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Access to water is a matter of daily survival for people around the world. Water is crucial for human survival and also central to the development of every nation. The recent literature on world water suggests that the water crisis being experienced is related to governance and not a real crisis of scarcity and stress. This paper aims at identifying water governance practices and the challenges associated with water governance in Ghana. The paper reviews the literature on the implementation of policy directives and actions with specific focus on water resources governance aspects of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in Ghana. Ghana's National Water Policy is expected to turn the fortunes of the country around in terms of water resources management. Concerning water resources management, the policy advocates for an IWRM approach. Since its implementation, certain setbacks have been challenging the effectiveness of the policy, such as inadequate institutional capacity, inadequate funding, ineffective enforcement of existing regulations, inadequate legal framework, and lack of adequate data. The paper suggests, among other things, the building of both human and institutional capacity, and making the environment a government priority, as ways to contribute to the effective implementation of the National Water Policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to understand how the public perceives river water quality and related risks and behaviour. Using the stratified semi-purposive sampling process, the study explores the perception of people residing along the river Yamuna in India. The method applied involved a structured questionnaire survey of 2706 respondents and four focused group discussions with people residing within two kilometres of the river bank. Nonparametric tests such as Kruskal Wallis, Mann Whitney U-test and One-Sample Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test were used to analyse the data. The findings suggest that the majority of the respondents formulate their perceptions using non-scientific methods like sensorial and heuristics. Perception on sources of pollution is shaped by personal experiences and people do not perceive diffused sources of pollution that affect river water quality. Respondents attributed the pollution in the river to anthropogenic activities and their risk perception was found to be linked to their direct dependence on the river for their daily needs. The paper suggests behavioural change strategies to focus on social, governance, and technological drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Afghanistan has abundant water resources; however, the current state of affairs is dismal because of the lack of integrated water resources management (IWRM) practices and prolonged war and conflict in the country. Therefore, there is a need for a systematic approach to water management, which can be materialized by integrating IWRM and the water–energy–food (WEF) nexus approach to maintain a critical balance of available water resources and their various uses at the national level. This study provides a comprehensive assessment of Afghanistan’s water resource management, including the current state, challenges, opportunities, and way forward. The identified challenges are categorized as social and environmental issues, engineering and technical and regulatory, policy and government role. These challenges are inter-connected and a novel framework toward the implementation of IWRM and the WEF nexus in Afghanistan is proposed. This framework can be used by the relevant stakeholders to prepare a roadmap for sustainable management of water resources. Such integrative approaches will enhance Afghanistan’s water, food, and energy security and significantly contribute to its economic development. Moving forward, the Afghanistan government must play a crucial role with regards to the efficient management of the country’s water resources in an integrated manner as suggested in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Droughts are current challenges to the economic, social and environmental development of a region, as reflected in European Union (EU) water policies. In addition, the impacts of droughts can be aggravated by climate change effects, adding pressure to already water stressed areas in the EU. This paper presents a general overview of drought management policies in the EU and in Spain. The paper studies the specific case of Spain, where drought management policies have evolved from traditional emergency actions to Drought Management Plans (DMPs). Historical droughts and the main drought episodes occurring over the last 30 years in Spain, together with the actions taken and the effects produced, are analysed. The National Indicator System for Droughts has played a significant role in drought management since 2005, serving to declare drought situations, and also to apply measures and actions to be carried out by the Spanish Administration. In addition, DMPs for all River Basin Organisations (RBOs) were approved in 2007, and they have represented strategic tools with positive results in drought impact mitigation and have stressed the importance of public participation in the decision-making process for drought events. These plans must be updated in 2017 and are now being revised, taking into account the experience acquired since their approval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water security is a key governance challenge especially in relation to transboundary rivers. While the literature elaborates on the water security concept, there is very little on how to operationalize it in the transboundary context. Hence, this paper addresses the question: How can the governance of transboundary rivers be operationalized to deal with national water security concerns? It uses a literature review and a case study focusing on dams in the Mekong tributaries, namely the Sesan, part of the 3S Basin, in Vietnam and Cambodia. The paper describes the damming process in the 3S Basin and how it threatens water security for downstream states in terms of securing the flow, volume, quality, space, and the temporal variations of the rivers and the livelihoods of river dependent communities. It examines how the Mekong River Commission (MRC) members address these issues, balance their interests and secure the free flow of the Mekong River and its tributaries. It concludes that the MRC Agreement of 1995 is an inadequate mechanism to regulate the developments of hydrological infrastructure on the shared international tributaries, and that further operationalization of the concept of water security is necessary to enable the improvement of existing cooperative regulations and mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of integrated water resources management (IWRM) in the global water policy discourse marks a fundamental shift in water management from the techno-centric, top-down, supply-oriented and sectoral approach towards a holistic, participatory and demand-driven approach to sustainable water management. The IWRM concept has become dominant, permeating national, regional and international water policies, backed by heavy investments and advocacy by key global actors such as the World Bank and European Union. However, its implementation success remains unimpressive, amidst strong criticisms about its conceptual clarity. More recently, the decoupling concept spearheaded by the United Nations Environment Programme and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is gaining momentum as an alternative approach for sustainable water management. This paper reviews the two concepts both acclaimed