Governing Water

Governing Water

Author: Ken Conca

Publisher:

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 496

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.


Book Synopsis Governing Water by : Ken Conca

Download or read book Governing Water written by Ken Conca and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.


Transforming Rural Water Governance

Transforming Rural Water Governance

Author: Sarah T Romano

Publisher: University of Arizona Press

Published: 2019-11-05

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 0816538077

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The most acute water crises occur in everyday contexts in impoverished rural and urban areas across the Global South. While they rarely make headlines, these crises, characterized by inequitable access to sufficient and clean water, affect over one billion people globally. What is less known, though, is that millions of these same global citizens are at the forefront of responding to the challenges of water privatization, climate change, deforestation, mega-hydraulic projects, and other threats to accessing water as a critical resource. In Transforming Rural Water Governance Sarah T. Romano explains the bottom-up development and political impact of community-based water and sanitation committees (CAPS) in Nicaragua. Romano traces the evolution of CAPS from rural resource management associations into a national political force through grassroots organizing and strategic alliances. Resource management and service provision is inherently political: charging residents fees for service, determining rules for household water shutoffs and reconnections, and negotiating access to water sources with local property owners constitute just a few of the highly political endeavors resource management associations like CAPS undertake as part of their day-to-day work in their communities. Yet, for decades in Nicaragua, this local work did not reflect political activism. In the mid-2000s CAPS’ collective push for social change propelled them onto a national stage and into new roles as they demanded recognition from the government. Romano argues that the transformation of Nicaragua’s CAPS into political actors is a promising example of the pursuit of sustainable and equitable water governance, particularly in Latin America. Transforming Rural Water Governance demonstrates that when activism informs public policy processes, the outcome is more inclusive governance and the potential for greater social and environmental justice.


Book Synopsis Transforming Rural Water Governance by : Sarah T Romano

Download or read book Transforming Rural Water Governance written by Sarah T Romano and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2019-11-05 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The most acute water crises occur in everyday contexts in impoverished rural and urban areas across the Global South. While they rarely make headlines, these crises, characterized by inequitable access to sufficient and clean water, affect over one billion people globally. What is less known, though, is that millions of these same global citizens are at the forefront of responding to the challenges of water privatization, climate change, deforestation, mega-hydraulic projects, and other threats to accessing water as a critical resource. In Transforming Rural Water Governance Sarah T. Romano explains the bottom-up development and political impact of community-based water and sanitation committees (CAPS) in Nicaragua. Romano traces the evolution of CAPS from rural resource management associations into a national political force through grassroots organizing and strategic alliances. Resource management and service provision is inherently political: charging residents fees for service, determining rules for household water shutoffs and reconnections, and negotiating access to water sources with local property owners constitute just a few of the highly political endeavors resource management associations like CAPS undertake as part of their day-to-day work in their communities. Yet, for decades in Nicaragua, this local work did not reflect political activism. In the mid-2000s CAPS’ collective push for social change propelled them onto a national stage and into new roles as they demanded recognition from the government. Romano argues that the transformation of Nicaragua’s CAPS into political actors is a promising example of the pursuit of sustainable and equitable water governance, particularly in Latin America. Transforming Rural Water Governance demonstrates that when activism informs public policy processes, the outcome is more inclusive governance and the potential for greater social and environmental justice.


Networks in Water Governance

Networks in Water Governance

Author: Manuel Fischer

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-08-19

Total Pages: 333

ISBN-13: 3030467694

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

With the consequences of climate change and biodiversity loss becoming more and more apparent, both the protection of water resources and water-related ecosystems as well as protection from water, that is flood protection policies, have become increasingly important. This book explores the latest applications of network analysis concepts and measures to the study and practice of water governance. Given the holistic complexity of water governance, it covers individual water governance aspects such as flood protection and fisheries, as well as overarching concepts like integrated water management and social-ecological interactions. The book provides an overview of current water governance issues, network analytic concepts as well as implications for practice. The main body of the text is made up of eight case studies by world-leading environmental governance scholars, each of which addresses one water-related challenge by applying a variety of network approaches. The first part of the book highlights network dispersion and fragmentation, the second focuses on how such fragmentation in networks can be overcome and the third deals with specific roles of actors in networks. This collection is a key resource for scholars and practitioners interested in water governance all over the world. It provides readers with an overview of the potential of network analytic concepts for research on complex governance problems.


