Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Water governance water reform'
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1
Maxwell, Daniel M. "Water Governance in Bolivia: Policy Options for Pro-Poor Infrastructure Reform." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2013. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/767.
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As the case with most countries across Latin America, unprecedented migration to urban areas has strained city infrastructure systems. More particularly, the region faces a pressing crisis of water security, where rapid urbanization has outpaced water sector development. This thesis addresses the water infrastructure reform in El Alto and La Paz, Bolivia, focusing on strategies to better promote water access for the peri-urban poor. The research investigates the level of progressivity of water service expansion and pricing regimes: in other words, does the present model of water distribution positively improve the lives of the poorest groups? By investigating these social dimensions of water management, this study brings perspectives on the broader dialogue on Bolivia’s economic development, along with issues of participatory governance.
Resumen: Como es el caso en muchos países latinoamericanos, la migración a áreas urbanas a niveles sin precedentes ha superado la capacidad de infraestructura. Concretamente, la región se enfrenta a una urgente crisis en la seguridad de agua potable dado que la rápida urbanización ha sobrepasado el desarrollo de este sector. Esta tesis aborda la reforma de la infraestructura de agua potable en El Alto y La Paz, Bolivia, enfocando en las estrategias para mejorar el acceso a agua por parte de los residentes periurbanos pobres. La investigación averigua el nivel de progresividad de los regímenes de precios y expansión de servicios de agua potable. En otras palabras, ¿contribuye el actual modelo de distribución de agua al mejoramiento de la vida de los grupos más desfavorecidos? Al investigar estas dimensiones sociales en el manejo de agua potable, este estudio ofrece perspectivas en cuanto al diálogo amplio del desarrollo económico de Bolivia, así como asuntos de gobernanza participativa.
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Sehring, Jenniver. "The politics of water institutional reform in neopatrimonial states : a comparative analysis of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan /." Wiesbaden : VS, Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2009. http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&doc_number=017024029&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA.
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Asquer, Alberto. "Implementing regulatory reforms in multi-level governance systems : the case of the reform of the water sector in Italy (1994-2006)." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2012. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/543/.
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Within the field of regulation policy and politics, various scholarly works have examined policy reforms intended to change the regulation of large-scale infrastructure-based public service industries. Relatively little attention has been placed, however, on the jagged and ineffectual implementation of regulatory reforms that especially takes place when the implementation context includes features of a multi-level governance system. For reasons especially related to the technical, economic, and territorial characteristics of infrastructure and sub-national governments' political responsibilities towards local communities, within this type of scenario the implementation of regulatory reforms tends to exhibit high levels of political confrontation between actors of the reformed infrastructure industry, with respect to what is ordinarily experienced when a regulatory reform is implemented by public agencies or any body of the executive at the central level. This thesis aims to contribute furthering our understanding of the political economy of implementing regulatory reforms by conducting an exploratory case study whose episode is the implementation stage of the 12 year long (1994-2006) policy cycle to liberalise, re-regulate, and privatise Italy’s (drinking water and waste) water sector. The main explanatory issues at stake relate to why the implementation trajectory changed over time (i.e., a period of obstructed implementation was followed by one of accelerated execution of the policy reform content) and across space (i.e., implementation progressed faster in Alto Valdarno in Tuscany than elsewhere in the country). The analysis of the case is conducted by following two alternative theoretical approaches in turn, namely institutional rational choice and institutional processualism. Answers to these questions provide some evidence for qualifying existing generalised arguments about the policy. process of implementing regulatory reforms and for assessing the relative strengths and weaknesses of alternative theoretical perspectives.
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Mills-Novoa, Megan, and Megan Mills-Novoa. "Understanding Water Policy as Agricultural Policy: How IWRM Reform is Reshaping Agricultural Landscapes under Climate Change in Piura, Peru." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/621847.
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One billion people currently live in basins that are likely to require action to address climate change-induced water stress. Rather than blaming dwindling resource availability as the key culprit for this global water crisis, the United Nations has dubbed the water crisis a "crisis in governance." One of the key prescriptions promoted by multilateral funders and international water experts for addressing the looming crisis has been water policy reform that follows the principles of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM). While there has been significant research on the IWRM model, few people have conducted empirical studies that examine how IWRM water reform generates changes within the agricultural sector. It is particularly important to study the tight coupling of agricultural and water policy in light of a changing climate, which poses substantial challenges to water availability and agricultural production. In this thesis, I explore the salient case study of the Piura River Basin in northern Peru. I employ semi-structured interviews with key institutional actors in the agricultural and water sector, participant observation, and technical document review to examine how the IWRM-based 2009 Water Resources Law is reshaping agricultural land use under climate change and globalization pressures. I argue that 2009 Water Resources Law formalized and limited public participation within the newly formed river basin council, while concurrently strengthening technocratic water allocation institutions that limit the agency of smallholder water users to make agricultural land use decisions. Additionally, I find that climate change adaptation discourse is being operationalized within river basin council to legitimize these reforms, but these reforms are explicitly enrolled in agricultural development policy aimed at converting traditional agricultural systems to export-oriented production. This study contributes to the fledgling scholarship on the implications of the 2009 Water Resource Law for Peruvian agricultural communities. More broadly, my findings offer insight into how IWRM reshapes the agricultural sector, how this is situated into the continually shifting role of the state, and how these policy reforms integrate and animate climate change adaptation.
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Du, Plessis J. A. "Integrated water demand management for local water governance." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/5435.
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Suleiman, Lina. "Water Governance in Transition." Doctoral thesis, KTH, Samhällsplanering och miljö, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-12982.
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The constraints experienced by water utilities in developing countries, with regard to the universal provision of access to water and improved water services, have been defined by international policymakers as "a crisis of governance". This study departs from the theoretical perspectives on governance and aspires to accumulate knowledge and advance understanding on how the performance of water utilities can be enhanced. The thesis comprises five papers and the cover essay. Four of the papers address case studies and one is a theoretically based paper, while all five papers are supported by reviews from the literature relevant to the topic of each paper. The thesis uses insights from literature reviews mapping relevant scientific theories and concepts in the areas of mainly governance, deliberative policymaking and communicative planning, social capital, civil society and institutional theoretical perspectives. The study integrates different research methods and explores theoretical perspectives on governance to examine the governance aspects of water utilities in the transition phase from public to private management and operation. The study investigates whether the governance structure that involves the private sector in the form of Public Private Partnership (PPP) of water utility has produced "good governance" and enhanced water governance in two cases, the Lema Water Company in Amman, Jordan and the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) in Accra, Ghana. The analysis highlights evidence of governance deficiency. Accordingly, the thesis argues against the policy design that assumes that simply transferring the management and operation of water utility to private operators would resolve the problems of water utilities and enhance water governance. The analyses and the conclusions reached in the papers, together with a review of the literature on New Institutional Economics theory that knits together all the theories that are utilised in the papers, offer insights in the understanding of aspects of water governance. The insights suggest that policymakers need to better understand how institutions at different levels impact the overall performance of a water utility. The performance of the water utility cannot be detached from the wider institutional setting or reduced to simply changing the operator. What has been disregarded from the calculus of international policymakers, the thesis mainly argues, is the institutional perspective. The study concludes that actors’ performances are affected primarily by their institutional settings. The constraints of water utilities to provide a better performance and good governance processes reside in different kinds of institutional settings To address this, the thesis develops a generic institutional framework within which water governance aspects can be assessed at different institutional levels, from the higher level of politics to that of the individual level. According to this perspective, the study views governance process as "the interaction between actors from the spheres of a society within specific sets of formal and informal institutions in a social setting that produces certain political, economic and social outcomes". It defines good governance as "the legitimacy given by the wider public to institutions in a social setting and the coherency of formal and informal institutions to produce socially effective outcomes for the collective public". The developed generic institutional framework is used to more thoroughly analyse the two cases integrated in the study. This approach to assessment of water governance provides an explanation for why the water utilities were not able to meet their performance goals and enriches our understanding of water governance processes. It also modestly maps the main problematic institutional areas that in each case constrained aspects of good water governance. In practical terms, this thesis emphasises that policymakers have to map and identify the institutional factors constraining the overall performance of a water utility, at all levels. The thesis also urges policymakers to be cautious regarding which formulated policies are seen as solutions. Policymakers should restrain themselves from experimenting with policy when they are not sure that certain outcomes are likely to be produced by adopting a particular policy. In the long run, inappropriate policies may negatively affect local institutional settings and are likely to undermine the capacity of local governance.QC20100628
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Soltani, ehha Mahdokht. "Yazd Urban Water Governance : Towards water privatization in Yazd, Iran." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Kulturgeografiska institutionen, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-65783.