for organizing knowledge production for sustainability. The paper examines the underlying factors that limit IWRM implementation and assesses the potentials of addressing the inadequacies of IWRM with the decoupling concept. IWRM as a process lacks a clearly defined strategy, standard measures to track the success of IWRM plans and guidance for planning and project development, while decoupling offers a viable strategy that feeds into the implementation of IWRM plan, providing strategic and operational direction towards achieving sustainability goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many countries in the world, including South Africa, are water-stressed with increasing pressure on their water resources due to population growth, climate change, and inadequate funding. Post-independence in 1994, many policies and programmes were introduced by the government with the aim of promoting water management. While these policies and strategies achieved much in terms of water provision to communities and households, they failed to establish a water-conscious country with sufficient knowledge and expertise in water management. In addition, these policies and programmes are outdated, compartmentalised, complex, and lack robust water governance with resilient stakeholder partnerships that advance the more explicit second phase of the National Development Plan (NDP) to achieve water security under the threat of climate change. Using data collection tools inspired by the traditional method of participatory research, this paper analyses the structural and systematic factors hindering the implementation of comprehensive policies to achievewater security in South Africa. There is, therefore, an urgent need for SouthAfrica to establish an independent water regulator to ensure coordination between different government departments, including the National Treasury, to strengthen weak governance capacity and to make it independent to attract private equity into the sector and to recover fiscal deficits in the water sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to identify the type of barriers related to the implementation of a new Water Law in Nicaragua. By exploring the perceptions of 40 actors involved in the drafting process of the Law, this paper finds that major barriers are related to the power configuration of the water administration set-up, which creates conflicts of competences within government and at local and national levels. Our research suggests that decision-making is highly centralized, whereas local governments remain unpowered despite their relevant role in water management. One of the particular novel aspects of this paper is the linking of interview data to grammarcoded institutional statements along the social-ecological systems' variables. The institutional grammar tool is used to identify the institutional statements of the Nicaraguan Water Law and to connect the interview results to the institutional configuration of the Water Law. This allows us to understand to what extent the Water Law modifies both the formal and informal institutions that are in place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The São Francisco River has been, and continues to be, the only major river in arid Northeast Brazil and, as such, continues to be a major focus for development policy in this poorest part of the country. In a context of persistent water scarcity and recurring drought, the imperative is to develop a water development and management framework capable of simultaneously creating a platform for growth, dealing with distributive conflicts and ensuring rational usage. Addressing this challenge has been complicated by the multi-layered institutions of Brazilian federalism. This paper traces the development of the institutional framework for water management in the Sao Francisco Basin, highlighting the role of both local innovation and the pressures of federal centralization. The single most important policy debate currently affecting the basin is an ambitious inter-basin transfer project that aims to provide secure water supply to major cities and irrigation projects in neighboring basins. The paper provides an in-depth analysis of the project, with a special focus on understanding the policy process underpinning the project. This analysis anchors the discussion in the difficult dilemmas currently faced by policymakers and gives some insights into the actual functioning of a complex and sometimes ambiguous institutional set-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper traces the evolving institutional and policy responses to the social, environmental and economic needs of stakeholders in the Murray-Darling Basin. The paper begins by describing four cycles of challenge and response in the basin: the first period (1830-1900) witnessed the state-level development of irrigation and navigation in the basin; the second period (1900-1982) encompassed the construction of the basin's major engineering projects and irrigation infrastructure; the third period (1982-2007) covered the institution of market reforms under a 'whole Basin' management approach, in particular, the development of inter-state water trading and the National Water Initiative; and the fourth phase (2007-present), marks the assertion of federal authority over water management with the passing of the Water Act in 2007. The second section of the paper provides background on the basin's natural environment and its infrastructure. This section also describes the increasing centralization of basin management authority by the federal government. The paper's final section presents three key questions for the basin's future: (1) the politically acceptable balance between environmental and economic uses for water in the basin; (2) the appropriate allocation of responsibility between federal and state basin management authorities; and (3) the best way to deliver the desired environmental outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Special Edition of Water Policy is one outcome of an innovative educational and research project, the Harvard Water Federalism Project, designed to train a new generation of students from a wide variety of disciplines to address the growing challenge of water security. This paper describes the core ideas behind the project, namely the creation of a new generation of 'specialized integrators' and that of exposing students to the wisdom of 'thinking practitioners'. The paper describes the particular water problem chosen, namely that of the infrastructural and institutional challenges involved with the development and management of water in large rivers (the Colorado, Indus, Mississippi, Murray-Darling and Sao Francisco) in federal countries (Australia, Brazil, Pakistan and the United States). The paper serves as an overview to the basin papers written by multi-disciplinary student teams, and draws some general lessons from this comparative analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water supply services in urban India are essential functions of urban local bodies or municipalities. These services are mostly perceived as unsatisfactory across urban centres and the sector is widely perceived to be misgoverned with large number of municipalities making financial losses. However, this common perception of inefficient services has not much scientific basis as the efficiencies of these services are not measured. This paper, therefore, attempts to evolve a framework for evaluating the relative inefficiencies of water supply services and applies a non-parametric approach, data envelopment analysis (DEA), to 20 urban centres in the state of Madhya Pradesh in India, by applying three different models. The results