Book Synopsis Networks in Water Governance by : Manuel Fischer

Download or read book Networks in Water Governance written by Manuel Fischer and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-08-19 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With the consequences of climate change and biodiversity loss becoming more and more apparent, both the protection of water resources and water-related ecosystems as well as protection from water, that is flood protection policies, have become increasingly important. This book explores the latest applications of network analysis concepts and measures to the study and practice of water governance. Given the holistic complexity of water governance, it covers individual water governance aspects such as flood protection and fisheries, as well as overarching concepts like integrated water management and social-ecological interactions. The book provides an overview of current water governance issues, network analytic concepts as well as implications for practice. The main body of the text is made up of eight case studies by world-leading environmental governance scholars, each of which addresses one water-related challenge by applying a variety of network approaches. The first part of the book highlights network dispersion and fragmentation, the second focuses on how such fragmentation in networks can be overcome and the third deals with specific roles of actors in networks. This collection is a key resource for scholars and practitioners interested in water governance all over the world. It provides readers with an overview of the potential of network analytic concepts for research on complex governance problems.


Water Politics

Water Politics

Author: David L. Feldman

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2017-02-27

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 1509504656

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

As the world faces another water crisis, it is easy to understand why this precious and highly-disputed resource could determine the fate of entire nations. In reality, however, water conflicts rarely result in violence and more often lead to collaborative governance, however precarious. In this comprehensive and accessible text, David Feldman introduces readers to the key issues, debates, and challenges in water politics today. Its ten chapters explore the processes that determine how this unique resource captures our attention, the sources of power that determine how we allocate, use, and protect it, and the purposes that direct decisions over its cost, availability, and access. Drawing on contemporary water controversies from every continent – from Flint, Michigan to Mumbai, Sao Paulo, and Beijing –the book argues that cooperation and more equitable water management are imperative if the global community is to adequately address water challenges and their associated risks, particularly in the developing world. While alternatives for enhancing water supply, including waste-water re-use, desalination, and conservation abound, without inclusive means of addressing citizens' concerns, their adoption faces severe hurdles that can impede cooperation and generate additional conflicts.


Book Synopsis Water Politics by : David L. Feldman

Download or read book Water Politics written by David L. Feldman and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2017-02-27 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the world faces another water crisis, it is easy to understand why this precious and highly-disputed resource could determine the fate of entire nations. In reality, however, water conflicts rarely result in violence and more often lead to collaborative governance, however precarious. In this comprehensive and accessible text, David Feldman introduces readers to the key issues, debates, and challenges in water politics today. Its ten chapters explore the processes that determine how this unique resource captures our attention, the sources of power that determine how we allocate, use, and protect it, and the purposes that direct decisions over its cost, availability, and access. Drawing on contemporary water controversies from every continent – from Flint, Michigan to Mumbai, Sao Paulo, and Beijing –the book argues that cooperation and more equitable water management are imperative if the global community is to adequately address water challenges and their associated risks, particularly in the developing world. While alternatives for enhancing water supply, including waste-water re-use, desalination, and conservation abound, without inclusive means of addressing citizens' concerns, their adoption faces severe hurdles that can impede cooperation and generate additional conflicts.


Global Challenges in Water Governance

Global Challenges in Water Governance

Author: Jeremy J. Schmidt

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-07-24

Total Pages: 130

ISBN-13: 3319615033

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book presents a historically situated explanation of the rise of global water governance and the contemporary challenges that global water governance seeks to address. It is particularly concerned with connecting what are often technical issues in water management with the social and political structures that affect how technical and scientific advice affects decisions. Schmidt and Matthews are careful to avoid the pitfalls of setting up opposing binaries, such as ‘nature versus culture’ or ‘private versus public’, thereby allowing readers to understand how contests over water governance have been shaped over time and why they will continue to be so. Co-written by an academic and a practitioner, Global Challenges in Water Governance combines the dual concerns for both analytical clarity and practical applicability in a way that is particularly valuable both for educators, researchers, decision-makers, and newcomers to the complexities of water use decisions.


