scholarly journals Understanding water institutions and their impact on the performance of the water sector in India

Water Policy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 466-486
Author(s):  
Ashish Chopra ◽  
Parthasarathy Ramachandran

Abstract The water crisis in India is no more restricted to a few states or areas. It has started affecting all forms of life, industry, and livelihood, and therefore it emerges as one of the biggest challenges. The water crisis is a direct outcome of the governance and analysis of water institutions, playing a central role in understanding the state of water governance. This study aims to understand the water institutions and their ultimate impact on various aspects of water sector performance in India. A survey was administered to collect information on the perception of water experts on the role and importance of various institutional aspects including water law, policy, and administration in improving water sector performance in India. Factor analysis and multiple linear regression methods were used to find the significant factors of water institutions and their effect on the different aspects of water sector performance in India. The analysis shows that the most important factors for improving the water sector performance are (a) legal accountability provisions, (b) water transfer policies, and (c) use of science and technology application along with reliable data. The level of importance of these significant institutional variables also varies within various performance aspects.

Water Policy ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 268-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo Araral ◽  
Yahua Wang

Water scarcity ranks as one of China's most serious problems today and in the foreseeable future. Rapid urbanization and industrialization and the attendant problems of overconsumption, pollution and inefficient water use have driven and will continue to drive China's water crisis. Most scholars assert that improving water governance is the key to water security in developing countries including China. However, there are very few empirical studies to support this claim. We compare water governance in 10 Chinese provinces in terms of 17 indicators of water laws, policies and administration based on a survey of 89 water experts. We then explore the effects of water governance on water sector performance in terms of adequacy of drinking water, availability of water resources and water productivity. Our findings are consistent with the literature and our expectations but more rigorous studies are needed to establish causal links between governance mechanisms and performance.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hussam Hussein ◽  
Alberto Natta ◽  
Abed Al Kareem Yehya ◽  
Baha Hamadna

Since the Syrian crisis and the so-called “Arab Spring”, new discourses have been created, sparking the discursive water governance debates around water scarcity and hydropolitics. In Lebanon and Jordan—where most water resources are transboundary, and where most Syrian refugees have flown in—new discourses of climate change and especially of Syrian refugees as exacerbating water scarcity are emerging, shaping water governance debates. The aim of this paper is to engage in comparative discourse analysis about narratives of water crises and refugees in Lebanon and Jordan. This study is novel because of the focus on the new discourse of refugees in relation to water governance debates in both Lebanon and Jordan. This paper finds that in both countries the new discourses of refugees do not replace previous and existing discourses of water crisis and scarcity, but rather they build on and reinforce them. This paper finds that the impact these discourses had on the governance debates is that in Lebanon the resources mobilized focused on humanitarian interventions, while Jordan focused on development projects to strengthen the resilience of its water infrastructure and its overall water governance system.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-113
Author(s):  
Cora Kammeyer ◽  
Ross Hamilton ◽  
Jason Morrison

Water Policy ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 845-862 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Uhlendahl ◽  
Pritam Salian ◽  
Claudia Casarotto ◽  
Jakob Doetsch

The implementation of principles for water governance is widely accepted but challenging for the whole water sector of a developing country like Zambia, because of the legal and administrative changes and organizational requirements involved. In February 2010, a revised water policy for Zambia was approved by the Cabinet. The revised National Water Policy 2010 aims to improve water resources management by establishing institutional coordination and by defining roles as well as responsibilities for various ministries. Taking into account the previous political and administration changes, this paper points out the problems and challenges of the implementation of good water governance mechanisms in Zambia. Focusing on the Kafue River Basin, from which water is abstracted for a variety of conflicting purposes (like municipal supplies, industrial use, mining, irrigation of agricultural land, fishery activities, wetland reserves and hydropower production), the gaps in implementing good water governance and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in Zambia are identified, as well as the factors causing these gaps in the Zambian water sector. The paper finishes with a overview of the opportunities given by the new water policy through Water User Associations (WUAs) at a local level.


2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 1425-1440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iskandar Abdullaev ◽  
Shavkat Rakhmatullaev

Information technologies can act as technical artifacts and can facilitate stakeholder communication, supporting decision making in a complex societal context. The water sector is one such example where limited water resources are threatened by climate change and growing competition for resources between sectors, regions and countries. Attempts to improve water governance and management through information technologies have been made by international, regional and national water agencies for the last 20 years in Central Asia. However, early attempts were focused on collection, systematization and analysis of the generic data related to the water sector in the region. There are still significant gaps (technical, human and financial capacities) for application of such technologies at the lower operational levels of water management, i.e. where the full dimensions of variables, interactions and complexities are observed and, most importantly, everyday politics of water are performed. The aim of this paper is to present practical results on improving water management in Central Asia through the application of better data management tools at the operational level across diverse institutional settings, i.e. transboundary, watershed levels in the region.


Water SA ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (2 April) ◽  
Author(s):  
SF Dlangalala ◽  
M Mudhara

Water is a vital resource for irrigated agricultural production. Its availability and accessibility are critical for alleviating poverty and achieving food security in rural households. However, smallholder irrigated agriculture in South Africa faces limited water supply emanating from scheme governance problems, with weak institutional arrangements that fail to equitably and effectively govern water resources. South African water policy has been transforming over the years. However, statutory laws remain unknown in smallholder irrigation schemes. This study sought to assess farmer awareness of water governance and identify the determinants of farmer awareness of water governance dimensions across gender dimensions in Mooi River, Tugela Ferry, and Ndumo irrigation schemes. The study employed principal component analysis to generate water governance indices, that is, formal institutions, the existence and effectiveness of scheme constitutions, scheme committees and enforcement of informal rules in the scheme. The ordinary least square regression technique was then used to identify factors determining farmer awareness of formal and informal water institutions in the three irrigation schemes. The findings suggest that formal water institutions are unknown and factors such as household characteristics, scheme location, stakeholder participation and involvement in scheme decision-making processes significantly influence awareness of governance. Therefore, there is a need to raise farmer awareness of formal water institutions and to strengthen the informal institutions which are functional, recognised and in line with irrigation management transfer.


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