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Reliable clean water supply and treated sewage are fundamental for human health and wellbeing. Water scarcity becomes a discussing concern due to the unfair distribution of resources and different amount of precipitation in some parts of the earth. Although water-related issues are highly influenced by climate changes, there are always various mismanagements of human kind in local scale which totally affects the natural water cycle. Therefore, an urban water system and how this system copes with the natural and built environment are going to be studied in this research. Reviewing the urban management and decision making process inIran, privatization and its prerequisites is the main backbone of this thesis. The central region ofIran,Yazd, has been selected as the case study. This water-stressed area is located on desert margins which water plays a key role in every new and existing development. Along with studying vulnerability of urban water system in this area, the potential risks and crisis would be pointed out. Finally, the analysis and discussion to the current of water sector’s situation based on previous experiences have been presented.
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Wadsley, Johanna. "Financing water for all : moral economy of global water governance." Thesis, Open University, 2012. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.548067.
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Grimes, Hilary Judith. "Addressing the 'water crisis' : the complementary roles of water governance and the human right to water." Thesis, University of Dundee, 2009. https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/b7c7fd5b-b5d2-4a70-bf3d-3888f346fefa.
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There has been talk of countries facing water "crises" and even predictions of a "global water crisis", for some years now. The effects of climate change, population growth, and ever higher levels of development are being felt around the world. Even in the United Kingdom, generally considered to have plentiful rainfall, there have been restrictions on water use. How much more serious a problem, then, is this issue for those countries with less bountiful water resources and fewer financial resources to cope with increasing water stress. One common response has been to consider the water crisis as a "crisis of governance", in recognition that it is less about the lack of water and more about the need to address poverty and power imbalances within society. However, this neither clarifies the measures to be taken nor the responsibilities that governments have towards their people when facing such a crisis. This thesis explores the meaning and implications of "good water governance" as a means of addressing the water crisis and concludes that for the meas to be successful a clear end goal is required. This thesis proposes that the normative content of the Human Right to Water is a useful starting point in defining the goals for national water policy able to meet the challenge of a potential water crisis. By combining positive contributions both good water governance and the Human Right to Water, the thesis develops a framework to assist governments in planning, implementing and monitoring the measures necessary to fulfil their responsibilities. In order to verify the framework that has been developed, the thesis applies the framework to the case of South Africa, a country that is facing increasing water stress while still redressing the balance of past inequities. The thesis concludes that a framework using aspects from a water governance approach and aspects of the Human Right to Water can assist governments to focus their efforts on the critical issues that affect their communities' access to water.
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Li, Wen Jing. "Water governance in a changing climate : adaptation strategy of EU water law." Thesis, University of Macau, 2011. http://umaclib3.umac.mo/record=b2586411.
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Cohen, Alice. "From water to watershed : an analysis of rescaled water governance in Canada." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/39435.
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Recent water governance reforms (in Canada and internationally) promote a shift from political to watershed boundaries for the purposes of water governance. This ‘watershed approach’ typically includes a shift from political to hydrologic boundaries, increased extra-governmental participation in decision-making, and some degree of delegation to watershed-scale organizations.
This dissertation analyzes the uptake of the watershed approach in four Canadian jurisdictions: Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, and answers the following research question: why has rescaling to watersheds occurred, and what are its governance implications? The empirical analysis employs primary data derived from legislative and policy reviews, as well as from forty-nine in-depth interviews with representatives from provincial governments, watershed-scale organizations, and non-governmental organizations in four case study provinces. The theoretical framework of the dissertation draws on – and engages with – recent debates about scale, governance, environmental management, and political ecology.
On this basis, the dissertation makes three interrelated arguments. The first argument is that the justifications for choosing a watershed approach are often ambiguous. Specifically, Chapter 3 of the dissertation highlights a conceptual slippage between watersheds’ development as a technical tool and uptake as a governance framework. The second argument is that the widespread appeal of watersheds can be explained, at least in part, by their status as boundary objects (defined as a common or shared concept interpreted differently by different groups). And third, the dissertation argues that the implications of rescaled water governance can usefully advance current conceptualizations of rescaling by informing debates with respect to the political ecology of scale.
Together, these arguments contribute to current knowledge by pointing to a new approach to the study of watersheds. Moreover, the synthetic findings of the dissertation make a key contribution to practical and conceptual debates about rescaling by drawing connections between the reasons for, and implications of, rescaled water governance. In particular, the research suggests that the reasons for watersheds’ uptake do not align with the governance implications associated with their implementation.
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Faragher, Tamsin. "Sustainable water governance: An incremental approach towards a decentralised, hybrid water system." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/29658.
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Cape Town is experiencing its worst drought in recorded history. Notwithstanding that the Western Cape has always been a water scarce region, it is this current drought that has brought home the area’s inherent vulnerability and highlighted the governance issues. The world wherein South Africa’s water governance was created is very different to the world we find ourselves in today. It is a world of uncertainty and unpredictability not contemplated in water governance comprised of legislation, policy, guidelines and practice. The current water governance constructs a conventional approach based upon predictability and certainty and is no longer appropriate to meet today’s new challenges. Consistent with this conventional approach, Cape Town’s municipal water supply is almost completely dependent upon surface water which makes it even more vulnerable to drought than if its supply was comprised of a variety of water supply options. With surface water sources fully exploited and storage opportunities within the urban edge limited alternative water supply options must be more seriously considered and the water governance reformed to accommodate its use. Water governance is the focus of reform because it is the framework for infrastructure planning and therefore controls the resultant system, infrastructure and management. This thesis interrogates the current water governance as the starting point before firstly discussing the proposed incremental approach towards a decentralised, hybrid system for water infrastructure and secondly, identifying specific areas where intervention is necessary for implementation.
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Movik, Synne. "Fluid rights South Africa's water allocation reform." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2008. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.488584.
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The perceived threat of water scarcity and the rise of the integrated water resources management paradigm have prompted policy reforms worldwide, with South Africa's 1998 Water Act being regarded as particularly progressive.
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Heinmiller, B. Timothy Sproule-Jones Mark. "Partners and competitors : intergovernmental relations and the governance of transboundary common pools /." *McMaster only, 2004.
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Smith, Yvonne. "Nestlé and the Global Water Governance Arena." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för naturgeografi, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-144085.
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The future of global water supply and availability is one of the most important questions facing life on earth today, and experts agree that the most pressing angle to approach the question from is its governance. However, water represents one of the worlds broadest and most complex fields of governance due to its cross thematic and cross-boundary reach, as well as an increase in new actors through privatisation and transnational corporate influence. In order to actively implement new governance approaches the current system, its actors, connections and influence strategies must be identified. This study combines three theoretical and methodological approaches to study our current global water governance structure: Neo-Gramscian, Network analysis and Policy Entrepreneurship. The Neo-Gramscian influence theory is used to identify 3 types of connections between actors. The resulting data is then used for network analysis to identify the key actors within the field. Once these key actors have been identified, all Nestlé (as a case study for transnational corporations) connections to said actors and the field of water governance have been highlighted under the combined theoretical lenses of Neo-Gramscian influence and Policy Entrepreneurial strategies. These three theories are used in conjunction for several reasons: All three theories represent a different perspective of analysing the decentralised, large scale governance of a complex system. While network analysis allows for the visual representation of the governance “space” and for the identification of key actors and their connections, the Neo-Gramscian and policy entrepreneur approaches give insight into how these connections might be used and created in order to lead to a position of influence within the system. The results show a list of 42 key actors to whom Nestlé has a large number of self-reported connections across all 3 influence types. It further shows that Nestle actively uses at least 3 of the 4 entrepreneurial strategies on some of these connections. This suggests that Nestlé may have some significant influence in global water governance. The study is also a proof of concept for the synthesis of the three complementary theories.
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Franks, Tom R. "Water governance: a solution to all problems." University of Bradford, Department for International Development, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/3189.
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YesWater governance is a widely-used but ill-defined term. Our objective throughout this seminar series has been to analyse what it does mean and to question the consensus that seems to attach to it. In this paper for the final seminar I discuss what governance is not, I suggest what it is and I consider some propositions and issues that seem to have emerged from our meetings. In doing this, I appreciate that governance can mean different things to different people, but I suggest that, used in a specific way, it is a concept with particular value and significance for water development.
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Franks, Tom R., and Frances D. Cleaver. "Analysing Water Governance: A Tool for Sustainability." Institution of Civil Engineers / Thomas Telford, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/4187.
