Guest Editors :
Katherine A. Daniell (Australian National University) and Olivier Barreteau (IRSTEA, UMR G-EAU, France)
Water governance is becoming an increasingly important area of study for hydrologists, as the impacts of human decisions on water flows and their various management scales are recognised. Hydrology has long tackled issues of water flow and quality across basins—from upstream to downstream, between surface water and groundwater systems, and through interlinked watersheds—with the understanding that these stocks and flows can be modified en-route due to the actions of people, including through organised water management and governance processes. For example, one common aim of water governance is to develop management processes and infrastructure systems that can control variability. Water storages and distribution networks have therefore been developed and water allocation rules have been elaborated and negotiated in order to provide water to people when and where they most need it, rather than when and where it would naturally be available.
For this Special Feature, we welcome contributions that investigate water governance across different competing scales (temporal, spatial, sectorial, administrative, legal etc.) in specific case studies or governance experiments. Theoretical papers are also welcome, provided that they clearly make a link with water governance processes.
The specific types of questions we are looking for papers to address include:
– How are conflicts across competing scales managed?
– What mechanisms are involved in bridging scales?
– To what extent are currently privileged scales and/or governance structures appropriate for effectively managing water? And what might be more appropriate, for example to cope with changing regional climate and demand patterns?
Responses to these questions are encouraged from a range of disciplinary viewpoints ranging from hydrology and relevant environmental sciences, to economics and a wide range of social science disciplines.
