scholarly journals Infrastructure Alone is Not Enough: Identifying Gaps in the Literature Regarding First Nations Water Governance

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brooke Ellison-Wareing
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Surrounding Water ◽  
International Rights ◽  
Infrastructure Investments ◽  
Local Water

In 2015, the federal government committed to ending drinking water advisories in First Nations communities across Canada by 2021. Their approach involves an increase in monetary commitments to improving water quality infrastructure in priority First Nations communities. The perception surrounding water-based infrastructure investments in First Nations communities is that infrastructure grants will solve the issues related to boil water advisories and allow for all individuals in communities to access clean water. While the investments are overdue and necessary, infrastructure alone does not address the institutional issues related to governance of water for First Nations reserves. Furthermore, as Indigenous peoples have constitutionally protected Aboriginal and treaty rights, and international rights (e.g. UNDRIP) of which many are tied to safe water, Indigenous peoples are seeking to incorporate Indigenous laws into their local water governance systems. The goal of this research is to examine gaps in the literature related to First Nations water governance and policy and investigate alternative models of community level water governance. Focusing in Ontario, this research will investigate, the historical context which influences current water governance and created the framework for water management in First Nations communities. By identifying gaps in the planning and implementation projects, this research aims to add to the toolkit of potential solutions and improve the holistic approach to water management within First Nations communities across Ontario.

Water-conservation policies in perspective: insights from a Q-method study in Salta, Argentina

Water Policy ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 897-916 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Iribarnegaray ◽  
M. F. E. de la Zerda ◽  
C. M. Hutton ◽  
C. Brannstrom ◽  
V. I. Liberal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Q Methodology ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Water Utility ◽  
Conservation Policies ◽  
Social Perspectives ◽  
Awareness Campaigns ◽  
Local Water ◽  
Rate Of Success

Narratives and discourses on issues such as water management and other complex social–ecological systems respond partly to people's worldviews or social perspectives. Knowledge of these perspectives might help increase the rate of success of specific initiatives related to water conservation and could be an important tool to improve water governance. A study performed in the city of Salta, Argentina, revealed the existence of four social perspectives on issues related to water management. Perspectives were obtained with Q methodology by interviewing 29 local stakeholders. Participants sorted 68 statements organized around four themes (service provider; water rights; public participation; water availability) according to their degree of agreement or disagreement. The findings support our contention that there are clear links between social perspectives and the rate of success of some water policies implemented by the local water utility in the past 15 years, in particular the promotion and use of household water meters and awareness campaigns launched to reduce water consumption. We show that the limited success of these initiatives was partly due to ignorance or disregard of social perspectives on water management.

scholarly journals "The Legacy Will Be the Change": Reconciling How We Live with and Relate to Water

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Lindsay Day ◽  
Ashlee Cunsolo ◽  
Heather Castleden ◽  
Alex Sawatzky ◽  
Debbie Martin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Water Policy ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Knowledge Systems ◽  
Indigenous Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Be The Change ◽  
Canada Data

Current challenges relating to water governance in Canada are motivating calls for approaches that implement Indigenous and Western knowledge systems together, as well as calls to form equitable partnerships with Indigenous Peoples grounded in respectful Nation-to-Nation relationships. By foregrounding the perspectives of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples, this study explores the nature and dimensions of Indigenous ways of knowing around water and examines what the inclusion of Indigenous voices, lived experience, and knowledge mean for water policy and research. Data were collected during a National Water Gathering that brought together 32 Indigenous and non-Indigenous water experts, researchers, and knowledge holders from across Canada. Data were analyzed thematically through a collaborative podcasting methodology, which also contributed to an audio-documentary podcast (www.WaterDialogues.ca).

Respecting water: Indigenous water governance, ontologies, and the politics of kinship on the ground

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 516-538 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole J Wilson ◽  
Jody Inkster
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Settler Colonialism ◽  
Indigenous Studies ◽  
Land Claims ◽  
Political Ontology ◽  
Living Entity ◽  
Settler Societies

Indigenous peoples often view water as a living entity or a relative, to which they have a sacred responsibility. Such a perspective frequently conflicts with settler societies’ view of water as a “resource” that can be owned, managed, and exploited. Although rarely articulated explicitly, water conflicts are rooted in ontological differences between Indigenous and settler views of water. Furthermore, the unequal water governance landscape created by settler colonialism has perpetuated the suppression of Indigenous ways of conceptualizing water. This paper thus examines the “political ontology” of water by drawing on insights from the fields of critical Indigenous studies, post-humanism, and water governance. Additionally, we engage a case study of four Yukon First Nations (Carcross/Tagish, Kluane, Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, and White River First Nations) in the Canadian North to examine their water ontologies through the lens of a politics of kinship including ideas about “respecting water.” We also examine the assumptions of settler-colonial water governance in the territory, shaped by modern land claims and self-government agreements. We close by discussing the implications of Indigenous water ontologies for alternate modes of governing water.

