improvement and restoration of cooperation at all levels of society.

Putting the cart before the horse: Water governance and IWRM

Water governance has emerged as perhaps the most important topic of the international water community in the 21st century, and achieving “good” water governance is now a focus of both policy discourse and innumerable development projects. Somewhat surprisingly in light of this attention, there is widespread confusion about the meaning of the term “water governance”. This paper reviews the history of the term's use and misuse to reveal how the concept is frequently inflated to include issues that go well beyond governance. Further, it highlights how calls to improve water governance often espouse predetermined goals that should instead be the very function of water governance to define. To help overcome this confusion, the paper suggests a more refined definition of water governance and related qualities of good water governance that are consistent with broader notions of the concepts. In light of the substantial resources allocated in its name, this paper's findings show there is significant potential to strengthen efforts at improving water governance.

Good water governance: Could stakeholder participation reduce water insecurities in river basins in Asia-Pacific?

Good water governance: Could stakeholder participation reduce water insecurities in river basins in Asia-Pacific?

The Global Dimension of Water Governance: Why the River Basin Approach Is No Longer Sufficient and Why Cooperative Action at Global Level Is Needed

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.

Water framework directive implementation in Greece: Introducing participation in water governance – the Case of the Evrotas River Basin management plan

AbstractAccepting the positive results that public participation can bring in the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD), this paper seeks to contribute to ongoing discussions on the rather problematic WFD implementation in southern Europe. Within this framework, we first focus on the national level and the analysis of ‘water governance’ and ‘public participation’ within the context of WFD implementation in Greece, and secondly on the examination of the participatory methods introduced locally for the preparation of the Evrotas River Basin management plan. The first section focuses on public participation as an indispensable ingredient of good water governance. The next focuses on the introduction of the WFD as an instance of governance that promotes participatory arrangements. We then present the centralized structure of the Greek state as an impediment to the introduction of public participation in water governance. The fourth section focuses on the Evrotas River Basin and describes the participatory arrangements for the preparation of the management plan. The paper concludes with the verification of the need for participatory processes to respect the context within which they are pursued and with specific alterations to the way public participation has been planned and implemented in Greece. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Future Water Governance: Problems and Perspectives

One development can be predicted with complete certainty; the world in 2030 will be significantly different from what it is in 2010. Water governance, which is a broad concept, must also adopt to these changes. While there are no usable indicators for water governance that exist at present, some general indicators for governance of individual countries are available. These are of limited value for the water profession. It is argued that at least 10 to 12 good, independent and objective case studies of good water governance would be very useful to learn what were the enabling environment and critical factors that contributed to their success and could allow others to significantly improve their current practices and processes.

Water Governance: Some Critical Issues

This paper presents an analysis of the issues discussed at a special international workshop on water governance. While it is generally accepted that good governance for the water sector is essential, it is also clear that its implementation requires qualitative and quantitative factors, which may vary from one country to another. In order to objectively assess the opportunities and constraints of implementing good water governance practices, a group of selected international experts were invited to address this complex issue.

Reallocating Water: An Application of Sequential Sharing Rules to Cyprus

We present an axiomatic approach to the reallocation of water rights among economic sectors. Reallocation may be appropriate when the current schedule of water allocation is considered unfair. Our proposed approach is based on the combination of initial water rights, sectors' claims to water, and an exogenous ordering of these sectors. We apply sharing rules, based on bankruptcy rules, to reallocate water, which complements other approaches to the reallocation of water rights, including those based on water markets. Our approach is illustrated using an application to water reallocation in Cyprus, where reallocation of water rights has been recognised as an essential step towards good water governance and one of the main challenges for current water policies.

