Special Track

0d. Water Governance

Track Chair:

Andrés Hernández. Centro Interdisciplinario de Estudios sobre Desarrollo CIDER, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia. ahernand@uniandes.edu.co

Papers should be about one of the following topics:

1. Loss of Hydric potential in many regions leading to depletion of water resources at a very fast pace.
2. Exacerbation of conflicts around water due to development models and water governance arrangements lacking participation and accountability.
3. Legislative and institutional innovations in sustainable and decentralised management of water.
4. Payment for ecosystemic services.
5. Water Governance in big and intermediate cities.
6. Water Governance, Justice and Peacebuilding.
7. Intercultural practices and alternative models water governance.
8. Community management of water and sanitation and community aqueducts.

Read the descriptions of these topics below.

Topic 1. Loss of Hydric potential in many regions leading to depletion of water resources at a very fast pace. An abundance of water characterises some regions in the world. This can be explained by their geographical localisation and orography. However, human activities are depleting their water potential. This is the consequence of a development model that affects the hydrologic cycles and the quality of water. In that manner, activities such as indiscriminate logging lead to lower levels of water volume; while domestic, industrial, and agroindustrial blackwater pollutes not only a water source but the whole water cycle. In that manner, the current development model is increasing the vulnerability of many catchment basins, endangering populations that depend on them.

Topic 2. Exacerbation of conflicts around water due to development models and water governance arrangements lacking participation and accountability. Neoliberal models of development consume a lot of resources, promote indiscriminate usage and degradation of water, land and biodiversity, and generate land dispossession processes. To legitimise and cover these processes, neoliberal models create big development projects in sectors such as agroindustry, mining and energy in regions such Asia, Africa and Latin America, among others. These projects are accompanied by institutional reforms (changes in law and policy) that promote privatisation and commodification of water rights, usage, infrastructure and provision (openly legal or in a hidden way to avoid civil uprising). This leads 'institutional coherence', which allows exponential growth of agro-exports and the trans-nationalisation of "water fever". In that manner, neoliberal models drive a shift in water governance: from local organisations and national regulations to free trade agreements; from the local and national scale to the international and global level. These normative frameworks allow the private sector to take over public and communal infrastructure and resources, exacerbating of the conflicts around water usage, exploitation and distribution.

Topic 3. Legislative and institutional innovations in sustainable and decentralised management of water. The most concerning problems of water management in developing countries are closely related the extremely permissive and passive legislations on water conservation and the persistence of weak local and regional institutions which are unable to generate accountability about water use. The relationship between many countries and their water resources has changed drastically during the last decade, there has been and increasing adoption of innovative and decentralised normative frameworks for the water sector. For instance, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, reforms have included principles of integrated water resources management (IWRM). IWRM is understood as a set of actions that assign (and reassign) the implementation of incentives for efficient water usage and the evaluation of those incentives, to maximise the benefit obtained through water availability by protecting the resources, controlling pollution, and developing infrastructure. IWRM configures a conceptual and legal innovation. Changes like this need to be further explored to understand their reach and limitations.

Topic 4. Payment for ecosystemic services. In the past decades, there has been and increasing recognition of the externalities entrenched in water management and existing water governance arrangements. These externalities affect the sustainability of water and the use of these resources. Efforts building on the idea of defining and promoting clear incentives for the protection of ecosystems that are vital for securing water sustainability, and which would otherwise be eroded or even used in water-intensive ways - such as agroindustry and mining. Understanding schemes of payment for ecosystemic services, to assess their potential - and limits - is a key arrangement for securing water sustainability in communities and cities around the world.

Topic 5. Water Governance in big and intermediate cities. Integrated water resources management is a flexible, participative and interactive process that incorporates urban water management elements (such as water distribution, sanitation, rainwater and Blackwater management), as well as urban development and basins management. In that manner, it aims to increase social, economic and environmental benefits in an equitable way. New hybrid models of water governance are consolidating, including new institutional contexts in which public, private and community stakeholders are participating at local municipal and supra-municipal level to collaborate on, and negotiate, the design and implementation of solutions to deep-rooted challenges that jeopardise urban sustainable development.

Topic 6. Water Governance, Justice and Peacebuilding. If the lack of access to water, sanitation and a healthy environment is understood as one kind of violence, one could state that water government is crucial to environmental justice. In that manner, models of water governance that address access to water as a right could help to build peace minimise structural violence. This is especially critical in contexts where physical violence or disasters threat human existence at both community and individual level. In these settings, access to water and sanitations has been affected and limited by war, uprooting and resource hoarding, among other factors. In this line, many communities have been created grassroots initiatives in response to infective state water management and water privatisation. Usually, those initiatives are not limited to water and environmental justice, but they also include topics such as democracy, community empowerment and peace building. Understanding the relationship between water governance and peace building is pivotal to implement policies not only in the context of war and armoured conflict but also in any context where social fabric can be strengthened.

Topic 7. Intercultural practices and alternative models water governance. Water commodification has become a critical trend in our globalised world. However, there is a multiplicity of alternatives to commodification, which on many occasions are not taken into account. These alternatives lie on a multiplicity of ways to relate to water and nature, which sometimes clash with modern approaches to relate with water. However, there are examples of communities, local governments and other actors that have been able to create hybrid and intercultural models for water governance and management. Describing and explaining these models and exploring whether and how they contribute to sustainable development is a key issue that needs to be further explored.

Topic 8. Community management of water and sanitation and community aqueducts. State-based companies traditionally managed weater access and sanitation services. But in many countries, the State was not able to comply with the demand of their citizens, especially in rural areas. As a solution, many countries have opted for the privatisation of water management and delivery. However, privatisation has not been the best alternative to take care of water sources. On the contrary, it has put more pressure on water bodies, as it intensifies the commodification of agriculture, an increase of industrial water production and escalates population density. On top of that, privatisation has implied that companies have replaced communities as guardians and caretakers of water sources and ecosystems. Facing these challenges, many campesino, farmers and indigenous communities have proposed grassroots initiatives and aqueducts for a proper water management, even for urban and industrial usage. In that manner, they recognise the need to ensure water supply to marginal groups and to protect water sources, what neither public nor private models have been able to do. These initiatives and community aqueducts require technical and political support, so alternatives to simple neoliberal models can be found.