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yesManaging global water resources and providing water services to the world¿s people raises a continuing series of challenges, driven by increasing expectations, and a growing competition for water, which will be exacerbated by climate change. This paper explores how concepts of water governance and sustainability may help us to meet those challenges. Water governance is often equated with the role of government or management in the provision of water services. By contrast, we see governance as the system of actors, resources, mechanisms and processes, which mediate society¿s access to water. A broad conceptual framework is presented for the analysis of water governance, based on linkages between the resources available to society, the mechanisms that shape access to water and the outcomes of those mechanisms, both for people and the ecosystem. These linkages are mediated both by stakeholders and by management processes. It is argued that this conceptual framework offers a robust analytical tool for planning for sustainability as it is able to account for the complexities of water governance (of contexts, stakeholders, arrangements and uses). The paper concludes with observations about the ways in which the framework can be used to understand how different water governance arrangements produce variable outcomes in terms of sustainability.
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Lasheen, W. "Explaining water governance in Egypt : actors, mechanisms and challenges." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10871/36205.
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This thesis adopts a governance theoretical framework to analyse and explain the complex and non-linear nature of water governance arrangements in Egypt. Drawing on empirical data collected from fieldwork with key water stakeholders in Egypt, and using a documentary analysis of the major water policy documents, the thesis examines the interplay dynamics between water agents and structures at national, regional and international levels. The work rests on the observation that water governance arrangements in Egypt have changed over the last two decades to denote an ever-growing role for non-state actors. The historic domination and monopoly of state actors in water policy decisions is no longer suitable for addressing the emerging water challenges. Consequently, the water crisis in Egypt is perceived as a governance issue that calls for the collaboration of state and non-state actors. In order to inform the ontological, epistemological and methodological basis of the thesis, the governance analytic framework is combined with theoretical insights from structure-agency accounts. By combining theoretical and empirical enquiry, this work attempts to contribute to and advance beyond the existing literature in three ways. First, it offers one of the first attempts to organise an empirical in-depth case study analysis of the water governance arrangements in Egypt using a multi-level structure-agency framework. Second, it provides a systematic examination and mapping-out of the new water governance systems in Egypt. Third, it presents a rigorous evaluation of the impact of water governance regimes at the regional and international levels on water policy decisions at the national level. Following on from the case study analysis, and guided by the developed theoretical framework, this research has concluded that the Egyptian water governance is dominated by powerful and influential government water bodies. Therefore, any attempt to change existing governance arrangements has to be very carefully planned, taking into account the interaction between water policy agents and the existing water structure. Thus, this thesis will appeal to a diverse audience, including public policy and water governance scholars as well as water experts and policy makers.
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Fisher, Karen Toni, and Karen Fisher@anu edu au. "Meeting Urban Water Needs: Exploring Water Governance and Development in Tagbilaran City, the Philippines." The Australian National University. Faculty of Science, 2006. http://thesis.anu.edu.au./public/adt-ANU20061221.100356.
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Water is subject to uncertainty of supply (quantity) and quality, which affects decisions determining allocation, use and management for human and environmental functions. Tensions concerning water and its allocation reflect conflicting ideologies influencing development. Focusing on water governance enables the allocation and management of environmental resources and tensions in development to be explored.
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This research has as its central argument the notion that water governance is conceptualised differently at different scales and as discourses become localised, hybrid forms emerge. Place-specific hybrid governance systems which are cognisant of transformations in the local political economy and environmental characteristics can be useful in managing risks and uncertainty about water supply. This is particularly so where local knowledge about formal institutions regulating water governance and environmental conditions is low. This is because hybrid systems are more likely to be responsive to local needs than national or supra-national discourse allows. However, there are limitations with hybrid systems, particularly in terms of allocating responsibility and risk, which require effective coordination.
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The aim of this research is to uncover local perspectives and knowledge about water governance and hybridity in urban environments which can be used to shape and influence urban water management. I explore the hybridisation of water governance by considering the problem of ensuring urban water supply in a developing country context. The research was undertaken as an inductive, qualitative inquiry comprising a case study in Tagbilaran City, Bohol, the Philippines. Tagbilaran is a small sized city with a population of approximately 87,000 people. The city is experiencing relatively rapid population growth along with urban development and expansion in which water demand already outstrips water supply. Ethnographic, interpretive techniques were used to distil local perspectives about water governance which are juxtaposed with official policy and discourse. Research methods included participant observation, semi-structured interviews with government employees, government officials and key informants from other organisations. Other methods included structured household surveys and the use of documentary sources.
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This research reveals how formal approaches to urban water governance systems have been shaped by international development thinking and discourse. Current strategies to manage water emphasise an integrated approach which encompasses environmental, social and economic domains. At the same time neoliberal discourse exerts a powerful influence over how urban water is conceptualised and managed, and who should be responsible for its provision. The case study allows for the exploration of the ways in which development and water governance discourse have been articulated and the consideration of the local factors which have enabled the emergence of hybrid water supply services embedded in a localised hybrid governance system.
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I show how water governance in Tagbilaran is hybrid because of the global-local dialectic that informs policy and practice, public-private engagement in water provision, and inter-jurisdictional water sharing. I also demonstrate how households experiences of water supply and their physical environment influence decisions about household allocation and perceptions about human-environment interactions and water security. As a consequence, knowledge about water governance held at the household level emerges as localised and specific in which everyday experience shapes ideas around responsibility and agency such that local forms of government and engagement have more meaning for households than national and supra-national discourse. The juxtaposition of formal, bureaucratic governance institutions with household knowledge exposes multiple understandings of water governance and water supply in Tagbilaran.
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The findings of this research reveal that household conceptions of water governance are divorced from formal conceptions of water governance. There is a risk, therefore, that an over-emphasis on network expansion without due consideration of water resource management may lead to greater levels of consumption. This will continue to place pressure on resources and may ultimately lead to water insecurity. This is because local knowledge of the formal political, economic, and administrative institutions is limited at the household level. Therefore, this research argues that local perspectives and knowledge need to be incorporated more into management and policy decision making. Alternatively, greater effort needs to be made to communicate formal policy to the household level.
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Fisher, Karen Toni. "Meeting urban water needs : exploring water governance and development in Tagbilaran City, the Philippines /." View thesis entry in Australian Digital Theses Program, 2006. http://thesis.anu.edu.au/public/adt-ANU20061221.100356/index.html.
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Chien, Ker-Hsuan. "Water, informality, and hybridising urban governance in Taiwan." Thesis, Aberystwyth University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2160/cc4780ba-760d-4d30-8440-40bb090458d8.
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In the past ten years urban adaptation in the changing climate has become a primary concern for urban governance, as cities, especially those in developing countries, are burgeoning while natural disasters escalate, Securing the human habitat in the urban areas has became central to the sustaining of the human race. Dealing with urban water, therefore, is a ceaseless struggle between nature and the human need to seek new knowledge and technology in urban water governance. Being a city in great danger of flooding, Taipei's way of taming urban water has been a long process of disaster experience, knowledge learning, policy transferral, and negotiation with local citizenry. By delineating Taipei's water taming process, not only we can understand the city and water through their co-evolving processes, but we can also re-think how urban water has been conceptualised by man, and how this conceptualisation has affected the human dwellings on the waterfront. To depict the shifting human-water relationships of Taipei, this thesis employs the Deleuzean assemblage theory, treating Taipei's urban water governance as an assembling process of natural events, knowledge learning, mobile urban policy, urban informality, and neoliberal ideology. By adopting assemblage theory in the case of Taipei's urban water governance, the interweaving of floods, water knowledge, historical incidents, human dwellings, and the conducting of neoliberal urban governance can thus be re-figured in a processual manner, as a part of the constituting of the urban assemblage. Through attending to each of the constituents of this assemblage, seeing all parts of the urban assemblage as active and significant, this thesis not only demonstrates how water and the city shape each other, but it also indicates new possibilities in negotiating with neoliberal urban governance.
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Phumpiu, Patricia. "Water Governance : Policy, Politics and Regulation in Honduras." Doctoral thesis, Stockholm : Department of Land and Water Resources Engineering, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), 2008. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-4868.
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Cleaver, Frances D., and Tom R. Franks. "Water governance and poverty: a framework for analysis." University of Bradford. Bradford Centre for International Development, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/2912.
