Contemporary Water Governance in the Global South

Scarcity, Marketization and Participation

Edited by Leila M. Harris, Jacqueline A. Goldin, Christopher Sneddon

Published May 15th 2013 by Routledge – 264 pages

The litany of alarming observations about water use and misuse is now familiar—over a billion people without access to safe drinking water; almost every major river dammed and diverted; increasing conflicts over the delivery of water in urban areas; continuing threats to water quality from agricultural inputs and industrial wastes; and the increasing variability of climate, including threats of severe droughts and flooding across locales and regions. These issues present tremendous challenges for water governance.

This book focuses on three major concepts and approaches that have gained currency in policy and governance circles, both globally and regionally—scarcity and crisis, marketization and privatization, and participation. It provides a historical and contextual overview of each of these ideas as they have emerged in global and regional policy and governance circles and pairs these with in-depth case studies that examine manifestations and contestations of water governance internationally.

The book interrogates ideas of water crisis and scarcity in the context of bio-physical, political, social and environmental landscapes to better understand how ideas and practices linked to scarcity and crisis take hold, and become entrenched in policy and practice. The book also investigates ideas of marketization and privatization, increasingly prominent features of water governance throughout the global South, with particular attention to the varied implementation and effects of these governance practices. The final section of the volume analyzes participatory water governance, querying the disconnects between global discourses and local realities, particularly as they intersect with the other themes of interest to the volume.

Promoting a view of changing water governance that links across these themes and in relation to contemporary realities, the book is invaluable for students, researchers, advocates, and policy makers interested in water governance challenges facing the developing world.

 

The city of Accra faces challenges in providing its citizens with potable water due to rapid population growth, poverty and governance challenges. This policy brief highlights the positive uses of local water boards (LWBs) and “water dialogues” to spark discussion and change in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area.

The international community has outlined the need for participatory environmental governance for decades and drawing upon this discourse, the authors, Leila M. Harris and Cynthia Morinville, discuss whether this governance is feasible in Accra. They note that dialogue must be sensitive to local concerns and designed to ensure that citizens’ voices are heard. The authors recommend that LWBs are instituted in additional communities in Accra, that effort is put into improving the function of the boards, that participatory mechanisms are strengthened to ensure citizen representation, and that best practices are shared with other urban areas with similar challenges.

On Wednesday, June 5, 2013, 5:00 pm Professor Karen Bakker gave a Book Prize Lecture at the University of Victoria. Karen is the winner of the 2012 Rik Davidson/Studies in Political Economy Book Prize for her book Privatizing Water: Governance Failure and the World’s Urban Water Crisis (CornellUniversity Press 2010)

Contemporary Water Governance in the Global South edited by Leila Harris (PoWG), Jacqueline Goldin and Christopher Sneddon will be out in May 2013.

The   litany   of   alarming   observations   about   water   use   and   misuse   is   now   familiar␣over   a   billion   people   without   access   to   safe   drinking   water;   almost   every   major   river   dammed   and   diverted;   increasing   conflicts   over   the   delivery   of   water   in   urban   areas;    continuing   threats   to   water   quality   from   agricultural   inputs   and   industrial   wastes;   and   the   increasing   variability   of   climate,   including   threats   of   severe   droughts   and   flooding   across   locales   and   regions.   These   issues   present   tremendous   challenges   for   water  governance.

This   book   focuses   on   three   major   concepts   and   approaches   that   have   gained   currency   in   policy   and   governance   circles,   both   globally   and   regionally scarcity   and   crisis,  marketization   and   privatization,   and   participation.  It   provides   a   historical   and   contextual   overview   of   each   of   these   ideas   as   they   have   emerged   in   global   and   regional   policy   and   governance   circles   and   pairs   these  with  in-­‐depth  case  studies  that  examine  manifestations  and contestations  of  water governance internationally. The  book  interrogates  ideas  of  water  crisis  and  scarcity  in  the  context  of  bio-­physical,  political,  social  and  environmental   landscapes  to better understand  how  ideas  and  practices  linked  to  scarcity  and  crisis  take  hold,  and  become  entrenched  in  policy   and  practice. The  book  also  investigates  ideas  of marketization  and  privatization,  increasingly  prominent  features  of  water   governance  throughout  the  global  South,  with  particular  attention  to  the  varied implementation  and  effects  of  these  governance   practices.  The  final  section  of  the  volume  analyzes  participatory  water  governance,  querying  the  disconnects  between global   discourses  and  local  realities,  particularly  as  they  intersect  with  the  other  themes  of  interest  to  the  volume. Promoting  a  view  of   changing  water  governance that links  across  these  themes  and  in  relation  to  contemporary  realities,  the  book  is  invaluable  for   students,  researchers,  advocates,  and  policy  makers  interested  in water governance  challenges  facing  the  developing  world.

Click here to order your copy.

 

Karen’s most recent article on water security was published in Science on 24th August 2012.

Bakker, K. (2012). Water Security: Research Challenges and Opportunities. Science. 337 (6097): 914-915. DOI: 10.1126/science.1226337

ABSTRACT: An estimated 80% of the world’s population faces a high-level water security or water-related biodiversity risk (1). The issue of water security—defined as an acceptable level of water-related risks to humans and ecosystems, coupled with the availability of water of sufficient quantity and quality to support livelihoods, national security, human health, and ecosystem services (2, 3)—is thus receiving considerable attention. To date, however, the majority of academic research on water security is relatively poorly integrated with the needs of policy-makers and practitioners; hence, substantial changes to funding, education, research frameworks, and academic incentive structures are required if researchers are to be enabled to make more substantive contributions to addressing the global water crisis.

 

The final product of the four-year Water Security Project is now available to download.

The Water Security Guidance Document, is a free document developed for small communities to assess risk to water security in their watershed (but many of the concepts and issues are applicable at larger scales). The Water Security Guidance Document contains a broad range of information for both experts and non-experts. Click here for more information and to download the documents.

The Program on Water Governance 2011 Annual Report is now available online. For more information on our Annual Reports click here.

The Water Without Borders? Policy Briefs are now available to download. The briefs, titled: “Flashpoints and Collaboration: How problems can inspire innovative solutions for Canada, the US and the governance of shared waters” are the product of an ongoing project, Water Without Borders? funded through the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation.

The forthcoming book, Water Without Borders? Canada, the United States and Shared Waters edited by Dr. Emma S. Norman, Dr. Alice Cohen, and Dr. Karen Bakker will be released early next year through University of Toronto Press.

It is our pleasure to announce the promotion of Dr. Leila Harris to Co-Director of the Program on Water Governance. Dr Harris brings a wealth of international, interdisciplinary research experience on water, gender, and the environment. We look forward to her playing a leading role in the Program’s international work. Congratulations Leila!