Providing an extensive comparative and international study of water innovations and the issues that arise in their implementation, The Governance of Water Innovations analyses the technical, economic, health and environmental impacts of water innovations and their policy implications.
ÔEnsuring that everybody has access to drinking water, sanitation and enough nutritious food, which depends on water to grow it, are prerequisites for a healthy life. Water management is not just about the technical aspects of water supply and sanitation. It is equally about our water governance systems, including policies, regulation and societal perception of water rights. This book presents many helpful examples of how different societies are dealing with these issues and of the performance of public and private sector players in this important arena.Õ Ð Colin Chartres, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Colombo, Sri Lanka ÔI congratulate the Institute of Water Policy, the two editors and the contributors for a very thoughtful book on urban water governance. Our objective is to deliver sustainable water and sanitation services to our people. This book contains useful lessons on how to achieve that objective.Õ Ð Tommy Koh, Chairman, Governing Council, Asia-Pacific Water Forum This insightful book explores urban water governance challenges in different parts of the world and highlights the advantages and disadvantages of publicly run, privatized, and publicÐprivate partnership managed water facilities. The contributors expertly discuss various types of public and private water governance architectures as well as identifying the trends, challenges, opportunities and the shifts in perceptions with regard to the provision of water supply services. Many chapters are dedicated to analyzing the urban water supply scenarios in selected countries, with specific focus on legal, policy and institutional frameworks. The study reveals that while private sector participation has been largely promoted by multilateral institutions as part of institutional and financial reforms, ultimately governments bear the major responsibility for provision of water supply services either as Ôservice providerÕ or as Ôregulator and policy-makerÕ. Containing a detailed overview and analysis of the global urban water supply sector, this timely compendium will strongly appeal to academics, researchers and university students following water-related courses. Water sector professionals, water regulators and public officers as well as managers and researchers employed by private sector water operators will also find plenty of invaluable information in this important book.
Today our societies face great challenges with water, in terms of both quantity and quality, but many of these challenges have already existed in the past. Focusing on Asia, Water Societies and Technologies from the Past and Present seeks to highlight the issues that emerge or re-emerge across different societies and periods, and asks what they can tell us about water sustainability. Incorporating cutting-edge research and pioneering field surveys on past and present water management practices, the interdisciplinary contributors together identify how societies managed water resource challenges and utilised water in ways that allowed them to evolve, persist, or drastically alter their environment. The case studies, from different periods, ancient and modern, and from different regions, including Egypt, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Southwest United States, the Indus Basin, the Yangtze River, the Mesopotamian floodplain, the early Islamic city of Sultan Kala in Turkmenistan, and ancient Korea, offer crucial empirical data to readers interested in comparing the dynamics of water management practices across time and space, and to those who wish to understand water-related issues through conceptual and quantitative models of water use. The case studies also challenge classical theories on water management and social evolution, examine and establish the deep historical roots and ecological foundations of water sustainability issues, and contribute new grounds for innovations in sustainable urban planning and ecological resilience.
This book synthesizes current knowledge and understanding of management and governance in the context of water resilience; advances theory through synthesis of research and experiences from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. The book highlights the implications of theory and experience for innovation in practice and policy; and it explores frontiers and future research. The book further addresses the need for a consolidated, interdisciplinary approach to the theoretical advances and practical implications of water resilience for academics, resource managers, aid organizations, policy makers and citizens.
In an increasingly global community of researchers and practitioners, new technologies and communication means have made the transfer of policies from one country or region to another progressively more prevalent. There has been a lot of attention in the field of public administration paid to policy transfer and institutional transplantation. This book aims to create a better understanding of such transfers in the water management sector. These include the adoption of modern water management concepts, such as integrated water resources management and forms of water governance, which are strongly promoted and sometimes also imposed by various international organizations. Transfers also occur within the scope of development aid or for the purpose of creating business opportunities. In addition, many research organisations, consultancies and governmental agencies are involved in cross-border work. The purpose of this book is therefore to present practical examples of the transfer of modern water management from one locality to another and to critically discuss the transferability of policy and governance concepts by analysing the contextual needs and factors. Case studies are included from North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It is argued that in many cases context matters in water management and that there is no panacea or universal concept that can be applied to all countries or regions with different political, economic, cultural and technological contexts. Yet it is also shown that some countries are facing pressing and similar water management issues that cut across national borders, and hence the transfer of knowledge may be beneficial.