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YesIn this paper we present a framework for understanding water governance, through which we critique some of the assumptions underlying the current consensus on good governance. Specifically, we suggest that current approaches are based on incomplete or partial understandings of the concepts of governance. We question the idea that governance can be identified as an abstract set of principles, without the need for contextualisation and localisation. In particular, we suggest that there is a general lack of understanding of the way local interactions shape and influence governance processes. Finally, and with specific reference to the MDGs and the water sector, we question the implicit assumption that `good¿ governance is necessarily pro-poor governance. The paper addresses these issues through a critical discussion of governance, from which we develop a framework for conceptualising water governance. The framework draws on theories of governance, institutions and structuration, but is also informed by recent empirical research and experiences from the field. We apply the framework to a specific case in Southwestern Tanzania and raise a number of issues and challenges for further research.
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Pritchard, Nicola F. "Disentangling water governance in Dar es Salaam : the role of NGOs and community water provision." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2017. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/8328/.
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This thesis aims to provide a contemporary account of the Dar es Salaam’s water sector as well as the role of the myriad stakeholders involved in it, taking into account the complexity history of the city’s water governance. As a rapidly growing city over recent years, the infrastructure of Dar es Salaam’s municipal system has not been updated for a significant period of time. As such, the areas served by this system face intermittent and piecemeal coverage whereas other large sections of the city are forced to come up with alternative, often expensive water resources that are unreliable and at times, unsafe. This thesis attempts to explore the lived realities of the individuals who reside in these unserved areas, and the ways in which community-based organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) play a role in the city’s water sector. Through analysis of community-level water provision schemes in two case study areas of Dar es Salaam, this research provides a thorough account of the ways in which water resources are managed, debated and utilised at the local level and the challenges faces by these local organisations. In addition, through an observational research at two local NGOs working in the water sector in Dar es Salaam, this research examines these organisations’ place within the city’s broader water governance framework, as well as how they operate and prioritise their day to day work and their outputs. This research also takes into account the national and international policy environment, as well as the ways in which Tanzania’s socio- political history has influenced the current means of water governance. Through an exploration of the prevalent discourses in policy creation and implementation and the aforementioned stakeholders in the water sector, this thesis examines the multitude of influences on Dar es Salaam’s water governance, as well as the tensions that arise between rhetoric and reality, and the impacts these have upon its citizens.
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Simataa, Faith Auguste. "From water resources management to integrated water resources management : an analysis of the establishment of new water management organisations in Namibia." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2010. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&action=viewtitle&id=gen8Srv25Nme4_9897_1308566898.
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The questions posed in this study address the different processes that were involved in the decision-making and establishment of the water management organisations, the extent of public participation, as well as features of evident governance in implementing the policies. A critical analysis of the role of stakeholders and the various influences they may have in water management will also be examined. The methodology follows a historical study approach. A thorough document review will be done of the policies and related materials around BMCs, where events will be constructed from the findings. Interviews will be conducted for verification purposes, to verify the desktop findings and to assimilate any conflicts of opinion that might have not been documented.
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Hendry, Sarah. "An analytical framework for reform of national water law." Thesis, University of Dundee, 2008. https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/43958b68-c58d-4166-a1a6-9d1611fd1a70.
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This thesis is a comparative law study of the national water laws of four jurisdictions - Scotland, England, South Africa and Queensland Australia. The purpose of the research was to develop an analytical framework for reform of national water law. The management of the water resource is a pressing global concern and law is one of the disciplines working to achieve this. As part of the global policy agenda for water, many states are reforming their national laws; many other actors are also engaged in these processes. However there is no framework for this area of law reform, no structure against which reform proposals can be assessed. This thesis attempts to draw out such a framework, by a primarily positivist and pragmatist analysis.
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Azdan, M. Donny. "Water policy reform in Jakarta, Indonesia : a CGE analysis /." The Ohio State University, 2001. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1373993667.
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Rudebeck, Thérèse. "Corporations as custodians of the public good? : exploring the intersection of corporate water stewardship and global water governance." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2018. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/275840.
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This thesis is about Global Water Governance (GWG) – an overarching normative framework by which water management practices across all scales may be guided. More specifically, it seeks to develop an understanding of how Corporate Water Stewardship (CWS), and its facilitation of the inclusion of companies’ perspectives to address water issues, affects GWG. Understood as a form of market environmentalism – a doctrine premised on mutual synergies between environmental conservation and economic growth – CWS provides a channel for companies to participate in, as well as spearhead, a quest for more sustainable water management within and beyond their own operations. Despite a proliferation of activities undertaken by companies, CWS has attracted limited scholarly attention, and an overarching analysis of the effects that mounting corporate involvement has had on the global water discourse has so far been absent from scholarly debates. This research draws on over 500 documents published by companies, NGOs, and other organisations, alongside 50 interviews with key practitioners. It specifically questions: (i) the empirical context through which CWS emerged; (ii) the manner in which companies from various sectors conceptualise water and its management; (iii) the way CWS endeavours are legitimised and; (iv) the mechanisms through which companies exert influence. Chapters 4 to 8 comprise an analysis of the main research findings. Chapter 4 investigates why companies are interested in water issues, how companies frame them, and how CWS could materialise. Chapters 5 and 6 address how companies from different sectors engage in CWS in the contexts of water resources management, and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH). Chapter 7 turns attention to how companies draw on non-conventional sources of authority to legitimise their activities, and Chapter 8 analyses how CWS influences GWG. When taken holistically, the thesis attests to the key point that the inclusion of companies in solving water issues matters; their presence changes the status quo of water governance. More importantly, the thesis goes beyond such assertions by pointing towards how it matters. It finds that, as a result of corporate involvement, water is being reconceptualised from an environmental and social risk to society, to an economic risk for businesses. Moreover, although companies may not be doing this in an ill-intentioned way, the research suggests that when they participate in water interventions, they alter GWG by promoting the commercialisation of water management, the valuation of water risk, and the liberalisation of water governance. Thus, although the involvement of companies may contribute to improving the management and governance of water across all scales, their involvement has to be matched with proper ‘checks and balances’ to ensure that CWS serves the public good, rather than simply contributing to private profit.
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Schiedek, Leonie. "Water Governance in the SDG Era - An Analysis of National Commitments to Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för geovetenskaper, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-412137.
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The 21st century is marked by the forecast of a frightful set of crises caused by anthropogenic activities. Among them, an emerging water crisis threatens the existence of life on the planet. It is mainly triggered by a lack of good water governance. The concept of water governance refers to a range of different societal systems that are involved in the management of water resources, and the delivery of water services. However, these systems are threatened by several problems causing a mismanagement of water resources, involving corruption, deficits of democratization, or inequalities. This study examines commitments to improved water, sanitation, and hygiene provided by the Sanitation and Water for All partnership through a qualitative content analysis in order to allow an insight in current goal-setting for improved water governance. In this study, we show that even though stakeholders across geographical regions and constituencies aim at efficient governance measures, they neglect the importance of the procedural factors of good governance, for instance participation or adaptiveness. Instead they mostly focus on the outcome. Further, the study reveals that the commitments lack timely and measurable components and often do not include allocation of budgets. Although stakeholders show their intention to commit to action and work collaboratively, they often lack long-term thinking. Against the background of emerging global challenges in the water sector, most stakeholders are not yet prepared to work efficiently with new forms of governance in order to establish sustainable and resilient systems. Nevertheless, multi-stakeholder partnerships provide a basis to start a learning journey and can help to facilitate capacity development and future literacy. This thesis reveals starting points for improvement, gives practical recommendations for action and further research directions, that are necessary to explore the differences between regions and constituencies further and improve the goal-setting process in the following years.
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Horning, Darwin Glen. "Understanding structure and character in rural water governance networks." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/60346.
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Governance has emerged as one of the key concerns amongst water experts focused on sustainability. Achieving sustainable states of water governance requires alignment of governance structures with water management objectives that are context specific. Two rural watershed planning processes in the province of British Columbia- the Similkameen Valley (Similkameen) Watershed planning network and the Kettle River (Kettle) Watershed planning network - were investigated using social network analysis (SNA) and social discourse network analysis (s-DNA) to map the socio-ecological relationships and analyze the discourse upon which water governance networks are being built. The resulting network structures and key actor characteristics revealed limited evidence for a transition towards collaborative and adaptive water governance models, which have been argued to be better suited in addressing key goals such as adapting to climate change impacts. Recommendations are made for improving water governance processes in rural regions to achieve effective implementation within the context of the new British Columbia Water Sustainability Act, 2014. SNA and s-DNA provide a means, through interdisciplinary research, to examine social network drivers and potential barriers to sustainable water governance development. Identifying network structures and measuring network characteristics gives resource managers the insight to intervene into evolving governance processes, to ensure proper alignment with contextually determined water sustainability goals. Results from this research will enable those involved in water governance design and implementation to make informed water resource decisions leading to effective, adaptive, and sustainable water governance.Graduate Studies, College of (Okanagan)
Graduate
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Kumar, Chandra Bhushan. "Hydrological politics in megacity : rethinking water governance in Delhi." Thesis, Aberystwyth University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/2160/315aebfb-2b31-42cc-ba74-31e3787902cf.