Poverty reduction and water governance: lessons from and problems in Northwestern China

Great achievements have been made in poverty reduction in Northwestern China, an area which contains a higher than average proportion of 55 different ethnic minority groups, with over half of the villagers being self-supporting, and where the main factors leading to poverty are adverse natural conditions, shortage of available water, weak infrastructure and backward social development. By analyzing the institutional framework relating to the water sector and the meeting of different water requirements (i.e., the human right to water, the environmental right to water, and economic development), as well as presenting case studies on two model villages and two kinds of important water infrastructures (i.e., the water split and silt dam), the role of good water governance in China's development-oriented poverty reduction process is identified, with particular focus on lessons that can be learned. In conclusion, lessons are drawn from the aspects of policy and management, balancing different and competitive water requirements as well as short-term and long-term benefits of the poor, and stakeholder participation.

Towards better water governance in river basins: some lessons learned from the Volga

This article focuses on the problems of water governance at a river basin level, and on the role of institutional coordination, participation and partnerships between multiple stakeholders towards sustainable water management. Its approach presupposes that institutional capacity building, strengthening coordination between government institutions (vertical and horizontal), on the one hand, and broadening participation and consolidating partnerships between public, private and civil society actors, on the other hand, is among effective tools in integrated water resource management in river basins. It explores environmental challenges, problems, emerging trends and recent institutional innovations in the Volga basin in Russia—the largest river basin in Europe. Transfer and adaptation of good practices in good water governance between the EU and Russia are discussed. This article presents some research findings and lessons learned from practice by the EC international project ‘CABRI—Cooperation along a big river: Institutional coordination among stakeholders for environmental risk management in the Volga basin’, which is assessed as one of the selected success stories of the European research.’

Status of water governance in urban areas in Zimbabwe: some preliminary observations from the city of Harare

Good water governance, has been regarded as a sine qua non for improving the management of world water resources. Stakeholder participation is considered an important precondition for improving water governance. This paper reports on how it is being implemented in urban areas in Zimbabwe by studying how this is being undertaken in the city of Harare. The study was not designed to generate generalisable findings but to gain insights into the salient features of water governance in the urban areas. Three areas of investigation were chosen for analysis; whether water shaped the political agenda as expressed in local elections; perceptions and actions of the different actors and information about new water institutions. There was some degree of stakeholder participation, which, however, was compromised by the fact that it was uncoordinated, involved a few stakeholders (it excluded the generality of the residents) and tended to occur outside the designated formal channels. Interference from central government was another problem. It can be concluded that improving governance of water management in Zimbabwe’s urban areas faces more challenges than in the rural areas. For example unlike their rural counterparts urban residents were not considered as stakeholders in their own right.

The EU Water Framework Directive – a key to catchment-based governance

The principles of good water governance require an effective water policy with a clear legal framework and institutional structure for managing river basins and aquifers. Integrated water resources management is essential and decision-making processes must be participatory and transparent. The development of the European Union's Water Framework Directive is outlined, and it is shown how it can serve as the basis of catchment-based governance for the successful management of water quality and quantity in transboundary river basins.

Water Rights: A key to sustainable development in Nepal

By addressing water, one will also address human development. People’s lack of access to safe and secure water is not due to the quantity of water available on the earth but rather because the institutions set up to manage the issues are not up to the challenge. In Nepal Muluki Ain (Laws of Land) did not regulate water much in detail because water was not considered an important resource and a source of major revenue. Water rights are based on practices legitimized by law and they are related to political, economic and social relationship and to other rights such as land rights Muluki Ain (1854, 1952 and 1963),which regulates priority in acquiring water from water sources, and allocation of water. Acts promulgated between 1961 and 1992 reflect the growing importance of water resources in Nepalese political economy and not only empower the state to regulate water use, they also vested ownership of all water resources with the state. Although various Acts gave water rights to every citizen of Nepal, there are gender bias in executing power and rights to use water sources. Water scarcity problem can perhaps be due to geographical reality, climate change or to the excessive use of water resource in one sector and a resulting loss of raw water available for other uses. Issues such as good water governance, negotiation and collaboration for water sharing, awareness on values of water, management of water induced disasters etc needs specific attention.Keywords: muluki Ain (laws of land); Bhupati (land lords)DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jhm.v6i1.5486Journal of Hydrology and Meteorology, Vol. 6, No. 1 37-43