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Towards More Effective Water Quality Governance: A Review of Social-Economic, Legal and Ecological Perspectives and Their Interactions

Author

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  • Susanne Wuijts

    (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands
    Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80115, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands)

  • Peter P. J. Driessen

    (Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80115, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands)

  • Helena F. M. W. Van Rijswick

    (Utrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law, Utrecht University, Newtonlaan 231, 3584 BH Utrecht, The Netherlands)

Abstract

In this article, social-economic, legal and ecological perspectives on effectiveness of water quality governance and their interactions have been studied. Worldwide, authorities are facing the challenge of restoring and preserving aquatic ecosystems in accordance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 6). Over the last few decades, governance approaches have often been used to realise these ambitions. To date, scholars have identified that it is difficult to relate governance approaches to water quality improvement and have offered several different explanations for this. Combined with a targeted conceptualisation of the perspectives and their interactions, the systematic literature review demonstrates the gap that exists in the current understanding of these interactions and what their effects are on water quality improvement, especially in regard to the identification of ecological issues and their boundary conditions for the legal framework and the development of measures and follow-up. The review also reveals that the scientific debate is focused on the planning rather than implementation phase. A step forward can be made by supplementing existing analytical frameworks by the interactions between the different perspectives, especially those related to problem definition and the development and realisation of measures.

Suggested Citation

  • Susanne Wuijts & Peter P. J. Driessen & Helena F. M. W. Van Rijswick, 2018. "Towards More Effective Water Quality Governance: A Review of Social-Economic, Legal and Ecological Perspectives and Their Interactions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-19, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:4:p:914-:d:137483
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Aude Zingraff-Hamed & Frank Hüesker & Gerd Lupp & Chloe Begg & Josh Huang & Amy Oen & Zoran Vojinovic & Christian Kuhlicke & Stephan Pauleit, 2020. "Stakeholder Mapping to Co-Create Nature-Based Solutions: Who Is on Board?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-23, October.
    3. David Langlet & Aron Westholm, 2021. "Realizing the Social Dimension of EU Coastal Water Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-17, February.
    4. Susanne Wuijts & Helena F. M. W. Van Rijswick & Peter P. J. Driessen, 2021. "Achieving European Water Quality Ambitions: Governance Conditions for More Effective Approaches at the Local-Regional Scale," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-20, January.
    5. Mingjing Guo & Ziyu Jiang & Yan Bu & Jinhua Cheng, 2019. "Supporting Sustainable Development of Water Resources: A Social Welfare Maximization Game Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-15, August.
    6. Apoloniusz Kurylczyk & Tomasz Czapiewski & Malgorzata Zakrzewska, 2021. "Implementation of the Directive 2006/7/EC in Selected EU Member States in the 2017-2019 Period," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(2B), pages 1174-1184.
    7. Rudy Vannevel & Peter L. M. Goethals, 2021. "Structural and Contentual Complexity in Water Governance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-46, August.

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