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This thesis is about the juxtaposition of two dominant themes of today’s world – megaurbanization and water management. It sets out to investigate the contemporary water management conditions in a South megacity. In this investigation, the hydraulics serve two purposes: one, as a frame to apprehend various processes that created (and are creating) myriad relationships in this gigantic urban space; and two, as an object of inquiry reveals the genealogy of the ideas or institutions that has led to the spatiotemporal arrangements of the domestic water supply in the megacity. Drawing insights from various analytical perspectives including hydrosocial, urban political ecology, subaltern urbanism, governmentality, postcolonialism, and modernity, the thesis surveys the process of mega-urbanization that shaped the form and design of institutional frameworks, laden with singular and modernist vision of water, and holds this vision and its apparatus – state monopoly and segregation- as key producers of multi-layered and diverse risks in water management for the households, the megacity, and the region. Using results from extensive fieldwork in Delhi, the thesis proposes an alternative view to analyse the contemporary concerns and to suggest possible pathways in megacity water management. Rapid emergence of megacities in global South and related concerns of water supply in these places have been investigated, to a large extent, from binary perspectives of planned/slum; formal/informal; economic good/social good; and efficiency/equity. Taking Linton’s (2010) phrase ‘from waters to water’ as a starting point, the thesis travels back into history to witness the hesitant and incomplete transformation of ‘multiple waters’ into ‘singular and modernist water’ in the megacity. It helps first in dismantling the myth of binary understanding of the megacity; second, in unearthing the fundamental barriers embedded in the contemporary technoinstitutional regime of the megacity hydraulics; third, in reconstructing the cultural landscapes of water in the megacity, which are gradually marginalized and lost in the dominant discourse on demand and supply of water; and fourth, in indicating the presence of spatio-temporality of risks of different orders in the megacity. Next, using empirical results from more than five thousand households in 32 locations within Delhi, the thesis demonstrates the presence of first order risks concerning accessibility, adequacy, quality, affordability, acceptability, seasonal, and source depletion. The management of these risks and the methods of this management, the thesis argues, produce second order risks which are mostly invisible, distant in time and space, uncertain, and politically unattractive. Putting household in focus, the thesis follows a familiar trajectory of measurement of coping strategy; but then it indicates departure by making household as a crucible of ideology and risk management strategies in water management. This innovative approach helps in reconstructing the ideological premise and its workable instruments for the megacity water management, that are as diverse, flexible, dynamic, inclusive, and holistic as a megacity. From knowledge perspective, the thesis contributes the following: first, the binary understanding of a south megacity is a myth and needs to be dismantled as it promotes a singular and modernist vision of water ignoring the local geo-cultural conditions and practices; second, the contemporary megacity water management faces different orders of risks, and its focus on first order risks often remains (or choose to) ignorant of second order risks; third, the household is not only a place to assess the risks and to advance the arguments of willingness to pay, but it is also a significant functional institution to offer ideas and workable solutions, which are local, indigenous, just, and sustainable.
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Yu, Haiyan. "Water, power and IWRM (Integrated Water Resources Management) : a comparative study of village water governance in arid and semi-arid Northwest China." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2014. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:40d64a36-8d2f-4146-9e7b-fcfad9602953.
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Agriculture based livelihoods in arid and semi-arid areas encompass limited physical resources and evolving relationships between environment, population and the state. Northwest China encounters constant socio-economic changes, changing climate, agriculture and land practices and political relations that impact the social-ecological system. This thesis investigates how policy, environmental changes and local action interact with each other and affect the livelihoods and determine the environment in the Shiyang River Basin. Focusing on increasingly severe water crisis, environment degradation and endangered livelihoods that define arid and semi-arid environment, this thesis examines local people's perceptions of and interaction with their environment and water-related interventions in the Shiyang River Basin, a typical inland arid area in Northwest China. In 12-months fieldwork, mixed methods were used including semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, group discussions and participant observation. This research explicitly applying a socio-ecological system lens shows that people's perceptions of water crises can be highly divergent, regarding access to and control over local water resources and the roles of internal and external interventions. A wide range of factors result in uneven access to resources and inequitable consequences across space and even within local communities. In the Chinese contexts, personal experiences together with geographical factor, lands area and income levels have significant impacts on villagers' water perceptions. Political trust, social capital and collective action play a key role in the understanding, implementation processes and outcomes of government-enforced water reforms at local levels. This research is the first known study to use the tools of social analysis to examine water, society and the state interactions and their consequences on governance of the irrigation commons, local livelihoods and sustainability in rural China. It shows the everyday water struggle over water control, access and economic opportunities among different water stakeholders. Although a majority of population still depend on irrigated agriculture for their livelihoods, the future of agriculture in studied basin or in China generally is uncertain as farmers migrate, the population ages and next generations become better educated and migrate to the city. This thesis enables a new perspective on the global water management debate within a context where research has stresses the natural and technocratic approaches and creates new opportunities for more effective and appropriate governance of common pool resources. Interdisciplinary understanding regarding stakeholder perceptions, water resources management and environmental change are enriched. Potential barriers and solutions are transferable to other regions and countries where water crises are accelerating due to population growth, urbanization, industrialization, agriculture and economic development, climate change and other socio-political changes.
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Moccia, Suzanne. "Beyond the public-private binary: cooperatives as alternative water governance models." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/284.
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This thesis examines the concept of water cooperatives as an alternative model to create access, supply and manage water services in poor urban and peri urban areas. Two case studies from the Municipality of Moreno, Buenos Aires are presented in this thesis in order to account for the feasibility of the model. The primary data for this research is derived from participant observation, key informant interviews, household questionnaire-based interviews and archival research.
The significance of researching water cooperatives is that they have traditionally been dismissed in regard to their potential of being a practical alternative to large water concessions and public run water services in the Global South. Research on alternatives such as water cooperatives is key, particularly in the face of growing de-privatization in the water sector in the province of Buenos Aires. The Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area is an important case study for research on water governance because it was intended to be the World Banks model for which other countries would strive to emulate when reforming and improving water services by means of private concessions.
The first part of the thesis examines the political and social history of water cooperatives in Argentina and the effects of privatization on the cooperative model. The second part outlines the theoretical advantages and disadvantages of the governance model and positions these theories against the realities of an existing water cooperative and a poor peri-urban community that has a strong affinity for implementing the model in their community. The two case studies presented in this thesis help to elucidate why the water governance model is able to serve poor peri-urban communities that otherwise remain unserviced by the traditional public or private water governance models. This is significant if we are earnest about providing water and sanitation services to all.
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Eberhard, Rachel. "The metagovernance of Australian water policy: Practices, rationales and outcomes." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2018. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/118143/1/Rachel_Eberhard_Thesis.pdf.
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This thesis examines how governments work with stakeholders to develop and implement water policy in Australia. Evidence from the Great Barrier Reef and the Murray Darling Basin showed the challenges involved, and how this can affect environmental outcomes. Results show how government can work more effectively with stakeholders, and the potential of non-government organisations to help broker better policy outcomes.
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Anderson, Kelsey Anne. "Concerns of Water Scarcity and Water Quality among two Andean Communities in Peru." Scholar Commons, 2016. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/6061.
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This thesis sought to explore the perceptions and experiences of Andean women regarding water quality, water scarcity, and health among two communities in Carhuaz province of Ancash, Peru. Household surveys (n=25), semi-structured interviews (n=10), unstructured interviews (n=2), and participant observation were conducted with local women to investigate their concerns and perceptions of water and health. An additional two unstructured interviews were conducted with a local water authority and doctor in order gain another perspective on the issues of water security and health.
The pressure of a changing climate and of a problematic water governance system in Andean Peru create an opening in which to explore local women’s experiences with water and health. Additionally, the socio-history of the region, issues of gender and ethnicity, and the various water users at stake must be considered as they help form the women’s perceptions and experiences. The findings suggest there is concern among women in both communities on water scarcity and water quality. Furthermore, the relationship between diarrhea and community was found to be significant. The results of this study help situate the local experiences within the broader economic and social processes of the region.
