Your search found 8 records
1 Closas, Alvar; Molle, Francois. 2018. Chronicle of a demise foretold: state vs. local groundwater management in Texas and the high plains aquifer system. Water Alternatives, 11(3):511-532.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H048957)
(949 KB)
This paper assesses a case of co-management of groundwater between the state of Texas, pushing for the rationalisation of groundwater management, and local (mainly farming) communities organised in Groundwater Conservation Districts (GCDs), which are protective of their private groundwater rights. We first describe the main legal and policy steps that have shaped this relationship. The article focuses on the Texan portion of the Ogallala Aquifer in the High Plains aquifer system – an almost non-renewable system covering 90,000 km2 and providing 95% of the irrigation needs in northern Texas. With this example, we further highlight the strategies of both parties, the different political, administrative, legal and regulatory complexities of the struggle around the definition of GCD-level aquifer management rules (the so-called 'Desired Future Conditions'). We end by reflecting on the power balance that has resulted from successive adjustments to a co-management form of governance, the advantages and disadvantages of a multi-layered state water governance system, and whether the de facto 'managed depletion' of the Ogallala Aquifer in Texas should be seen as an achievement or a failure.
2 Molle, F.; Lopez-Gunn, E.; van Steenbergen, F. 2018. The local and national politics of groundwater overexploitation. Water Alternatives, 11(3):445-457. (Special issue: Local- and National-level Politics of Groundwater Overexploitation).
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H048995)
(0.64 MB) (656 KB)
Groundwater overexploitation is a worldwide phenomenon with important consequences and as yet few effective solutions. Work on groundwater governance often emphasises the roles of both formal state-centred policies and tools on the one hand, and self-governance and collective action on the other. Yet, empirically grounded work is limited and scattered, making it difficult to identify and characterise key emerging trends. Groundwater policy making is frequently premised on an overestimation of the power of the state, which is often seen as incapable or unwilling to act and constrained by a myriad of logistical, political and legal issues. Actors on the ground either find many ways to circumvent regulations or develop their own bricolage of patched, often uncoordinated, solutions; whereas in other cases corruption and capture occur, for example in water right trading rules, sometimes with the complicity – even bribing – of officials. Failed regulation has a continued impact on the environment and the crowding out of those lacking the financial means to continue the race to the bottom. Groundwater governance systems vary widely according to the situation, from state-centred governance to co-management and rare instances of community-centred management. The collection of papers in this issue illustrates the diversity of situations, the key role of the state, the political intricacies of achieving sustainability and establishing a mode of governance that can account for the externalities of groundwater overdraft, and the opportunities to establish cooperative arrangements.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H049090)
(0.89 MB)
The rural landscapes of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta have undergone a dramatic change, where flood management and adaptation are at the forefront. This article investigates how these synergies facilitate policy change. Drawing on qualitative information from the literature, focus group discussions, and interviews, the article argues that there are confrontational but complementary effects between them, which evolve towards adaptive co-management. Collaborative learning between local governments and farmers enables shared understanding of water management drawbacks, leading to policy change. The article recommends that more attention be given to this approach to guide strategic water policy development in the region.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H049205)
(1.53 MB)
Successful aquaculture depends on access to sufficient water of adequate quality, and should not significantly degrade water quality or damage ecosystems in receiving waters. While water management technologies have received a lot of attention as potential solutions, many of the outstanding challenges are collective-action problems that depend on improving aquaculture governance. In high-income countries, aquaculture is often subject to multiple regulations that constrain the development of the sector, whereas in most low- and middle-income countries, regulations are fewer, less demanding or not implemented. Many of the promising and innovative governance initiatives involve a combination of rules, information and incentives, as well as negotiation among multiple stakeholders.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI Record No: H050124)
(3.74 MB)
The African Water Facility, together with the Water Research Commission, South Africa, as its implementing agent, supported the demonstration project Operationalizing community-led Multiple Use water Services (MUS) in South Africa. As knowledge broker and research partner in this project, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) analyzed processes and impacts at the local level, where the nongovernmental organization Tsogang Water and Sanitation demonstrated community-led MUS in six diverse rural communities in two of the poorest districts of South Africa, Sekhukhune and Vhembe districts - Ga Mokgotho, Ga Moela and Phiring in the Sekhukhune District Municipality, and Tshakhuma, Khalavha and Ha Gumbu in Vhembe District Municipality. In conventional water infrastructure projects, external state or non-state agencies plan, diagnose, design and prioritize solutions, mobilize funding, and implement the procurement of materials, recruitment of workers and construction. However, this MUS project facilitated decision-making by communities, and provided technical and institutional advice and capacity development. Based on IWMI’s evidence, tools and manuals, the project team organized learning alliances and policy dialogues from municipal to national level on the replication of community-led MUS by water services authorities; government departments of water, agriculture, and others; employment generation programs; climate and disaster management; and corporate social responsibility initiatives.
This working paper synthesizes the lessons learned about the six steps of the community-led MUS process in all six communities. The step-wise process appeared to be welcome and effective across the board. The duration of the process and the costs of facilitation, technical and institutional capacity development, and engineering advice and quality control were comparable to conventional approaches. However, the respective responsibilities of the government and communities, also in longer-term co-management arrangements, depended on the type of infrastructure. Some communities were supported to improve their communal self supply systems. In other communities, the process enabled an extension of the reticulation of borehole systems owned, operated and maintained by municipalities. Almost all households used water supplies at homesteads for multiple purposes, underscoring synergies in cross-sectoral collaboration between the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and irrigation sectors.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H050532)
(5.26 MB)
Urbanisation, population growth and climate change, among other challenges, have put pressure on urban infrastructure systems, prompting a shift from large-scale centralised infrastructure to localised nature-based solutions. Mainstreaming nature-based solutions requires a change in the planning and governance systems, and mediating new relationships and configurations between different actors through collaborative governance. Yet, limited guidance exists on how to design collaborative governance for delivering nature-based solutions. This has led to collaboration processes that are established on an ad-hoc basis, relying on the experiences, skills and viewpoints of their champions to endure. This paper synthesises and extends a suite of theoretical frameworks with the practice-based knowledge of urban practitioners across Australia (n = 42), to develop a framework for designing collaborative governance. The framework offers key principles and considerations for designing collaborations on nature-based solutions. It emphasises upfront planning that carefully considers the desired outcomes (the ‘why’), assesses the operating environment/context (the ‘what’), engages the right actors at the required level of influence (the ‘who’), and uses fit-for-purpose structures and process for interaction (the ‘how’). The framework also highlights that all those elements need to be considered with the intended level of impact in mind. To illustrate the application of our framework, we will use empirical examples from major urban development programs across Australia that have adopted water sensitive urban design (as part of the broader family of nature-based solutions) through cross-sectoral collaborations.
7 Mapedza, Everisto. 2023. Managing African commons in the context of Covid-19 challenges. International Journal of the Commons, 17(1):105-108. (Special issue: Managing African Commons in the Context of Covid-19 Challenges) [doi: https://doi.org/10.5334/ijc.1268]
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051881)
(0.71 MB) (725 KB)
8 Mapedza, Everisto. (Ed.) 2023. Managing African commons in the context of Covid-19 challenges. International Journal of the Commons, 17(1):1-108. (Special issue with contributions by IWMI authors)
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051882)
(0.18 MB)
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