Principles for Water Governance in a Post-COVID World: Water Sector Needs to Be Embedded in Environmental Justice

This paper argues that the crisis in humanity's relationship with water reflected in rapidly escalating demand and dangerously depleting freshwater and groundwater reserves, can be understood as the outcome of the anthropocentric assumptions underlying our current development models. These assumptions have given rise to both the challenge of severe water scarcity as well as to the kind of policies used to address it. Drawing on principles from an environmental justice framework, it calls for a drastic restructuring of the water sector on more equitable, sustainable and democratic lines. Some of the guiding principles for water governance that are suggested include ensuring that interventions in nature or river systems are along the contours of nature, focusing on managing the demand for water as against the present emphasis on supply augmentation, recognition of structural and historical inequities which determine access to water, adoption of an approach to water management that is adaptive to rapidly changing circumstances and promotion of the participation of all stakeholders in governance and knowledge production. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023.

WATER GOVERNANCE AND SOCIAL EQUITY IN SOUTH AFRICAN RURAL MUNICIPALITIES: A CASE STUDY OF A DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY IN THE EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE

COVID-19 has put addressing inequality in water service provision on top of the global agenda by exposing the high risk posed by the level of water service provision in South Africa. While post-apartheid reforms have improved access, ensuring equity in water service provision has remained a challenge. Therefore, this study examined factors affecting water governance and social equity in rural municipalities and reflects their effects on water service provision. The study adopted a qualitative case study research design and purposive sampling method. Focus group discussions, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews supported by document analysis were used to collect data. Findings revealed that socioeconomic, environmental, institutional, and governance factors highly affect water services resulting in a huge rural-urban gap. The paper concludes that achieving social equity in a society deeply entrenched with inequality, realising human rights, and achieving universal access to water calls for an integrated approach to sustainable development. © 2023, Zibeline International Publishing Sdn. Bhd.. All rights reserved.

Water Governance as a National Challenge. Water in the Postpandemic Context. The Case of Lerma, State of Mexico, Mexico

In the context of the SARS COV-2 pandemic, a weak water governance is a health problem given that it is generally scarce;and in this case, it is not suitable for human consumption and the social actors are unaware of it. The text analyzes and links the results of two investigations from different but complementary fields of knowledge regarding the problem of the upper Lerma River basin, especially groundwater, showing an interdisciplinary exercise. The results reveal that the actors do not identify the problems of the basin, this limits their integration to the collegiate bodies of councils, commissions, or basin committees, even though the regulatory frameworks have spaces for these. CSOs, as social actors, still present areas of opportunity for their advocacy, even though in Mexico, there is a long history regarding their social participation.

Advancing Urban Water Security in the Indus Basin, Pakistan—Priority Actions for Karachi and Lahore

Despite growing recognition of solutions to water scarcity challenges, decision-makers across the world continue to face barriers to effective implementation of water planning, governance and management. This is evident in the cases of Lahore and Karachi in the Indus Basin in Pakistan and illustrated through the experiences of the provincial government departments and utilities. Water scarcity and associated challenges are continuing to impose significant costs on these cities, which continue to grow as water availability further declines, demand increases, water quality deteriorates, and infrastructure degrades. A team of Australian water experts was commissioned by the Australian Water Partnership to diagnose urban water challenges and identify priority actions for improved water security, in collaboration with Pakistani partners. This paper presents the outcomes of that work. This includes a synthesis of the published literature and data on the geographical, climatic, and water scarcity contexts of both Karachi and Lahore. It then identifies responses to water insecurity that have been considered or implemented in the past and the barriers that have inhibited the effectiveness of these efforts. Finally, it presents actions within five priority action areas that Pakistani stakeholders have identified as being most practical and impactful for improving water security outcomes.