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In Mexico, groundwater availability has been decreasing, especially in arid and semiarid regions; this can be addressed by boosting aquifer recharge, known as managed aquifer recharge, with stormwater or treated wastewater. In this paper, we use qualitative approaches to analyse three managed aquifer recharge projects in the country and discuss the related achievements, limitations and lessons learned. We argue that the Law of Nations' Waters lacks precise rules for water storage and recovery of recharged water, making the planning of significant investments to implement these projects unlikely. We present legal, management and financial proposals to improve the relevant legal water framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a synthetic presentation of French water governance and its evolution since the 1960s. Through this French experience, it discusses the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) water governance cycle showing disputes as the main drivers of change. France has been a pioneer in introducing water river basin management some 50 years ago. It is also noted for its water services management by local authorities, leaving a significant role to private and public companies. But French water governance has not been frozen since the 1960s and continues to change radically within a framework based upon its unique history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the intermittent water distribution system in the West Bank, Palestine. It quantifies the impacts of reduced supply duration on the hydraulics and costs of water distribution. It shows that designing systems based on intermittent supply criteria implies increasing the diameters of pipes significantly, which is expensive and infeasible. The paper recommends that studying the local conditions should precede the design of new systems to avoid reduced supply duration and related negative impacts. In addition, improving governance, revising tariffs, reducing leakage, saving water, involving the private sector, and improving water diplomacy should be considered in any water policy reform. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Access to water and sanitation as a basic human right is still limited within resource-poor rural settings of Africa, including Kitui, Kenya. This is exacerbated by prevailing gender inequalities which can be mediated when communities leverage on social capital. Qualitative methods were used to examine how values embedded in social capital enable women and vulnerable groups to cope with household water insecurity. How communities exploit the bonding and bridging dimensions of social capital to cope with water insecurities has gendered implications. Understanding the role of social capital is important in advancing public policy to reduce gender inequalities in water access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an empirical basis for local water-governance reforms in the Philippines using primary data from 299 water managers representing water districts, community-based water organizations, irrigators’ associations and local government water providers. Survey results showed that local water organizations are subject to various forms of laws and regulations; there are no set bases for water price determination; and water administration set-up varies from the formal to the loosely informal structures. Recommendations are offered towards responsive local water governance arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The rituals of riparian communities are frequently linked to the flow regimes of their river. These dependencies need to be identified, quantified and communicated to policy makers who manage river flows. This paper describes the first attempt to explicitly evaluate the flows required to maintain the cultural and spiritual activities in the upper Ganga River basin. Riparian dwellers and visitors were interviewed and the responses analyzed to obtain an overview of the needs and motivations for cultural flows. The approach enhances the overall concept of environmental flow assessment, especially in river basins where spiritual values ascribed to rivers are high. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

China shares 40 major transboundary watercourses with 16 countries. This paper surveys China's transboundary water treaty practice and compares it to the core principles of the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention (UNWC). Despite a growing watercourse treaty practice stretching back some 60 years, China's agreements in this field are relatively unsophisticated. The authors conclude that China's transboundary water treaty practice would benefit from some of the guidelines set forth under the UNWC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tries to shed some light on the Disi-Amman pipeline project, which is still under study in the current water-policy literature. Our first finding is that Disi plays an important role in the national water discourse even though it is not sustainable and it is not clear for how long it will be exploitable. Second, we argue that Jordan's approach to the Disi is basically to silence the whole issue, and that a “quiet pumping race” between Jordan and Saudi Arabia is currently going on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

States have signed hundreds of treaties and protocols over their shared rivers. Many of these agreements established commissions to implement the accords and maintain cooperation. Consistent with this expectation, the Israeli-Jordanian Peace Treaty established the Joint Water Committee (JWC). Through a comparison of the JWC with the Permanent Indus Commission, established to manage the Indus River between India and Pakistan, the paper argues that the JWC has been only somewhat effective. To account for the source of effectiveness it is necessary to consider the capabilities vested in commissions. Commissioners can fulfil their tasks when they communicate directly, hold regular meetings, monitor the river's development and possess conflict resolution mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the recently developed 'Guidelines for the design and control of intermittent water distribution systems'. These guidelines outline a new approach to the design of urban water distribution systems for developing countries in order to maintain adequate and equitable supplies under the common conditions of water resource shortage. The guidelines are novel in that they recognise the reality of intermittent supply and hence provide new methods of analysis and design, appropriate for such systems. Design objectives specifically tailored to intermittent systems are developed and drive the design process. These objectives are expressed in terms of equity in supply, adequate pressure at water connections and duration or time of supply that are convenient to the consumers. The modifications required to model such systems have been incorporated into a new network analysis simulation tool coupled with an optimal design tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Soviet period of the command system left a legacy of under-funded multilevel bureaucratic structure of water administration and planning for the Central Asia and Caucasus countries. The