of the analysis indicate that there are significant inefficiencies amongst the various municipalities that supply water. It was found that larger cities exhibit better efficiencies than smaller ones, requiring policy interventions. However, even the larger municipalities need restructuring and downsizing of their operations to be more efficient. DEA results also show that significant savings with respect to operating expenditures, staff and non-revenue water are actually possible if best practices are adopted. The paper discusses the results of the study in the context of policy issues that are relevant from a developing country perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to address the lack of knowledge in the water industry of how policy development can be understood to have shaped the development and application of European Union (EU) drinking water policy. In particular, the paper develops a comparative understanding of how policy development can be viewed as having affected the development and application of the Drinking Water Directive (80/778/EEC) in England/Wales and the Republic of Ireland. As a result of this focus, the paper explores policy development issues relating to conflicting interests, invalid causal theories, political symbolism, lack of attention to detail by policy makers, and the allocation of duties and resources. It is subsequently established that consideration of these issues is useful in fostering a focused understanding of how policy development may have affected policy application. Despite the significant changes which took place with regard to the development of the current Drinking Water Directive (98/883/EC), the paper concludes by arguing that greater attention should be accorded the conflicting interests and abilities of Member States during the development of EU water policy, particularly if attempts are to be made to identify measures targeted at improving the application of EU water policy in a diverse political and economic union of member states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Water Framework Directive has introduced a new governance approach that offers implementing agencies in EU Member States policy discretion to implement ecological ambitions. The aim of this paper was to gain insight into the way regional actors use this discretion and into the rationale behind their behaviour. Our research revealed that in regional implementation processes in the Netherlands, limited ecological ambitions have been framed due to several complications. These complications also occur in other EU Member States. As it might be possible to reduce some of the complications by improving collaboration, exchange and learning between the actors involved, the paper concludes by outlining the important role that communities of practice might play in the implementation process of water policy at the regional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Risk of arsenic contamination in water supplies continues to increase in many countries, especially in developing nations. Its sources and effects are multiple and diffused in nature and it requires detailed assessment and policy. This paper discusses the global extent of the problem, its sources and effects and explores different policy options. Sources and pathways of interaction require comprehensive assessment and policy. Innovation in low cost technologies offers possibilities for reducing abatement cost and for economic efficiency. To reduce arsenic in water resources, incentive policies such as taxing and subsidizing can be used to reduce arsenic levels in point sources through creation of appropriate incentives. The paper also identities opportunities for enhancing self-protection efforts through education and information sharing. Under a self-protection policy, though the damages decline to a greater extent, there is a possibility of an increase in arsenic emission. We propose a combination of policies that involve low cost technology, education and awareness to mitigate the damage from arsenic contamination at a watershed scale. It is also necessary to enforce these policies through appropriate institutional changes that involve coordination and cooperative efforts to mitigate arsenic contamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to re-evaluate Sudan's position, power and policy in light of the hydro-hegemony theory. Sudan's unique transboundary hydrology, particularly in the south, and recent important developments in Sudanese affairs are of particular interest. The possibility of Sudan disintegrating into two sovereign states as per Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement and Sudan's emergence as an oil-exporting country have provided new political events that serve as important factors to be used to analyse Sudan's position and power under the hydro-hegemony theory. Furthermore, Sudan's historical hydro-political objective, the 'midstream doctrine' which strives to reconcile the competing demands of downstream and upstream Nile riparians shall be brought to the fore. The methodology utilised in this paper to evaluate hydro-hegemony shall be based on Viotti and Kauppi's definition of Hegemony, Yoffe's Water Event Intensity Scale and Naff and Matson's Power Ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The International Symposium on Ecosystem Governance held in South Africa during 2005 enabled scientists from several disciplines to debate issues relating to governance. The symposium provided an opportunity to explore the concept of governance, particularly as it relates to ecosystem governance, by interrogating the concepts of a Trialogue Model: and helped to develop a set of pointers for research on ecosystem governance that could stimulate future cooperation. The working hypothesis is that the Trialogue Model consists of six essential elements, and that successful governance i.e. good governance depends on the balance that is achieved between these elements. The key issues relating to ecosystem governance are presented in this special edition of Water Policy. Each paper interrogates the Trialogue Model, while the pointers for research on ecosystem governance provide a useful way forward for the implementation of government tools. The Trialogue Model of governance provides a simple conceptual construct that directs discussion about current governance processes and structures at different scales. This introductory paper provides an overview of the papers in this special edition, and outlines the set of proposals for research on ecosystem governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the water allocation system and its effects on water use, users' behavior and on the country's achievement of desirable goals. It investigates efficiency, equity, and sustainability issues that arise under this allocation rule. The current allocation system functions according to a queuing system of priorities, where the urban allocation is found to be the most efficient and least risky allocation, while the ecological sector bears the highest degree of climate risk variability. The rule of priority is applied to crops as well; the non-strategic crops have the least efficient and riskiest allocation. The current system allows the country to secure drinking water supply, but it does not create sufficient incentives for entitlement holders that have priority to increase their water use efficiency, does not guarantee ecosystem health and integrity and does not equally distribute the risk among users. An institutional reform is especially relevant to improve water use performance in the agriculture sector and the country's ability to manage drought. The nonpriority system that allows farmers to