A Precarious Confluence: Neoliberalism, Race, and Water Insecurity

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Mascarenhas
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
First Century ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Water Insecurity ◽  
The Core ◽  
Marginalized Groups ◽  
Racial Projects ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Cities

Three very different field sites—First Nations communities in Canada, water charities in the Global South, and the US cities of Flint and Detroit, Michigan—point to the increasing precariousness of water access for historically marginalized groups, including Indigenous peoples, African Americans, and people of color around the globe. This multi-sited ethnography underscores a common theme: power and racism lie deep in the core of today’s global water crisis. These cases reveal the concrete mechanisms, strategies, and interconnections that are galvanized by the economic, political, and racial projects of neoliberalism. In this sense neoliberalism is not only downsizing democracy but also creating both the material and ideological forces for a new form of discrimination in the provision of drinking water around the globe. These cases suggest that contemporary notions of environmental and social justice will largely hinge on how we come to think about water in the twenty-first century.

Water Governance and Management in Indus Basin - Challenges & Threats

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marium Sara Minhas Bandeali
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Policy ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
The State ◽  
Indus Basin

Water governance and management are important challenges for the River Indus Basin in Pakistan. Water governance refers to social, political and economic factors that influence water management. The water scarcity and water security are a major concern for the state to control its water resources. The study aims to give Sindh water policy by exploring the challenges to Indus Basin in managing water resources and to identify opportunities Indus Basin can look to improve water management. Interviews were conducted from water experts and analysts having 5 years’ experience or more in the water sector of Pakistan through a semi-structured self-developed questionnaire using purposive sampling technique and transcripts were analyzed using thematic content analysis. The findings show that increasing population, climatic change and rising demand of water are major challenges Indus is facing and Indus with time is getting water-scarce therefore need strong institutions, civil society and legislatures to ensure equitable distribution of water and maintain the ecosystem. The study emphasizes that water governance and management are necessary for sustainable use of water. Pakistan, the water stress country needs to address ‘governance’ at a wider scale to solve problems in the Indus Basin for the livelihood of people. The research will benefit the state, water experts, institutions as well as civil society to promote efficient use of water in Indus Basin.

Living with water: at the cross-roads of change

1995 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 393-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joost de Jong ◽  
Peter T. J. C. van Rooy ◽  
S. Harry Hosper
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
Water Environment ◽  
Integrated Water Management ◽  
Practical Action ◽  
The People ◽  
Global Perception ◽  
Local Water ◽  
Water Quality Deterioration ◽  
The Way

Until the last two decades, the global perception of how to control our various water bodies was remarkably similar – water management was organised on a sectoral basis, as it always had been. It was only in the 1970s that the people actually responsible for implementing water management began to become aware of the serious implications of such an approach: water quality deterioration, desiccation and an alarming loss of the flora and fauna that characterised their local water environment. It was a growing awareness that led to the formation of the concept of integrated water management, a concept almost universally accepted today as the way forward. However, despite the fact that few dispute the validity of the concept, a number of obstacles remain before this theoretical agreement can be transformed into practical action. Three main bottlenecks stand in the way of implementation: institutional, communicational and socio-political. Whilst solutions to these are available, the key question still to be answered is whether society is really prepared to accept the consequent changes in the way we live that will result from putting the theory of integrated water management into practice. It was this issue that dominated the “Living with water” conference held in Amsterdam in September 1994. The following is a summary of the discussions held there and the various papers that were submitted.

scholarly journals The Colonial Project of Gender (and Everything Else)

Genealogy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Sandy O’Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Gender Binary ◽  
Religious Ideals ◽  
And Gender

The gender binary, like many colonial acts, remains trapped within socio-religious ideals of colonisation that then frame ongoing relationships and restrict the existence of Indigenous peoples. In this article, the colonial project of denying difference in gender and gender diversity within Indigenous peoples is explored as a complex erasure casting aside every aspect of identity and replacing it with a simulacrum of the coloniser. In examining these erasures, this article explores how diverse Indigenous gender presentations remain incomprehensible to the colonial mind, and how reinstatements of kinship and truth in representation fundamentally supports First Nations’ agency by challenging colonial reductions. This article focuses on why these colonial practices were deemed necessary at the time of invasion, and how they continue to be forcefully applied in managing Indigenous peoples into a colonial structure of family, gender, and everything else.

scholarly journals Strengths and Weaknesses of the Dutch Implementation of the Water Framework Directive

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 269-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Squintani ◽  
Ernst Plambeck ◽  
Marleen van Rijswick
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Functional Approach ◽  
Governance System ◽  
Member States ◽  
Potential Source ◽  
History Of ◽  
Dutch Experience ◽  
Regional Water

The Netherlands has a long and fascinating history of water management. The main features of the Dutch water governance system for the implementation of the wfd are its regional water authorities based on hydrological scales and powers to regulate, decide and raise taxes for their water tasks. Their functional approach and the decentralised character make the regional water authorities very efficient and effective. It is therefore understandable that eu institutions and other Member States consider the Dutch system an interesting potential source of inspiration for other jurisdictions. Yet, it is not all gold what shines. This paper highlights the strength and weakness elements of the Dutch water governance system under the wfd. It exposes several points of concern. When considering using the Dutch experience as a source of inspiration in other Member States, these concerns should be taken in due account.

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