Book Synopsis Global Challenges in Water Governance by : Jeremy J. Schmidt

Download or read book Global Challenges in Water Governance written by Jeremy J. Schmidt and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-07-24 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents a historically situated explanation of the rise of global water governance and the contemporary challenges that global water governance seeks to address. It is particularly concerned with connecting what are often technical issues in water management with the social and political structures that affect how technical and scientific advice affects decisions. Schmidt and Matthews are careful to avoid the pitfalls of setting up opposing binaries, such as ‘nature versus culture’ or ‘private versus public’, thereby allowing readers to understand how contests over water governance have been shaped over time and why they will continue to be so. Co-written by an academic and a practitioner, Global Challenges in Water Governance combines the dual concerns for both analytical clarity and practical applicability in a way that is particularly valuable both for educators, researchers, decision-makers, and newcomers to the complexities of water use decisions.


Water Politics

Water Politics

Author: Farhana Sultana

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-09-06

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 0429843127

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Scholarship on the right to water has proliferated in interesting and unexpected ways in recent years. This book broadens existing discussions on the right to water in order to shed critical light on the pathways, pitfalls, prospects, and constraints that exist in achieving global goals, as well as advancing debates around water governance and water justice. The book shows how both discourses and struggles around the right to water have opened new perspectives, and possibilities in water governance, fostering new collective and moral claims for water justice, while effecting changes in laws and policies around the world. In light of the 2010 UN ratification on the human right to water and sanitation, shifts have taken place in policy, legal frameworks, local implementation, as well as in national dialogues. Chapters in the book illustrate the novel ways in which the right to water has been taken up in locations drawn globally, highlighting the material politics that are enabled and negotiated through this framework in order to address ongoing water insecurities. This book reflects the urgent need to take stock of debates in light of new concerns around post-neoliberal political developments, the challenges of the Anthropocene and climate change, the transition from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as the mobilizations around the right to water in the global North. This book is essential reading for scholars and students of water governance, environmental policy, politics, geography, and law. It will be of great interest to policymakers and practitioners working in water governance, as well as the human right to water and sanitation.


Book Synopsis Water Politics by : Farhana Sultana

Download or read book Water Politics written by Farhana Sultana and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-09-06 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scholarship on the right to water has proliferated in interesting and unexpected ways in recent years. This book broadens existing discussions on the right to water in order to shed critical light on the pathways, pitfalls, prospects, and constraints that exist in achieving global goals, as well as advancing debates around water governance and water justice. The book shows how both discourses and struggles around the right to water have opened new perspectives, and possibilities in water governance, fostering new collective and moral claims for water justice, while effecting changes in laws and policies around the world. In light of the 2010 UN ratification on the human right to water and sanitation, shifts have taken place in policy, legal frameworks, local implementation, as well as in national dialogues. Chapters in the book illustrate the novel ways in which the right to water has been taken up in locations drawn globally, highlighting the material politics that are enabled and negotiated through this framework in order to address ongoing water insecurities. This book reflects the urgent need to take stock of debates in light of new concerns around post-neoliberal political developments, the challenges of the Anthropocene and climate change, the transition from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as the mobilizations around the right to water in the global North. This book is essential reading for scholars and students of water governance, environmental policy, politics, geography, and law. It will be of great interest to policymakers and practitioners working in water governance, as well as the human right to water and sanitation.


Privatizing Water

Privatizing Water

Author: Karen Bakker

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2013-02-15

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 0801467004

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Water supply privatization was emblematic of the neoliberal turn in development policy in the 1990s. Proponents argued that the private sector could provide better services at lower costs than governments; opponents questioned the risks involved in delegating control over a life-sustaining resource to for-profit companies. Private-sector activity was most concentrated—and contested—in large cities in developing countries, where the widespread lack of access to networked water supplies was characterized as a global crisis. In Privatizing Water, Karen Bakker focuses on three questions: Why did privatization emerge as a preferred alternative for managing urban water supply? Can privatization fulfill its proponents' expectations, particularly with respect to water supply to the urban poor? And, given the apparent shortcomings of both privatization and conventional approaches to government provision, what are the alternatives? In answering these questions, Bakker engages with broader debates over the role of the private sector in development, the role of urban communities in the provision of "public" services, and the governance of public goods. She introduces the concept of "governance failure" as a means of exploring the limitations facing both private companies and governments. Critically examining a range of issues—including the transnational struggle over the human right to water, the "commons" as a water-supply-management strategy, and the environmental dimensions of water privatization—Privatizing Water is a balanced exploration of a critical issue that affects billions of people around the world.