existing administrative system of water management is unable to cope with inter-sector, dynamic, and versatile character of current water management problems. Therefore, the situation calls for principles of integrated water resources management (IWRM) in the region. This paper presents some ideas about institutional reforms in water sector started in Central Asia and Caucasus regions. It describes the key IWRM principles and how these principles are being implemented into practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A better knowledge of droughts is required to improve water management in water scarce areas. To appropriately cope with droughts, there is the need to adopt adequate concepts relative to droughts and water scarcity, to properly use drought indices that help characterize them, including ones relative to their severity, and to develop prediction tools that may be useful for early warning and that may reduce the respective lead time needed for appropriate response. In this paper, concepts relative to drought and other water scarcity regimes are discussed aiming both to distinguish droughts from other water scarcity regimes and to base a common understanding of the general characteristics of droughts as hazards and disasters. Three main drought indices are described aiming at appropriate characterization of droughts: the theory of runs, the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), and the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). Their application to local and regional droughts in the region of Alentejo, Portugal is presented focusing on the respective comparison and possible adequateness for drought monitoring. Results indicate some difficulties in using the theory of runs, particularly because it requires a subjective definition of thresholds in precipitation and does not provide a standardized classification of severity. Results show that drought characterization with the PDSI and the SPI produce coherent information, but the PDSI is limited relative to the SPI because it requires more data to perform a soil water balance while the SPI needs only precipitation data, which are more easily available in numerous locations. It is concluded that adopting the SPI is appropriate, but there is advantage in combining different indices to characterize droughts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As with other states in Australia, Western Australia is currently undergoing a process of water reform. The purpose of this reform has been to create environmental sustainability and provide economic improvements through the introduction of markets. To ensure that these reforms also have long term social viability, local Water Resource Management Committees (WRMCs) will be formed to provide ongoing advice to government on water resource and allocation issues. Given that over-allocation is not as much of an issue as in other states in Australia, the WRMCs will have an important contribution on water issues relating to fairness and the public interest. Fortunately, there has been a significant amount of research in WA and elsewhere on how these basic concepts can be operationalized in community-based decision making. This paper describes ways this knowledge can be incorporated in ongoing decision making in the context of water reform and issues associated with procedural and distributive justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The State of Ceará is located in the Northeast of Brazil, characterized by a semi-arid climate, with a pronounced time and space variability of its rainfall. Recurrent droughts have been plaguing the region, and as a result, water is stored in reservoirs as much as possible. However, it is has been shown that, despite the large amount of water stored in reservoirs, the water shortages still persisted. After years of having water resources management based only on supply side, Ceará State's current water policy emphasizes the demand side, including legal water rights, charging for water educational campaigns, and the decentralized decision making of the users through their participation in river basin committees. This policy is carried out by Secretariat of Water Resources (SRH), who motivates, analyzes, and formalizes the requests for water use rights, and the Company of Water Management of the State (COGERH), which acts as a catalytic agent in activities that support users' organization in river basins. This paper shows how Ceará is dealing with the initial allocation of water rights and analyzes the obstacles and challenges of that new way of managing water in the state. The model is still being implemented, but the differences in the results for overcoming the 1993 and 1998 droughts show the importance of having a dedicated institution for water management. A conceptual model is also presented representing the steps that could be followed for the implementation of a water market that is limited in space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After nearly half a century of planning, the construction of the controversial south-to-north water transfer (SNWT) project in China was officially launched just before the end of 2002. This paper looks into the decision-making process of the project in the context of the country's transition from a centrally-planned economy to a market economy, rapid economic development, and severe environmental degradation. Uncertainties concerning future water demand in individual sectors are examined with reference to the latest projection prior to the launch of the project. Adjustment of project objectives and shut of the focal issues concerned over the years are elaborated. The analysis suggests a high degree of uncertainty in future water demand. The expansion of project objectives to include ecosystem recovery in the late 1990s, however provided a decisive argument for implementing the project as no other alternative was considered available to meet the estimated ecosystem water requirement Consequently, remaining doubts on the need for the project and concerns on adverse environmental impacts have tended to be sidelined. With the implementation of the project, the government is caught in a dilemma of keeping water prices low to substantiate the economic needs and improving water use efficiency to honor the environmental objective of the project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the impacts of Ecuador's 2014 water law on comunas ancestrales (traditional communal Andean villages), highlighting a disconnect between formal legal frameworks and day-to-day implementation. We focused on the case of Oyacoto, a peri-urban, Indigenous and Mestizo comuna struggling to maintain water management practices and identity while updating critical infrastructure. Using a qualitative approach, we studied the political and gender dimensions of responding to new water policy. Our findings highlight the challenges that small agricultural communities face to preserve community-based water planning within the constraints of centralized national policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editors discuss various reports within the issue on topics including the development of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) Principles on Water Governance, the implementation gap in water reforms, and stakeholder engagement.