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Dube, Beatrice. "Distributive justice : water allocation reform in the Greater Tzaneen Municipality." Thesis, University of Pretoria, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/75996.
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The thesis investigates deliberateness in water allocation to historically disadvantaged individuals (HDIs) through a water infrastructure development project, the Great Letaba River Water Development Project (GleWaP) within a context of water allocation reform (WAR). WAR is a programme set to redress past discriminatory laws and practices in the allocation of water in South Africa and seeks to address racial and gender inequalities inherited from past political epochs. The study interrogates the concept of individual water rights for women in a context where the collective is prioritised over the individual. The qualitative study uses data collected from 73 participants using interviews, two focus group discussions and surveys. John Rawls’ theory of distributive justice and Jacques Derrida’s deconstruction theory are applied to interrogate water allocation discourses and processes to understand whether genuine justice can be achieved through water allocation reform. The study is set within the critical social theory paradigm where the interlinkages between power, politics, race and gender are interrogated in search of social justice. Study findings reveal that the intentions of WAR as articulated in the goals are far from achievable with other variables such as land ownership still to be addressed. After several years, WAR remains steeped in theoretical rhetoric while lacking in practicality, as victims of past discriminatory practices still have no access to water resources, while legislation continues to protect and benefit a minority. The study identifies deficit thinking as one of the challenges in the implementation of the reform strategy. It concludes that the water allocation reform strategy does not break away from colonial and apartheid concerns for white beneficiaries as there does not seem to be a deliberate attempt to allocate water to predominantly black historically disadvantaged individuals. The thesis thus recommends measurable outcomes for water allocation reform, development of a vibrant black rural water economy, and the use of expropriation of water as a measure to speed up water reform.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2020.
Anthropology and Archaeology
PhD
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Gilmont, Michael. "Water governance : the politics of the emergence of reflexive-discursive water policy in California, Australia and Israel." Thesis, King's College London (University of London), 2014. http://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/water-governance-the-politics-of-the-emergence-of-reflexivediscursive-water-policy-in-california-australia-and-israel(8e9d8172-b1f8-47d2-bd07-ee5a56c5d332).html.
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This thesis analyses the politics of the dynamic transition from an engineering-based supply augmentation towards a new era of reallocative policy. It identifies and critiques multiple policy instruments and the aims and considerations that inform and shape water resource policies. It analyses the nature of the shifts in policy emphasis, the role and mechanisms of institutional reform, and the existence and character of a discursive policy space. The study provides a unique analysis of three case studies covering the most advanced cases of water reform involving predominantly agricultural water: South/Central California, Australia‟s Murray-Darling Basin, and Israel. All are democratic, economically-diverse neoliberal political-economies, enduring worsening water scarcity. They have adopted new approaches, from the early 1980s, to the use and allocation of water resources, moving away from supply development towards efficiency and environmental reallocation. The analysis draws on in-depth interviews with over 100 policy participants from the four communities of policy stakeholders identified by Allan (2003): Government, Society, the Private Sector (including agriculture) and the Non-Governmental [Environmental] Organisations. The analysis shows that broadly comparable trajectories of water use have been achieved. The reflexive trajectories have been put in place by different, politically mediated, combinations of policy instruments in each case. It also demonstrates that while both institutional and organisational reforms are a necessity for policy reform, the necessity is largely determined by political failings in the operation of the old structures, rather than structural flaws. By analysing the mechanisms of institutional and organisational reform, differences in the interaction between institutions and organisations (North, 1994) are identified and compared. California and Australia have witnessed reform spearheaded by institutions. Change in Israel has been achieved by professional and political leadership in organisational contexts. In all cases, the study shows that while the policy reforms analysed are designed to incorporate a wide range of voices and ideas, the mechanisms of institutional change are exclusive processes; politically entrepreneurial mechanisms based around key individuals are used to achieve institutional change in spite of challenging political landscapes. The research lastly identifies a broadening of policy space that facilitates discursive processes involving increasingly wide coalitions of voices in the policy process. These coalitions are shown to prioritise a commitment to politically sustainable water resource policy rather than strict adherence to the interests and priorities of their particular sector; they are shown to compromise their ideal visions in the interest of generating timely and politically sustainable change. The study identifies an even wider discursive space in which more radical ideas are advocated beyond policy space. They advocate change, or regression, beyond that which is currently politically feasible or desirable. It is suggested that a new sanctioned discourse of sustainable policy has been established in advanced political economies. A new policy space bounds water resources policy options, albeit in a space that is much wider than the narrow bounds of traditional engineering-based supply augmentation. The study concludes that there is much commonality between the three cases. Political factors are always the determining force in policy reform with similar political trends exhibited despite detailed differences in political dynamics between the three cases.
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Clifford-Holmes, Jai Kumar. "Fire and water : a transdisciplinary investigation of water governance in the lower Sundays River Valley, South Africa." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017870.
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The implementation of water policy and the integrated management of water face multiple challenges in South Africa (SA), despite the successes of post-apartheid government programmes in which some significant equity, sustainability and efficiency milestones have been met. This study uses a series of intervention processes into municipal water service delivery to explore the context, constraints, and real-world messiness in which local water authorities operate. The equitable provision of drinking water by local government and the collaborative management of untreated water by ‘water user associations’ are two sites of institutional conflict that have been subjected to broad ‘turnaround’ and ‘transformation’ attempts at the national level. This thesis seeks to explore and understand the use of transdisciplinary research in engaging local water authorities in a process of institutional change that increases the likelihood of equitable water supply in the Lower Sundays River Valley (LSRV). Fieldwork was conducted as part of a broader action research process involving the attempted ‘turnaround’ of the Sundays River Valley Municipality (SRVM) between 2011 and 2014. A multi-method research approach was employed, which drew on institutional, ethnographic, and systems analyses within an evolving, transdisciplinary methodology. In the single case study research design, qualitative and quantitative data were collected via participant observation, interviews and documentary sources. Analytical methods included system dynamics modelling and an adapted form of the ethnographic tool of ‘thick description’, which were linked in a governance analysis. Government interventions into the SRVM failed to take account of the systemic complexity of the municipal operating environment, the interactions of which are described in this study as the ‘modes of failure’ of local government. These modes included the perpetual ‘firefighting’ responses of municipal officials to crises, and the simultaneous underinvestment in, and over-extension of, water supply infrastructure, which is a rational approach to addressing current water shortages when funds are unavailable for maintenance, refurbishment, or the construction of new infrastructure. The over-burdening of municipalities with technocratic requirements, the presence of gaps in the institutional arrangements governing water supply in the LSRV, and the lack of coordination in government interventions are analysed in this study, with policy recommendations resulting. The primary contribution of this study is in providing a substantively-contextualised case study that illustrates the value of systemic, engaged, extended, and embedded transdisciplinary research.
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Nababan, Mangapul Lammiahan. "Governance of Interlocal Government for Water Supply System in Indonesia." 京都大学 (Kyoto University), 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2433/161000.
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Cook, Christina Lillian. "Putting the pieces together : tracing fragmentation in Ontario water governance." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/39930.
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This socio-legal study of fragmentation in Ontario water governance is positioned
at the nexus of governance studies and the study of water management.
It investigates the legal institutions that contribute to fragmentation
in water governance, the associated governance patterns, and the consequences
for Ontario water management. This is highly relevant in the Canadian
context because jurisdictional fragmentation is frequently cited as a key
barrier to improved water management outcomes.
Three questions guided this research: (1) How did legal institutions create
conditions in which governance is more or less fragmented? (2) How does
fragmentation occur? (3) Is fragmentation a problem?
To answer these questions the dissertation undertakes a comprehensive,
but focused, historical review of water governance in Ontario from Confederation
to 2010. The dissertation relies on four sources of data: a review of
federal and provincial government documents in Canada; engagement with
the academic literature, jurisprudence (Canada, UK, and USA); and data
derived from thirty-three interviews and direct observation at four academic
and professional water policy conferences.
The dissertation makes three key findings. First, legal institutions are
sources of jurisdictional fragmentation, creating conditions in which water
governance can be more or less fragmented. Second, the dissertation finds
jurisdictional fragmentation is associated with a variety of governance patterns.
Finally, it finds the water governance and management literature
has not been sufficiently critical of the fragmentation-integration challenge,
too frequently framing integration as a solution without its own challenges.
Fragmentation may or may not be a problem depending on the context; the
consequences of fragmentation are variable. These findings are important
for moving policy forward. Jurisdictional fragmentation is a key feature of
Canadian governance as well as an important feature of governance initiatives
that seek to engage stakeholders in place-specific management solutions.