A theoretical and case-study exploration of water politics demonstrates the emergence of alternative institutional forms of global environmental governance that go beyond traditional interstate regimes.
This republished Special Issue highlights recent and emergent concepts and approaches to water governance that re-centers the political in relation to water-related decision making, use, and management. To do so at once is to focus on diverse ontologies, meanings and values of water, and related contestations regarding its use, or its importance for livelihoods, identity, or place-making. Building on insights from science and technology studies, feminist, and postcolonial approaches, we engage broadly with the ways that water-related decision making is often depoliticized and evacuated of political content or meaning—and to what effect. Key themes that emerged from the contributions include the politics of water infrastructure and insecurity; participatory politics and multi-scalar governance dynamics; politics related to emergent technologies of water (bottled or packaged water, and water desalination); and Indigenous water governance.
From the contributors to The Conversation, a compelling essay collection on the world's water crises and the necessary steps to build a more sustainable and equitable water future for all. Water-related crises are affecting more and more communities, both in the United States and internationally. If we continue to delay upgrading our infrastructure and addressing rising environmental concerns, we risk further destabilizing already strained systems—or, worse, causing a catastrophic collapse. In The Conversation on Water, water scholar and professor Andrea K. Gerlak collects essays from The Conversation U.S. on critical issues related to water from leading experts in everything from public policy to environmental engineering. Gerlak pays special attention to the threats facing our water systems today—covering insufficient infrastructure, climate change, and pollution—and integrates them with essays on technologies for harvesting water and Indigenous knowledge in governing the oceans. She then proposes solutions that present opportunities for hope and reform. From new partnerships and collaborative efforts to alternative governance practices and new scientific tools and community approaches, readers will learn about viable pathways forward and will understand the deep social and political dimensions of water governance. Understanding these challenges is the first step toward building a more sustainable and equitable water future for all. The Critical Conversations series collects essays from top scholars on timely topics, including water, biotechnology, gender diversity, gun culture, and more, originally published on the independent news site The Conversation U.S. Contributors: Roger Bales, Kevin Befus, Robert Blasiak, Ellen Bruno, Bethany Caruso, Sebastien Chastin, Craig E. Colten, Joseph Cook, Michelle DiBenedetto, Farshid Felfelani, Gabriel Filippelli, Michail Georgiou, Burke Griggs, Gary Griggs, Drew Gronewold, Marissa Grunes, Danielle Hare, Brian Haus, Dan Johnson, Carol Kwiatkowski, Rosalyn R. LaPier, Katharine Mach, Amahia Mallea, Daniel McCool, Jacob Miller-Klugesherz, Nobuhito Mori, Thomas Mortlock, Suzanne O'Connell, Itxaso Odériz, Joseph D. Ortiz, Meg Parsons, Raquel Partelli-Feltrin, Yadu Pokhrel, Manzoor Qadir, Julie Reimer, Landolf Rhode-Barbarigos, Richard Rood, Asher Rosinger, Matthew R. Sanderson, Heidi Schweizer, Alan Seltzer, A. R. Siders, Rodolfo Silva-Casarín, Vladimir Smakhtin, Bruce Sutherland, Lara Taylor, Emily Ury, Ton Van den Bremer, Andrew J. Whelton
This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Water Governance, Stakeholder Engagement, and Sustainable Water Resources Management" that was published in Water
The World Water Development Report 2003 pointed out the extensive problem that: 'Sadly, the tragedy of the water crisis is not simply a result of lack of water but is, essentially, one of poor water governance.' Cross-sectional and historical intra-national and international comparisons have been recognized as a valuable method of study in different sectors of human life, including technologies and governance. Environmental History of Water fills this gap, with its main focus being on water and sanitation services and their evolution. Altogether 34 authors have written 30 chapters for this multidisciplinary book which divides into four chronological parts, from ancient cultures to the challenges of the 21st century, each with its introduction and conclusions written by the editors. The authors represent such disciplines as history of technology, history of public health, public policy, development studies, sociology, engineering and management sciences. This book emphasizes that the history of water and sanitation services is strongly linked to current water management and policy issues, as well as future implications. Geographically the book consists of local cases from all inhabited continents. The key penetrating themes of the book include especially population growth, health, water consumption, technological choices and governance. There is great need for general, long-term analysis at the global level. Lessons learned from earlier societies help us to understand the present crisis and challenges. This new book, Environmental History of Water, provides this analysis by studying these lessons.