The National Rural Water and Sanitation Project was implemented in Brazil in the 1980s. It did not succeed because it did not become an institutionalized public policy that reached the entire national territory, and it was discontinued a few years later. This article assesses the factors explaining this failure using the 5C Protocol. The results show that the flaws in the implementation impaired the sustainability of the established systems. Political reasons compromised the principles idealized during the conception of the project. Also, technical and institutional limitations constrained the implementation of the recommended innovations, such as social participation, and adaptive technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of political risk, economic feasibility, and cultural concerns, it has been a great challenge for economists to provide palatable remedies to governments to promote water allocation efficiency. Considering the limitation of water pricing to irrigation water, this research addresses questions of which strategic policy alternatives to water pricing might improve irrigation water allocation efficiency An empirical framework is provided to compare irrigation policies for allocating scarce water to agricultural production in Egypt and Morocco. Partial-equilibrium agricultural sector models specific to Egypt and Morocco were employed for policy tests. Consumer and producer surplus from agricultural based commodities is maximized subject to various resources, technical, and policy constraints. Positive Mathematical Programming (PMP) was used to calibrate the model. Water pricing policy, water complementary input factor tax policy, and output tax policy are tested using these two agricultural sector models. Results suggest that effective policy depends on the social, economic, and environmental contexts of specific regions. For countries like Egypt where most agricultural land is irrigated, taxes on Nitrogen (W) fertilizer and energy and output tax on water-intensive and low profit crop production may be more effective than others. For the Moroccan case, taxation on crop inputs and outputs not only affect water use in the public irrigation sector, but also private irrigation sector and rain-fed as a whole. Water pricing and output tax policies are better suited and effective than water complementary input factor taxation. Findings from Morocco might be generalized to other countries with similar irrigation characteristics and diversity in irrigated (public and private) and rain-fed land. The results for both countries demonstrate that some of the strategic irrigation policies can work towards directing cropping decisions to less water intensive crops and also generating revenues for governments in situations where governments choose not to price water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Representatives from 14 countries worldwide worked together on improving their monitoring and ultimately their water management to reach the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 goals by 2030, thereby testing the Information Strategy Model (ISM). This model is developed to support identifying the need for information for water management. In a workshop setting, participants were instructed and subsequently developed the ISM for their own situation. The results show that the ISM fulfils its task of structuring the development and improvement of a monitoring network, but can be enhanced by adding detailed information for specific elements and needs explanation and assistance to be of use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of multiple-use water systems (MUS) in Nepal has mostly relied on international/non-governmental organizations. Despite the growing interest in MUS within the country, the approach has not yet received space in government policy and programmes, limiting its wider implementation. We seek to understand both the challenges to, and strategies for, scaling-up MUS, especially with regard to how MUS could be incorporated into Nepali institutional and policy processes arising from the adoption of a three-tier (federal, state and local) federal governance system. Our recommendations are informed by a study of MUS in the middle hills of Nepal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract submission deadline: 6 September 2021 Rationale Effective, efficient and inclusive water governance is key to guarantee enhanced water security and better access to safe drinking water and sanitation services. The OECD Principles on Water Governance and their implementation strategy The OECD Principles on Water Governance The OECD Principles on Water Governance intend to contribute to tangible and outcome-oriented public policies, based on three mutually reinforcing and complementary dimensions of water governance (Figure 1): PHOTO (COLOR): Figure 1. [Extracted from the article]

These populations rely on a mix of sources to meet their water needs, such as standpipes, water kiosks, sachet water and other informal water vendors such as tanker services. Since the nationalization of natural resources in Iran in the 1960s, local management of water resources has gradually become subject to national water policies. The pre-existing water management regime was rather successful because of the legitimacy of the communal rights, the presence of full collective property rights, and the appropriate scale of monitoring and sanctioning modalities. In Malawi, where water management is decentralized, the authors' tool could be of particular use in identifying areas where local-scale transboundary water management can take place. [Extracted from the article]

Multiple-use water services (MUS) have been promoted and piloted globally for two decades as a socio-technical innovation. Yet the MUS approach has hardly extended beyond donor-funded projects to public policies. We use a collective action framework to analyze the non-institutionalization of MUS in Nepal. We find that MUS has much cognitive legitimacy, but discourse fragmentation has reduced its socio-political legitimacy. Yet the latter is essential to overcome the institutional challenges of a fragmented public water sector and to mainstream MUS into policy debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through the lens of the 12 OECD Principles on Water Governance, this article examines six water resources and water services frameworks in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and South America to understand enhancing and constraining contextual factors. Qualitative and quantitative methods are used to analyze each framework against four criteria: alignment; implementation; on-ground results; and policy