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Developing Purposeful and Adaptive Institutions for Effective Environmental Water Governance

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  • Anita Foerster

Abstract

Refashioning the institutions we use to manage and allocate water resources so as to provide for environmental water requirements has been a major element of the National Water Reform agenda in Australia since 1994, and represents a very significant potential innovation in the way water resources are managed. This essay addresses three central components of this institutional innovation: processes to reach an ecologically sustainable allocation of water resources; instruments to provide for and protect environmental water; and the development of management frameworks for rivers with environmental water regimes. The discussion explores the considerable constraints encountered in achieving institutions for effective environmental water allocation in the context of the Murray-Darling Basin, the major river basin in south-eastern Australia. Central to this discussion are fundamental questions of governance: who makes substantive decisions on water allocation and management; on what basis and for what purpose? What tools are developing to move towards desired outcomes? How effective are they within the broader institutional context? Given the incremental and, in many cases, ineffective implementation of environmental reform measures to date; and the additional uncertainties, complexities and urgencies posed by climate scenarios; this essay argues for a re-orientation of the policy agenda and its implementation, towards a more purposeful and adaptive governance model. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011

Suggested Citation

  • Anita Foerster, 2011. "Developing Purposeful and Adaptive Institutions for Effective Environmental Water Governance," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 25(15), pages 4005-4018, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:waterr:v:25:y:2011:i:15:p:4005-4018
    DOI: 10.1007/s11269-011-9879-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Edwyna Harris, 2007. "Institutional Change And Economic Growth: The Evolution Of Water Rights In Victoria, Australia 1850–1886," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 26(2), pages 118-127, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Lee Godden & Raymond Ison & Philip Wallis, 2011. "Water Governance in a Climate Change World: Appraising Systemic and Adaptive Effectiveness," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 25(15), pages 3971-3976, December.
    2. Claudia Pahl-Wostl, 2017. "An Evolutionary Perspective on Water Governance: From Understanding to Transformation," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(10), pages 2917-2932, August.
    3. Zachary Bischoff-Mattson & Amanda H. Lynch, 2016. "Adaptive governance in water reform discourses of the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 49(3), pages 281-307, September.
    4. Jianhua Wang & Yongping Wei & Shan Jiang & Yong Zhao & Yuyan Zhou & Weihua Xiao, 2017. "Understanding the Human-Water Relationship in China during 722 B.C.-1911 A.D. from a Contradiction and Co-Evolutionary Perspective," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(3), pages 929-943, February.
    5. Carmen Marchiori & Susan Sayre & Leo Simon, 2012. "On the Implementation and Performance of Water Rights Buyback Schemes," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 26(10), pages 2799-2816, August.

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