exchange their water-use entitlement might increase social welfare of water use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian governments have purchased large volumes of water from irrigators to decrease the amount of water diverted for agriculture to improve the health of the Murray River. Irrigation entitlements 'bought back' are managed by government agencies and are broadly described as 'environmental water'. The water reform process, the volume of water bought back from irrigators and the objectives and application of environmental water are all contested by irrigators and local communities. This paper provides the first examination of the social acceptability of environmental water in Australia with a case study of Gunbower Island on the Murray River using a survey of local stakeholders. Most respondents visited Gunbower Island regularly, placed a high value on the island and were committed to maintaining the health of the island. Nevertheless, respondents were more likely to exhibit unfavourable judgements about environmental water. Positive judgements were associated with pro-environmental values, belief in the benefits of environmental water and higher levels of trust in the managing agency. Findings provide insights about how the key agency can improve the social acceptability of environmental water in Gunbower Island, including a greater focus on on-ground work as an opportunity to engage local people in learning and action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mexico is exposed to droughts and vulnerable to their impacts. Despite a history of serious economic and social consequences from drought, until recently national water policy did not acknowledge this type of natural disaster as a priority issue. This paper analyses how drought policy in Mexico has evolved since the creation of the National Water Commission in 1989 up to 2013, when the most specific initiative in that regard was introduced: the National Drought Program (Programa Nacional Contra la Sequía, PRONACOSE). Over that period of time drought has slowly but steadily gained importance in national water planning and management. Significant initiatives have been implemented, including a national drought early warning and monitoring system. Nevertheless, efforts still focus on compensating economic losses after the fact and little has been achieved in terms of reducing the country's vulnerability to drought. There is a great need to increase public awareness and boost the scientific knowledge necessary for the design of appropriate preventive measures. A long way remains to establish an effective, forward-looking, integrated and preventive drought management model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Droughts have resulted in significant socio-economic impacts in the regions of Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), especially in developing countries. The main gaps to mitigate its effects, identified in both Africa and LAC regions, include a lack of human and institutional capacity, a lack of access to relevant early warning information for decision-making, the identification of vulnerable communities within the countries and the integration of these two components into drought management policies. UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (UNESCO-IHP) has been providing support to enhance human capacity, policy guidance and tools to the countries to address drought-related challenges and this paper presents some examples. Through capacity building at regional institutions in Western, Eastern and Southern Africa, drought monitoring and early warning tools have been transferred and validated for inclusion into national climate risk management plans. In LAC, a drought atlas was produced to identify the frequency of meteorological droughts and the exposure of population to droughts. Also in LAC, national drought observatories were developed in two pilot countries, providing locally relevant and actionable drought monitoring and early warning information, socio-economic vulnerabilities and appropriate drought indicators for decision-making to strengthen current drought policies for these countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scale of damage caused by drought is on the rise in South Korea. The country has been experiencing a 4-6-year cycle of extreme droughts at a nationwide scale. From 2014-2015, South Korea suffered from its worst drought in the past 50 years. This study aims to provide an effective drought management policy by analyzing the Korean government's response to the 2014-2015 drought under the National Drought Management Framework, which is composed of four stages: prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery. The findings indicate that the Korean government effectively addressed the drought, yet there are no measures currently in place to cope with megadroughts that last for more than 5 consecutive years. Immediate attention is required to conduct research and introduce policies that will help in managing megadroughts. This paper takes an interdisciplinary approach to drought preparedness research in the context of megadroughts and proposes an efficient national drought management framework that involves engagement of relevant line ministries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relation that the inhabitants of an urban space, in this case the city of Querétaro, Mexico, establish with the water supply system. In particular, it seeks to understand the way in which the supply-side policies are configuring the relation that subjects keep with the territory around them. For this purpose, four variables (educational level, land value, housing legal status and development goals) are crossed with the existing knowledge about the water supply system, paying special attention to the differences among different city areas. The final goal is to understand how water modernization policies are affecting the links between subjects and territories. The results express that in the areas where those policies are more deeply consolidated, the links with territory are weaker, generating weakness in the ability to articulate management alternatives. Another weakness lies in the ability to create a much more active role of the subjects in their relation with water and its management as a basic resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews water policy responses to drought in Australia, focusing on the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) during the two decades from 1997. This period, which includes the decade long Millennium drought, brought a much sharper focus to discussions of scarcity and value of water. The drought initially focused attention on rising salinity and environmental water availability, as action on both was supported by strong science, and resonated politically. The drought became a crisis in 2006. Short-term planning focused on ensuring communities did not run out of water. For the longer term, the national government responded by announcing a major package of reform measures addressing sustainability and underlying scarcity, and recognising climate change. The package strengthened MDB water market infrastructure, upgraded water resource planning and the ability of irrigators to manage their water assets more flexibly, established new sustainable diversion limits and provided funding to ensure the environment received a larger share of basin water resources. But its completeness as a package can be attributed not only to the severity of drought, but also to political leadership, a disrupting strategy in the form of national legislation and a strong national budget that provided financial resources. The drought provided