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Castillo, Ameyali Ramos. "Water governance in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.550571.
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Through a case study of the city of San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, this dissertation queries the relevance of current water governance frameworks to cities in the global south and brings to light a major mismatch between official water governance policies and the realities of cities in the global South. Drawing on a diversity of methodological tools and theoretical approaches, this dissertation demonstrates that current water governance approaches - be them state- based, market driven, or participatory - have systematically failed because they are based on assumptions of socio-political homogeneity, functioning democratic systems, and equitable and networked water access that are not reflective of cities in the global South. I demonstrate that San Cristobal- like many cities in the global South - has since its inception, been characterized and marked by a high degree of differentiation and fragmentation that, through explicit socio-political strategies, shaped and continues to shape contemporary water governance efforts in the city. I examine the diversity of water governance systems and the unique relationships to water in San Cristobal that have emerged in response to these processes of social and spatial fragmentation and document how they relate to each other and to the formal water governance system. I then demonstrate that current water governance endeavors not only deny the existence of diversity in water governance systems but actually aim to impose a single, unified, normative water governance framework. Based on evidence gathered in this dissertation I contend that, contrary to mainstream water governance approaches, a diversity of water governances in the city has the potential to strengthen - rather than hinder - effective and sustainable urban water governance. Thus, I conclude that an alternative model, based on polycentric governance, would be more appropriate for San Cristobal.
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Bereskie, Ty Anthony. "Drinking water management and governance in small drinking water systems : integrating continuous performance improvement and risk-based benchmarking." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/61464.
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Drinking water suppliers face challenges associated with changing populations, evolving economies, aging infrastructure, and shifting consumer demands. In small drinking water systems (SDWSs), these challenges are amplified by the pressure created from financial shortfalls and limited human resources. SDWSs are prone to higher rates of drinking water quality failure, are more vulnerable to spatiotemporal variability in water quality, and may be more susceptible to waterborne disease outbreaks than larger systems. Despite these challenges, SDWSs are overlooked in traditional academic and industrial studies, which often place a focus on larger, more complex drinking water supply systems (DWSSs) and the exploration, development, and implementation of new treatment technologies.
Given the current state of SDWSs, the main objectives identified for this research were to incentivize continuous performance, improve data resolution and water quality assessment practices for decision-making, and propose an improved drinking water quality management approach for SDWSs. This was accomplished in four distinct steps. The first step was to review the current state of practice of quality management systems and drinking water management systems and approaches in different parts of the world and within Canada to identify management gaps and potential areas for improvement. The second step was to explore the concept of continuous performance improvement and incentivize implementation through functional performance benchmarking. The third step was to improve on current drinking water quality assessment and benchmarking practices by implementing risk through quantifying degrees of compliance/non-compliance and spatial (i.e. location in the distribution system) and temporal (i.e. seasonal) variability through fuzzy rule-based modeling. The fourth and final step was to propose an improved drinking water management framework that fits within the bounds of Canada’s current decentralized governance system. The results of this research have the potential to be used by drinking water utility managers, operators, and planners to improve drinking water quality management in SDWSs at the federal, provincial/territorial, and municipal levels and improve on the current drinking water quality assessment and decision-making processes in place.Graduate Studies, College of (Okanagan)
Graduate
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Gearey, Mary. "Role of legitimacy in the relationships between water users and governance bodies under conditions of increasing water stress." Thesis, Cranfield University, 2005. http://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/3579.
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Water stress is an issue of increasing concern in developed countries. In particular localised water stress 'hot spots', are a new challenge. This emergence creates a series of difficulties. Firstly, the potential impact of water stress in modern political economies is not fully understood by either natural or social scientists. Secondly, policies targeted to limit water stress may need to be deployed well before it moves from an episodic to an endemic phenomenon. These policies may entail radical changes to the way water is valued and consumed by society. Understanding how existing relationships between water users and water governance bodies are negotiated is crucial to successful policy implementation. As water stress might potentially strain these relationships, the aim of this thesis is twofold. Firstly to determine where opportunities may exist for developing consensual, pro-resource strategies within and between these two stakeholder groups. Secondly, to examine the current strengths and weaknesses within these relationships to isolate what changes may need to be instigated in order to support approaches which manage water stress. Exploring the role that legitimacy plays in these current relationships will underpin this analysis. Legitimacy can be understood as the concept that explains how authority operates in modern political economies. In other words, legitimacy enables people, processes and policies to function; transaction costs are subsequently lower in polities where legitimacy is well embedded. Reflexively moving between theory and empirical fieldwork, a detailed analysis of one river catchment, the River Nene, and the water users and governance bodies within it, is undertaken. Primary conclusions suggest that water stress as a concept has a very low profile; however, different symptoms of water stress are recognised along the catchment with a wide range of possible solutions offered by stakeholders. Legitimacy is embedded within governance bodies along the catchment, though it is not uniformly distributed; this colours the perception of their effectiveness in water resource management. Novel policy options to ameliorate water stress are acceptable to water users, though reuse technologies and steep price hikes are rejected.
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Dingfelder, Jacqueline. "Wicked Water Problems: Can Network Governance Deliver? Integrated Water Management Case Studies from New Zealand and Oregon, USA." PDXScholar, 2017. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/3623.
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Integrated water management is a wicked public policy problem with no clear path to resolution. This dissertation is an in-depth qualitative comparative analysis of two collaborative governance processes created to tackle complex water problems in New Zealand and Oregon, U.S.A. Both cases convened a wide range of state and non-state actors in efforts to find common ground, build consensus for change, and develop innovative water policy solutions.
The goal of this comparative case study analysis is to gain a better understanding of collaborative network governance frameworks as applied to integrated water management and primary factors for success. The proposition posits that collaborative networks involving public, private, and non-profit actors are better equipped than government-driven efforts to develop desired outcomes. To test this proposition, the research questions probe the role of state and non-state policy actors, conditions for collaboration, strength of actor ties, development of trust and social capital, barriers to success, and the role of climate change as a policy driver in these two case studies.
The comparative case study analysis yields fascinating insights that adds to the network governance literature. In the New Zealand case, a collaborative-led process called the Land and Water Forum (LAWF) showed that this ongoing network offers benefits to creating consensus on complex water issues. LAWF succeeded in moving policy conversations forward where previous government-led efforts had failed. Within the LAWF collaborative network, non-state actors formed strong ties; however, relationships with state actors exhibited weaker ties.
With Oregon's integrated water policy, a collaborative network approach created a more conducive environment for meaningful dialogue among vested interests, and built some levels of interdependency and trust, thus generating a wider array of policy options than through previous legislative and bureaucratic efforts. However, long-standing political, legal, and institutional challenges continue to constrain effective integrated water management and the delivery of integrated outcomes in Oregon. The Oregon case did not exhibit strong leadership within the collaborative to broker challenging policy issues. Also, it faced implementation challenges as one state agency was given responsibility for stewarding integrated water management but lacked authority for implementation or coordination with other state agencies. Overcoming fragmented natural resource governance arrangements remains a daunting challenge.
This research revealed three key findings: (1) in both cases, collaborative network governance worked well for framing and designing new integrated water policies, but encountered implementation challenges; (2) managing the complexities around the intersection of top-down, vertical command and control governance with horizontal collaborative approaches remains an ongoing challenge to New Public Governance; and (3) the two cases represent examples of the use of formal and informal processes for policy development. The benefits of collaborative governance for policy development are substantial, and the limitations appear to be obstacles to overcome and not fatal flaws. The main challenge lies in transitioning from policy and planning to implementing changes on the ground affecting the way we manage water today and in the future.
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Ormerod, Kerri Jean. "Governing Risk, Reuse, and Reclamation: Water Pollution Control and New Water Resources in the Southwestern United States." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/556485.