Book Synopsis Privatizing Water by : Karen Bakker

Download or read book Privatizing Water written by Karen Bakker and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2013-02-15 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Water supply privatization was emblematic of the neoliberal turn in development policy in the 1990s. Proponents argued that the private sector could provide better services at lower costs than governments; opponents questioned the risks involved in delegating control over a life-sustaining resource to for-profit companies. Private-sector activity was most concentrated—and contested—in large cities in developing countries, where the widespread lack of access to networked water supplies was characterized as a global crisis. In Privatizing Water, Karen Bakker focuses on three questions: Why did privatization emerge as a preferred alternative for managing urban water supply? Can privatization fulfill its proponents' expectations, particularly with respect to water supply to the urban poor? And, given the apparent shortcomings of both privatization and conventional approaches to government provision, what are the alternatives? In answering these questions, Bakker engages with broader debates over the role of the private sector in development, the role of urban communities in the provision of "public" services, and the governance of public goods. She introduces the concept of "governance failure" as a means of exploring the limitations facing both private companies and governments. Critically examining a range of issues—including the transnational struggle over the human right to water, the "commons" as a water-supply-management strategy, and the environmental dimensions of water privatization—Privatizing Water is a balanced exploration of a critical issue that affects billions of people around the world.


Water Policy and Governance in Canada

Water Policy and Governance in Canada

Author: Steven Renzetti

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-10-31

Total Pages: 456

ISBN-13: 3319428063

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book provides an insightful and critical assessment of the state of Canadian water governance and policy. It adopts a multidisciplinary variety of perspectives and considers local, basin, provincial and national scales. Canada’s leading authorities from the social sciences, life and natural sciences address pressing water issues in a non-technical language, making them accessible to a wide audience. Even though Canada is seen as a water-rich country, with 7% of the world’s reliable flow of freshwater and many of the world’s largest rivers, the country nevertheless faces a number of significant water-related challenges, stemming in part from supply-demand imbalances but also a range of water quality issues. Against the backdrop of a water policy landscape that has changed significantly in recent years, this book therefore seeks to examine water-related issues that are not only important for the future of Canadian water management but also provide insights into transboundary management, non-market valuation of water, decentralized governance methods, the growing importance of the role of First Nations peoples, and other topics in water management that are vital to many jurisdictions globally. The book also presents forward-looking approaches such as resilience theory and geomatics to shed light on emerging water issues. Researchers, students and those directly involved in the management of Canadian waters will find this book a valuable source of insight. In addition, this book will appeal to policy analysts, people concerned about Canadian water resources specifically as well as global water issues.


Book Synopsis Water Policy and Governance in Canada by : Steven Renzetti

Download or read book Water Policy and Governance in Canada written by Steven Renzetti and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-10-31 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides an insightful and critical assessment of the state of Canadian water governance and policy. It adopts a multidisciplinary variety of perspectives and considers local, basin, provincial and national scales. Canada’s leading authorities from the social sciences, life and natural sciences address pressing water issues in a non-technical language, making them accessible to a wide audience. Even though Canada is seen as a water-rich country, with 7% of the world’s reliable flow of freshwater and many of the world’s largest rivers, the country nevertheless faces a number of significant water-related challenges, stemming in part from supply-demand imbalances but also a range of water quality issues. Against the backdrop of a water policy landscape that has changed significantly in recent years, this book therefore seeks to examine water-related issues that are not only important for the future of Canadian water management but also provide insights into transboundary management, non-market valuation of water, decentralized governance methods, the growing importance of the role of First Nations peoples, and other topics in water management that are vital to many jurisdictions globally. The book also presents forward-looking approaches such as resilience theory and geomatics to shed light on emerging water issues. Researchers, students and those directly involved in the management of Canadian waters will find this book a valuable source of insight. In addition, this book will appeal to policy analysts, people concerned about Canadian water resources specifically as well as global water issues.