a crisis, but other ingredients were necessary to ensure effective action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated water resources management approaches have been developed worldwide to improve water resources management practices. There are however, lingering issues with reference to the applicability of its integrated principles, especially when shifting from policy to practice (action). By conducting an exploratory case study in the Sao Paulo State, Brazil, this paper explores different stakeholders' perspectives regarding the water policy (Water Act of 1991). Through analysing institutional and water governance arrangements, the research assesses if current water policy is being translated into practice. Analysis suggests that the water policy and proposed principles are aligned with international approaches for water resources management. However, results also indicate that the principles by themselves are not sufficient to guarantee successful practice of a decentralised, participatory and integrated water resources management system. In a complex water management system, such as the one in the Sao Paulo State, coordination among different government levels and sectors is considered to be a key element to improve the likelihood of water policy implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to achieve a more sustainable mode of development, the government of China declared its intention to build a harmonious socialist society, and the Ministry of Water Resources (MWR) proposed 'human-water harmony'. However, some problems still exist in China's water resources management (CWRM), which affect management performance and trigger acute water crisis. Nowadays, the human-water relationship in China is disharmonious and the relationship between human activities and water resources has entered into a vicious cycle. This paper concluded that achieving human-water harmony is a necessary and rational pathway to solve China's water problems on the basis of reviewing the development course of CWRM. In order to achieve human-water harmony in China, many impressive efforts both in terms of policies and measures have been made. Ultimately, they pointed out that human-water harmony can be achieved through our tireless efforts as long as people hold the belief that the idea of 'human-water harmony' is the first and the foremost way to deal with the contradiction between human activities and water resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community management is the accepted management model for rural water supplies in many low and middleincome countries. However, endemic problems in the sustainability and scalability of this model are leading many to conclude we have reached the limits of an approach that is too reliant on voluntarism and informality. Accepting this criticism but recognising that many cases of success have been reported over the past 30 years, this study systematically reviews and analyses the development pattern of 174 successful community management case studies. The synthesis confirms the premise that for community management to be sustained at scale, community institutions need a 'plus' that includes long-term external support, with the majority of high performing cases involving financial support, technical advice and managerial advice. Internal community characteristics were also found to be influential in terms of success, including collective initiative, strong leadership and institutional transparency. Through a meta-analysis of success in different regions, the paper also indicates an important finding on the direct relationship between success and the prevailing socio-economic wealth in a society. This holds implications for policy and programme design with a need to consider how broad structural conditions may dictate the relative success of different forms of community management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the authors' reflections regarding the collaborative studies and discussions on water resources among researchers from Thailand and Brazil. First, the similarities and differences between the countries regarding water resource management and policies are noted. Subsequently, the experiences and challenges of both countries in the negotiated allocation of water resources are discussed. Finally, the researchers comment on the current proposed draft of Thailand's water law based on the experience in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mass media are important sources of information about water issues that significantly influence civil life. This paper presents a content analysis approach to contextualize the water issues reporting of the People's Daily. The intent of our approach is to uncover the reporting pattern of water issues and the relationship between government policies and their news reports. Using the newspaper with the second widest circulation in China, the content analysis approach reveals that the document frequency of water issues had shown a flat trend since the 1970s. Water-related articles were given more significance by providing additional front pages. The results suggest that newspapers have been focusing more on the recreational function and protection of water since the 1980s. The results also show that there was a relative shortage of coverage on certain types of water-related central government documents. Lacking persistence was another feature of policy propaganda. These factors could work against public engagement in water issues and undermine the public's understanding of and confidence in water management measures. We believe these results could help water resource managers to interpret media content of water issues and improve the propaganda of their policies, which would contribute to better administration of water resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water policy and regulation are of vital importance for unconventional gas mining, which may have large impacts on water availability and water quality. However, various studies indicate that regulators have insufficient knowledge to make informed policy decisions on unconventional gas mining. Based on this observation we conducted a study on the availability of knowledge of unconventional gas mining of attendees at the 4th and 5th Orange River Basin symposiums that are held annually in South Africa. The study focused on knowledge and perceptions of unconventional gas mining over the 2-year period from 2012 to 2013 due to important developments with regard to unconventional gas mining that took place in South Africa over this period, which could affect decision-makers' policy decisions on unconventional gas mining. Our results indicate that knowledge of this mining technique among decision-makers is limited, primarily because fact-based research is not readily available. Reliable facts on unconventional gas mining are required in order to effectively regulate this activity in South Africa. This paper argues for fact-based regulation and adaptive management as the science and technology of shale gas mining evolves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world water crisis is a crisis of governance, as has been aptly stated. Yet how does one solve a crisis of governance? Water governance comprises complex nested and interlocked sets of decisions about water. It is inherently political, and is ultimately the responsibility of national, regional and local governments, working with their own citizens and with each other, to make improvements. In this context, there is a critical need in nearly every country to assess whether current water governance structures and practices are suitable and are delivering the desired results and, if