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The potential to supplement the potable water supply with highly treated municipal wastewater, or sewage, is of increasing interest to water managers and planners in many parts of the world. Seen as an option of last resort as recently as the late 1990s, today engineers commonly consider potable water reuse projects to be as safe as, if not safer than, conventionally sourced drinking water supplies. Nevertheless, only a few cities across the world intentionally augment drinking water supplies with highly treated wastewater. The objective of my dissertation is to examine the governance of potable recycled water planning to better understand how potable recycling projects emerge as a water management strategy. Political aspects of planned potable reuse are often recognized, and even lamented by water planners and industry experts. However, there is a paucity of research that empirically analyzes the political aspects that influence public decisions on potable water projects. This study asks: how are potable water projects made, shaped, and frustrated? To examine the governance arrangements of this emerging water management strategy this research project considers three critical issues: (1) public values and social pressure, (2) the political, legal, and institutional contexts, and (3) the role of subjectivity in defining facts, themes, and solutions. As part of this study I use Q Methodology to explore shared attitudes regarding the principles that should govern the future of planned potable reuse. The overall analyses support the notion that there is more than one way to understand and approach potable water recycling, and that socially-held viewpoints are informed by social-spatial practices. The results reveal two distinct "common sense" shared ways of thinking that pivot on ideas about the appropriate technology and reflect contested visions of ideal society. My dissertation is the first to apply Q Methodology to water recycling in the United States, and I use it to examine the subjective preferences of people who participate in water recycling operations or planning. Results indicate that there are at least two commonly held viewpoints concerning the future of planned potable water recycling, which I have labeled "neosanitarian" and "ecosanitarian." Drawing upon tenets established in the Progressive Era, neosanitarians strongly believe that potable water recycling is a safe, feasible, and appropriate way to expand urban water supplies. Drawing upon tenets established in ecology, ecosanitarians are not opposed to potable water recycling, however they are also interested in radical alternatives to the sanitary status quo. Both neosanitarians and ecosanitarians want to see a more sustainable approach to water planning, yet they disagree on what a more sustainable approach actually looks like in practice. For example, neosanitarians favor microfiltration and advanced wastewater treatment, while ecosanitarians prefer composting toilets and preventative actions. Both neosanitarians and ecosanitarians accept potable reuse as a workable solution, yet there are deep divisions between the two regarding the appropriate scale of technology, the proper level of public participation, and the root cause of water scarcity. While there is wide-spread agreement on certain ends (e.g., sustainability, potable reuse), there is serious disagreement about the appropriate the means to getting there (e.g., appropriate technology, level of public participation). The results illustrate how different "ways of seeing the world" contribute to the technological choices that define appropriate behavior, which, in turn, produces different kinds of communities and environments, and conditions the range of political possibilities.
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Abrahamsson, Therese, and Elisa Gyllin. "Cuamba Municipality, the capital of water? : A case study of the inclusion of female interests in water governance in Cuamba municipality, Mozambique." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för samhällsstudier (SS), 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-56472.
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Abstract The purpose of this research is to examine if female interests have been included in different levels of water governance in Cuamba municipality, Mozambique in order to understand if gender equality and women empowerment is being addressed at the grassroots level. In Sub-Saharan Africa women generally have the responsibility of fetching water and are therefore directly affected by the quality and accessibility of water and sanitation services. Though gender mainstreaming and policies addressing gender equality has been adopted in Mozambique, the actual difference that these measures have made to the lives of women in Mozambique is questionable. A qualitative single case study has been conducted, by interviewing government institutions, the private sector and civil society actors at district and municipality level in Cuamba. The findings reveal that it is the municipality government, FIPAG and the traditional leaders that are the main actors with the power over the distribution of water in Cuamba and through a joint effort the water situation has improved a lot in recent years. The interest in water among women was mainly focused to having a water source while the main interests among men was to have a shorter distance as well as shorter queues to the water source. An abductive method of the analytical framework consisting of four dimensions of water governance and rethinking em(power)ment, gender and development has been used to guide the analysis of the findings in a more comprehensive manner thus investigating the power structures in each dimension of water governance with a focus on women empowerment. The result indicates that women living in the urban areas were more empowered in all notions of power due to better access to information and education thus giving them more time and individual knowledge to collectively and individually demand power over the distribution of water. Due to lack of empowerment among women living in the rural areas, these women demanded less regarding the distribution of water and had less individual understanding of water governance. Furthermore the interests among women living in the rural areas were mostly included in the decision-making processes as it generally concerned having access to a clean water source. As the women in the urban areas demanded more and had more interests in water governance it became clear that the female interests in the urban areas were not included in decision-making. By including more women in decision-making bodies in water governance and putting more emphasis on education for women these issues could be addressed.
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Sithole, Pinimidzai. "A Comparative Study of Rural Water Governance in the Limpopo Basin." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2011. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&action=viewtitle&id=gen8Srv25Nme4_1684_1319187072.
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In this thesis I examine and explore whether and if Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) inspired water reforms respond to- and address the diverse realities of women and men in informal (and formal) rural economies of Sekororo, South Africa and Ward 17 in Gwanda, Zimbabwe which are both in the Limpopo basin. South Africa and Zimbabwe, like other southern African countries, embarked on IWRMinspired water reforms, culminating in the promulgation of the National Water Acts in 1998, four years after the attainment of South Africaâs democracy in 1994 and 18 years after Zimbabwe attained independence in 1980. I argue that the adoption of IWRM, which emphasises second generation water issues such as demand management, water quality, environmental flow requirements etc, and not the development of water infrastructure, begs the question whether such reforms can make a meaningful contribution to the development agenda in countries where, during apartheid and colonialism, the water rights (among other rights) of millions of blacks were compromised because of unjust legislation and skewed underinvestment in water infrastructure
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Lin, Hebin. "Integrated Water Governance: Payments for Ecosystem Services at the Watershed Scale." 京都大学 (Kyoto University), 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/2433/175212.
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Norman, Emma Spenner. "Navigating bordered geographies : water governance along the Canada - United States border." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/6348.
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This thesis investigates the rescaling of transboundary water governance across the Canada – U.S. border, focusing on three regional case studies: the Shared Waters Alliance, the Salish Sea Aboriginal Council, and the International Joint Commission Watershed Initiative. The case studies employ qualitative data drawn from interviews, participant observation, and quantitative data drawn from a comprehensive dataset that I created on transboundary water governance mechanisms over the period 1910 to the present.
The analysis of the empirical material outlined above enables me to intervene in current debates over scale, governance, and borders, through mobilizing three bodies of literature: environmental governance, the politics of scale, and the social construction of borders. The resulting theoretical framework – which focuses on the rescaling of environmental governance within borderlands – contains three key conceptual claims. First, I argue that studying environmental governance at the site of the border helps to move discussions beyond a nation-state framework – challenging what Agnew refers to as the territorial trap. This is important given the nation-state focus of a significant proportion of the literature on environmental governance, an obvious over-sight considering the tendency of environmental issues (such as air and water pollution) to transcend national borders.
Secondly, I argue that drawing on the “politics of scale” literature can offer new insights into processes of rescaling of environmental governance, specifically through interrogating local governance capacity in the context of devolution of environmental governance. In particular, my analysis challenges (often implicit) assumptions regarding the capacity of local actors to participate effectively in multi-scalar governance processes.
Third, I argue that closer attention to borders can help refine critical assessments of transboundary environmental governance. Specifically, I suggest that all borders (even seemingly “natural” ones) are part of cultural construction and wider politics of power that help define and redefine the landscape. Pursuant to this, I explore how discursive (often-jingoistic) strategies are deployed to entrench borders – both physically and discursively. Understanding transboundary governance of water, in other words, requires close attention to the cultural politics of the border.
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Marston, Andrea Janet. "Post-neoliberal nature? community water governance in peri-urban Cochabamba, Bolivia." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/42962.
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Since the turn of the century, Bolivia has been undergoing a leftward political shift that many scholars have described as “post-neoliberal.” This shift is inflected with communitarian and ecological sensibilities, and politicians frequently depict “community” and “nature” as two axes around which a new, post-neoliberal world order can be imagined. The overarching purpose of this thesis is to explore the friction between the country’s putatively post-neoliberal politics and existing community water governance in Cochabamba, Bolivia. This is pursued through two sub-themes: a comparison of the government’s post-neoliberal rhetoric to its resource management policies; and a comparison of celebratory conceptualizations of community governance to the governance strategies of community-run water systems in La Maica, a region of peri-urban Cochabamba. The thesis argues that, while the Morales government rhetorically celebrates “community” and “nature” as essential pillars of post-neoliberal governance paradigm, reality differs from rhetoric in two ways. First, the Bolivian government’s natural resource agenda has involved a shift towards centralized, state-led management, rather than community governance. Second, actually existing examples of community resource governance are intertwined with non-community institutions and multiple scales of governance, implying that communities are contextually embedded and hybridized structures. The progressive (post-neoliberal) potential of community resource governance therefore depends on both its context-specific manifestation and the support that it receives from the state. Primary data for this thesis was gathered during four months of fieldwork in Cochabamba (June to October 2011), and the four methods employed were expert interviews, interviews with community leaders in La Maica, water user surveys in La Maica, and document analysis.