impact. Four main target areas are identified for improving water governance: policy coherence; financing; managing trade-offs; and ensuring integrity and transparency by all decision makers and stakeholders. Suggestions are presented to support practical implementation of the principles through better government action and stakeholder involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the activities and achievements of the European Union Water Initiative, a transnational, multi-actor partnership established in 2002 by the European Commission to support water governance reforms around the world. Two regional components of the initiative – (a) Africa and (b) Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia – are studied with a focus on their organizational structures, activities, policies and achievements. The analysis provides evidence for improved regional dialogue and cooperation in the water sector, but also points to persistent weaknesses, in particular a lack of resources, ownership and mutual understanding as to the overall aims of the Initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As knowledge and capacity development (KCD) is increasingly acknowledged as crucial for development, the need to evaluate its impact increases, too. However, evaluating KCD in practice remains a challenge. This article aims to synthesize the current wisdom on the topic of KCD evaluation in the water sector. We discuss two leading approaches to KCD (positivist and complex adaptive systems) and their associated evaluation paradigms, the major methodological challenges facing KCD evaluation, and progress made in that respect. The article provides insights for KCD practitioners and policy makers in the water sector that can help them improve their KCD evaluation practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gold was central to the South African state from the outset. Its revenues sustained the pariah apartheid regime after 1961 in the face of economic sanctions and military spending. At that time, a regulatory regime arose that blurred the distance needed between regulator and regulatee. Water-related liabilities such as acid mine drainage were nationalized, burdening the post-1994 democratic government. Legal reform has sought to internalize those historic externalities through the application of the greenfields logic of global best practice. The unintended consequence is disinvestment, thereby hastening the nationalizing of all remaining liability. A new approach is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, ‘equity’ has become a goal of water governance. Yet, the indices and policy guidelines for household water, published by the WHO and UNICEF and adopted globally, focus on either ‘drinking water’ or a limited interpretation of the ‘human right to water’. We examine ideas of equity in household water and argue that the dominant focus on improving the potability of water has muted attention to the wider consideration of domestic water and its impact on livelihoods and poverty. A focus on the many capabilities enabled by domestic water illuminates some of these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By comparing the successful story of a hydrodynamic model (based on its contribution to policy changes, management options and livelihood improvement) with other modelling cases in the Mekong River Delta, five success factors are identified. These are (1) simulated phenomena relevant to and understandable by policy makers; (2) response to the needs of policy setting; (3) developed and handled by national modellers with direct links to the policy process; (4) availability of input data; and (5) long application history. These success factors provide higher opportunities for engaging modelling activities with policy setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptation to climate change will play a critical role in water management in the coming decades, necessitating reform of the legal, regulatory, and institutional frameworks that govern water allocation, use, and quality to integrate adaptive water management. Legal and regulatory tools can also facilitate adaptive responses. This article provides an overview of the ways in which water laws, regulations, and institutions will need to be rethought and reformulated and offers some thoughts on the future of governing for adaptation in the water sector. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Based on studies of water, poverty and livelihoods in nine river basins, this article reviews the role of institutions and organizations, focusing on their strengths and weaknesses, and to generalize as to why they fail to address the basin-wide issues of water, poverty and livelihoods. The authors show how a more comprehensive, integrated approach might change them to be more broadly relevant to basin-wide needs as well as to address the mismatch between development and the need to provide ecosystem services relevant to food, poverty, livelihoods and sustainable ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the mid-1990s Australia embarked on a program of reforms including the introduction of private property rights in water, the allocation of water for the environment, and increased public participation where new initiatives are proposed. Many of the water allocation and management practices adopted in the country have originated from states in the Murray-Darling Basin. This article considers the different approaches taken in NSW, Queensland, and Victoria. In each of these states, public participation has been an evolving process, giving rise to difficulties of a slightly different nature. The article outlines the policy and theory behind public participation and sets out the legal provisions for its inclusion in water planning. It explores the main issues in the implementation of the legislation. The Australian experience suggests that policy makers and legislators did not initially draw upon the extensive research that was in existence on effective public participation. However, changes were made to make the processes more inclusive. Capacity building of participants, independent scientific support, and access to data were some of the most critical factors in effective public participation. Because the public had the opportunity to participate and influence decision making in water allocation, some potential legal conflict was avoided. Of the states examined, Queensland had the best legislative template for public participation although improvements could be made in many areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the aims of Australia's national drought policy. Variability of climate; Drought assessment; Agricultural plan.