not, where they fall short. When such assessments are made regularly and for several countries, it is possible to compare water governance status and performance both among countries and in a single country over time. This paper presents an approach to establishing a system of benchmarking water governance from content analysis of official policy and legal documents and a stratified set of stakeholder opinion panels. The approach assesses both the functions involved in water governance and the processes employed in making decisions. Six countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region (Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, Turkey and Yemen) comprise a case study to show how this approach works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Progress in rural access to sanitation is far behind agreed targets, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. As a result, new policies are being defined which shift the role of public investment from infrastructure to sanitation promotion, and give the responsibility of service delivery to local government. This paper analyses the role that local governments can have in sanitation promotion in this new framework. The implementation of the National Sanitation Campaign in Tanzania is analysed using the problem driven governance and political economy analysis methodology. Results show that direct implementation enhances local governments' commitment, but that not all functions carried out are suited to their capacities, motivations and constraints. The challenges identified emerge as a combination of technical weaknesses in the implementation of the adopted methodologies, the political economy of local governments, and the economic and social particularities of rural areas, which are similar to other countries across the region. Recommendations for a more effective service delivery model are made, balancing the role of local government between direct execution, coordination and supportive supervision. The fact of having a government programme with some direct implementation can bring about important differences in the national ownership of, and interest in rural sanitation, which are greatly needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the wake of rapid population growth coupled with climate change and environmental degradation, countries around the world face increasing uncertainty in their ability to provide ample, safe and sustainable potable water. To meet this uncertainty, seawater desalination has been advanced around the world as a reliable new supply that improves water quality, aquifer restoration, water security and is essentially insensitive to climate change. Not only are the number of facilities increasing, but the size of the facilities is also increasing in order to take advantage of economies of scale. This paper analyzes the emerging trend of extra-large-capacity (XL) seawater desalination facilities by examining the rate of their global diffusion and the variables that influence this rate. These variables are explored quantitatively using logistic regression. In addition, selected country case studies provide insight into the factors that drive the adoption of XL desalination. They indicate that the decision to embark on XL desalination is largely determined by internal political factors. Specifically, XL desalination is advanced when the political costs of alternative water management strategies are high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Colorado River Basin supplies water to roughly 40 million people in the south-western United States. A complex interstate regime that has evolved across the past century governs allocation and management of these coveted flows, and formidable challenges face this regime in contemporary times -- a historical era aptly dubbed the 'era of limits'. This paper illuminates these challenges and offers modest input regarding potential responses to them. We initially survey the evolution of the interstate water regime and outline its essential features as well as those of the basin. We then turn to the contemporary challenges and potential responses, which generally concern an unprecedented imbalance between water supplies and demands, long-standing disagreements over the meaning of the Colorado River Compact, water rights held by American Indian tribes on reservations throughout the basin, and ongoing biodiversity protection and salinity control efforts. We conclude by reflecting on lessons from and for the Colorado River Basin vis-à-vis the interstate water regimes existent in the other four basins encompassed within the Harvard Water Federalism Project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the historic and contemporary challenges in the management of the lower Mississippi River Basin, and describes the evolving role of the federal government in addressing these challenges. In the early eighteenth century, the federal government was responsible for maintaining a navigable channel. After repeated calls by states for federal assistance with flood control and a devastating flood in 1927, the federal government additionally became the primary body responsible for protecting the Delta from floods. Although the resulting flood control system provided greater protection, it also brought new challenges, such as an increasingly large hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico, land subsidence in southern Louisiana and water quality issues. The confluence of these environmental concerns and changing national values have once again broadened the scope of federal responsibility to include environmental management and ecosystem restoration, along with its original involvement in navigation and flood control. This triad of responsibility carries with it often-competing objectives that must be balanced within legal and institutional constraints, most notably a deficit of available funding for inland waterway projects and what appears to be a lack of political will for continued investment in the maintenance of existing and development of new projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments are developing policy to reallocate water to environmental uses in many of the world's major river basins developed for irrigation. These policies can place considerable pressure on the irrigation sector to adjust, and may be perceived to conflict with food security and rural development goals. This paper reviews the literature examining opportunities to reduce irrigation district and third party externalities associated with rapid adjustment to water reallocation, with emphasis on recent water reform in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB), Australia. We focus on opportunities to improve joint environmental and regional economic outcomes, by targeting and sequencing policy instruments operating at different scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing water governance systems are proving to be quite ineffective in managing water scarcity, creating severe risk for many aspects of our societies and economies. Water markets are a relatively new and increasingly popular tool in the fight against growing water scarcity. They make a voluntary exchange possible between interested buyers and sellers of water rights. This paper presents direct evidence from seven water markets around the globe to document key economic and ecological challenges and achievements of water markets with respect to water scarcity. We specifically approach water markets as localized cap-and-trade systems, similar to those for carbon emissions. We examine whether water use remains within the set limits on use of water rights (i.e., under the cap), the degree to which