Governing the Tap

Governing the Tap

Author: Megan Mullin

Publisher: National Geographic Books

Published: 2009-08-21

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 0262512971

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

An analysis of the political consequences of special district governance in drinking water management that offers new insights into the influence of political structures on local policymaking. More than ever, Americans rely on independent special districts to provide public services. The special district—which can be as small as a low-budget mosquito abatement district or as vast as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey—has become the most common form of local governance in the United States. In Governing the Tap, Megan Mullin examines the consequences of specialization and the fragmentation of policymaking authority through the lens of local drinking-water policy. Directly comparing specific conservation, land use, and contracting policies enacted by different forms of local government, Mullin investigates the capacity of special districts to engage in responsive and collaborative decision making that promotes sustainable use of water resources. She concludes that the effect of specialization is conditional on the structure of institutions and the severity of the policy problem, with specialization offering the most benefit on policy problems that are least severe. Mullin presents a political theory of specialized governance that is relevant to any of the variety of functions special districts perform. Governing the Tap offers not only the first study of how the new decentralized politics of water is taking shape in American communities, but also new and important findings about the influence of institutional structures on local policymaking.


Book Synopsis Governing the Tap by : Megan Mullin

Download or read book Governing the Tap written by Megan Mullin and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2009-08-21 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An analysis of the political consequences of special district governance in drinking water management that offers new insights into the influence of political structures on local policymaking. More than ever, Americans rely on independent special districts to provide public services. The special district—which can be as small as a low-budget mosquito abatement district or as vast as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey—has become the most common form of local governance in the United States. In Governing the Tap, Megan Mullin examines the consequences of specialization and the fragmentation of policymaking authority through the lens of local drinking-water policy. Directly comparing specific conservation, land use, and contracting policies enacted by different forms of local government, Mullin investigates the capacity of special districts to engage in responsive and collaborative decision making that promotes sustainable use of water resources. She concludes that the effect of specialization is conditional on the structure of institutions and the severity of the policy problem, with specialization offering the most benefit on policy problems that are least severe. Mullin presents a political theory of specialized governance that is relevant to any of the variety of functions special districts perform. Governing the Tap offers not only the first study of how the new decentralized politics of water is taking shape in American communities, but also new and important findings about the influence of institutional structures on local policymaking.


The Right to Water

The Right to Water

Author: Farhana Sultana

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-10-18

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 1136518649

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The right to clean water has been adopted by the United Nations as a basic human right. Yet how such universal calls for a right to water are understood, negotiated, experienced and struggled over remain key challenges. The Right to Water elucidates how universal calls for rights articulate with local historical geographical contexts, governance, politics and social struggles, thereby highlighting the challenges and the possibilities that exist. Bringing together a unique range of academics, policy-makers and activists, the book analyzes how struggles for the right to water have attempted to translate moral arguments over access to safe water into workable claims. This book is an intervention at a crucial moment into the shape and future direction of struggles for the right to water in a range of political, geographic and socio-economics contexts, seeking to be pro-active in defining what this struggle could mean and how it might be taken forward in a far broader transformative politics. The Right to Water engages with a range of approaches that focus on philosophical, legal and governance perspectives before seeking to apply these more abstract arguments to an array of concrete struggles and case studies. In so doing, the book builds on empirical examples from Africa, Asia, Oceania, Latin America, the Middle East, North America and the European Union.


Book Synopsis The Right to Water by : Farhana Sultana

Download or read book The Right to Water written by Farhana Sultana and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-18 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The right to clean water has been adopted by the United Nations as a basic human right. Yet how such universal calls for a right to water are understood, negotiated, experienced and struggled over remain key challenges. The Right to Water elucidates how universal calls for rights articulate with local historical geographical contexts, governance, politics and social struggles, thereby highlighting the challenges and the possibilities that exist. Bringing together a unique range of academics, policy-makers and activists, the book analyzes how struggles for the right to water have attempted to translate moral arguments over access to safe water into workable claims. This book is an intervention at a crucial moment into the shape and future direction of struggles for the right to water in a range of political, geographic and socio-economics contexts, seeking to be pro-active in defining what this struggle could mean and how it might be taken forward in a far broader transformative politics. The Right to Water engages with a range of approaches that focus on philosophical, legal and governance perspectives before seeking to apply these more abstract arguments to an array of concrete struggles and case studies. In so doing, the book builds on empirical examples from Africa, Asia, Oceania, Latin America, the Middle East, North America and the European Union.