water markets help protect the health of ecosystems and species, and whether (as predicted by economic theory) the explicit pricing of water is accompanied by improving efficiency, as less productive water users decide to sell water to more productive water users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article demonstrates how the availability of seawater desalination is important, not just as an additional source of water supply on a national scale, but as a potential 'game changer' in transboundary hydro-political interactions. The advent of desalination can change the nature of relations from a zero-sum game based on resource capture to a mutually beneficial business-like relationship typical in international commodity trade. It also allows for flexibility in policy approaches, and challenges the advantages and disadvantages hitherto thought of as inherent in upstream-downstream relations. This has wide ramifications for possible cooperation and conflict over international shared water resources. This study analyses the possible implications of desalination on hydro-politics, and then presents a case study of the hydro-political relations between Israel and Jordan in order to demonstrate how different aspects of transboundary political interactions are already being affected by the development of desalination. It demonstrates the ways in which the option of desalination allows states to pursue both unilateral and collaborative policies that were not practical in the period prior to desalination. The paper concludes by emphasizing the need for a revised analytical paradigm for analysis of hydro-politics in light of the development of desalination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater emerged as a major source of irrigation in India during the mid-1970s. However, a large expansion in well irrigation due to a massive rural electrification programme, government policies of promoting private tube well construction and large subsidies on electricity for agricultural use resulted in groundwater over-abstraction in many semi-arid and arid regions of India. In addition, most of the direct and indirect measures to regulate groundwater use have met with little success and have been largely ineffective in arresting groundwater over-exploitation. This paper reviews the institutional and market-based instruments that are now being advocated by scholars and practitioners as potential instruments for sustainable groundwater use. The review mainly focuses on research that examined the viability and impacts of establishing private and tradable water rights in groundwater and pro rata pricing of electricity for irrigation use as instruments to arrest the problems of groundwater over-exploitation in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concerns related to the governance of water that have emerged at the global scale have created pressure for, and an increase in, water policy reform in many countries. Simultaneously, Indigenous governance movements related to self-determination are undergoing an immense period of growth and change worldwide; the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has been a milestone of this growth. These movements are significant because of Indigenous peoples' asserted rights to lands, waters, and natural resources. In this paper, we explore the extent to which water policy reform efforts recognize concepts of Indigenous governance and self-determination. The extent to which these concepts are recognized is critical because water policy reform often occurs in the asserted traditional territories of Indigenous peoples. Using an empirical case study of water policy reform in British Columbia (BC), Canada, we demonstrate why in Indigenous traditional homelands, water policy reform efforts should have regard for the main tenets of Indigenous governance. The findings indicate that, problematic assumptions exist regarding the role of First Nations. These assumptions have the potential to undermine the prospects for water policy reform. Revisiting these assumptions may be the basis for more effective, enduring policy changes. Implications for water reform processes around the world are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainable governance of freshwater resources requires that policymakers adapt to changing environmental and socioeconomic contexts. Yet scant literature has offered a systematic understanding of whether or how the issues that water policies address and the tools they use change over time. This paper explores both an original dataset of over 200 water laws passed by the state legislature of Colorado, USA throughout the 20th century and the secondary literature on the history of Colorado water policy. We show how policymakers have developed new policy tools over time in response to Colorado's changing issues, such as shifting and expanding water demands and values toward the environment. At the same time our analysis shows how Colorado's prior appropriation system of water rights places constraints on this adaptive capacity. Finally, the analysis suggests that as new issues have emerged on the agenda, old issues remain, thus challenging the ability of policymakers to respond to the full array of issues in coming years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water management institutions and arrangements in many Caribbean states have not, until recently, altered substantially for some sixty years with the current arrangements reflecting the predominant governance paradigm of a transitional colonial era. This is most obvious in the continuance of a sectoral approach to what might be referred to as the business of government. This, however, is beginning to change such that the water sector in the Caribbean region exhibits varying stages of institutional re-ordering as it seeks to respond to challenges of increasing demand on and for water. This paper reviews the institutional status of water management and water policy developments in the Caribbean through examples from fifteen English-speaking Caribbean states. The trends and influences that are contributing to policy change and governance responses are examined and critiqued, in order to explore where and what potential tensions the re-ordering might give rise to. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses sixteen instances of radical water policy change across the globe. The key question we seek to answer is about the role of individuals in such transitions. We call these individuals 'policy entrepreneurs' and we suggest that they can affect transitions through a set of strategies, such as idea development, coalition building, the detection and exploitation of windows of opportunity, network management, and venue shopping. Our empirical analysis shows that individuals do contribute to transitions. They do so in collectives, dividing tasks over various members. The way in which they manage to affect transitions depends, at least partly, on the institutional setting they operate in. Some national policy systems offer better opportunities for centralized direction (and thus top-down pattern of transitions) whilst other systems offer better chances for bottom-up change. In either case, change has to be prepared for before windows of opportunity open. One way to prepare change is to instigate pilot projects, showing the feasibility of other approaches to water management. Policy change is a political game: networks must be built, issues need to be framed strategically, forums manipulated or by-passed, and strategies adjusted to the peculiarities of the institutional system the entrepreneur is working in. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With increasing water scarcity, research on policy options for improved water allocation and governance has become an urgent priority for many developing and developed countries. More and more, the focus is placed on institutional reforms but evaluating institutional alternatives is a challenging task. This paper takes a comparative approach and confronts case study data from Tunisia and South Africa, highlighting the importance of water rights reforms for irrigators. Using contingent valuation methods, the benefits for water users of changes in water fights systems are quantified. In both countries, willingness to pay estimates reveal that, from the farmers' perspective, significant improvements can be made to current water rights systems. This is valuable information for policy makers to guide institutional reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Often, information on spatial water use efficiencies in a whole-of-the-catchment context does not exist or does not teed into the water policy process to guide investments. Significant gains in water use efficiency are achievable but the water savings are often assumed rather than identified systematically. This paper used a whole-of-the-catchment water accounting framework to identify the main pathways to enhance water use efficiency, taking the Murrumbidgee catchment in the Murray--Darling Basin in Australia as an example. The results show that large amounts of water remain unaccounted for in the river system account; the true water losses occur in the nearfarm and onfarm zones, most of which can be saved cost effectively. The catchment water accounting procedure thus offers a useful framework for bringing unaccounted/lost water flows into human and environmental uses, for enhancing water use efficiency, lot targeting investments to the water system components with the largest potential gains in efficiency, and for garnering private sector investments to realize true water savings. The pro-investment technical and institutional, as well as governance and policy, interventions to revamp private sector participation in water infrastructure are articulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of public opinion, time, and the 'yuck' factor in influencing the fiwmation of water reuse norms based on an analysis of newspaper content observed in two locations: Singapore and Queensland, Australia. A simple regression analysis shows that time and the 'yuck' factor were significant factors in norm formation but, surprisingly, public opinion was not found to be a significant factor. The results show that public opinion, long held to be an important factor, may not be significant in the sense in which it is commonly conceived. It also shows how perception can be shaped to promote water reuse policies in the urban sector. The formation of water norms was found to be crucial in determining the different outcomes in the implementation of water reuse policies in the two countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dismal situation of water supply and sanitation in many developing countries including Pakistan is increasingly blamed on unrealistic policy, ineffective implementation and lack of local participation. This paper aims to understand Pakistan's current and proposed water supply and sanitation institutions in the light of historical and ongoing practices and perceptions of relevant actors. The relevant institutions of the government, their service provision and policy formulation and implementation processes were examined and compared with the field data. An actor-oriented approach, open-ended interviews, group discussions with relevant actors and participant observation were used for data collection. Wide gaps were found between local people's needs, desires and expectations and government policies and services, between people's practices and historical and proposed institutions, and between local people's and policy-makers' understanding of the issues. The study warrants the formulation of realistic and people-centred water supply and sanitation institutions and engaging local actors in the processes. Along with regulatory mechanisms, the findings argue for the use of cognitive and normative instruments in the implementation of policies while tailor-making solutions to local culture, working together with local actors, rather than imposing solutions on them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The drought in Northeast Brazil has been the object of many studies and debates. The theme is controversial, with lots of facets and has been under discussion for a long time. After the 1877 drought, which lasted three years and caused the death of hundreds of thousands of people, the search for an understanding of the phenomenon and for its possible solution has been intensified. Experts and lots of non-experts took part in that process, proposing solutions or just giving their opinion. Many of them contributed and aggregated new knowledge and views. A small number of others, in fact, proposed very exotic solutions. This paper provides an historical review of how the issue has been addressed and makes a conceptual approach classifying the solutions and analyzing the efficiency of them. Some proposals are described, such as: the use of camels, crystalline rocks' blasting, investment for drought forecast processes, damming and irrigation policies and water basin transfer from Silo Francisco River. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A central concern of governments, societies and aid institutions is to support the development process in order to provide stability and raise the welfare of underdeveloped countries. Historically, development models have focused on capital injections for infrastructure, education and health in order to promote financial and social returns to society. Today, development concerns incorporate the paradigm of "sustainable development" and hence a new focus on the efficient and sustainable use of natural resources. Many of these resources are public goods and are difficult to capture in traditional economic models of development. Typically, they have been undervalued and overused. As natural resources become scarcer, governments, society and the private sector need to find interrelated solutions in order to manage them sustainably. Central to the effective management of these environmental goods and services is the role of good governance, defined here as an interplay between society, science and government. This paper considers the role of economics and value in the governance trialogue; it is based on the economic perspective and not that of political science. It focuses primarily on the role of economic valuation as a tool for addressing the inefficient use of environmental goods and services, and by doing so incorporates their "true" value in the decision-making process around environmental management, leading to good governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We argue that cooperative governance is a cornerstone of successful management of the use of ecosystems, Even where good institutions exist, the challenge is to establish a process of "collective action" that enables society to work through conflicting goals and values in a process of structured co-learning as they relate to the use of natural resources. Research enables informed collective action and is therefore central to informed governance of the use of ecosystems. In this paper we establish a framework for evaluating the role of research in informing the governance process. Selected case studies are used to assess how research has informed governance, their findings are discussed and lessons are drawn from these. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]