Water Governance of Aquatic Resources
and Environments
Lecture 1
Additional literature:
Gupta Ch.1 - Water, Environment, Conflict and Development: The
role of law and policy
Nature of water
Water can be divided into different colours
- Blue water including surface and groundwater
- Green water including the water in the soil and enters plants through capillary action
- Grey and black water which is discarded after use in human systems
- Grey is the wastewater that comes from sinks, washing machines, bathtubs and
showers. It contains lower levels of contamination, making it easier to treat and
process.
- Black is the wastewater from bathrooms and toilets that contains faecal matter
and urine. Water from kitchens and dishwashers are also considered blackwater
due to the contamination by pathogens and grease. It is also referred to as
sewage or brown water and can carry disease and bacteria, both of which could
be harmful.
, - White water in the form of snow and ice
- Rainbow water that includes water in the atmosphere which is sometimes concentrated
in flows of water or atmospheric rivers
Understanding water is essential for designing laws and policies to govern water due to the
water trade, where water is embodied in goods and services and is traded internationally
Ecosystem services (ES) or nature’s contributions to people (NCPs)
- Supporting (nutrient circulation, soil formation)
- Regulation (climate regulation, water purification, flood regulation)
- Provisioning (food, wood)
- Cultural services (religious, spiritual, recreation, inspiration)
NCPs differ from ES: NCPs see human activities as shaping all services and try to incorporate
the knowledge of indigenous perspectives.
- NCPs can be beneficial to humans, but can also have negative impacts.
- Material and non-material.
- Context specific
The atmosphere provides us the air we breathe and a stable climatic system, and this
composition is vital for the survival of different species
Biodiversity refers to genetic diversity, species and habitat/ecosystem diversity. It is essential for
the functioning of nature.
- Enables food production
- Filters air and water
- Stores carbon
- Helps reduce the negative impacts of extreme weather events
The ocean provides a habitat, contributes to the production of oxygen, plays a role in regulating
the global climate, and provides non-material services to humans
Land provides us with food and other material services.
Public good
= a good from which no one can be excluded and the use by one does not reduce the possibility
of use by another.
By these terms, water and environment are a public good and this requires state intervention in
protecting the public good.
- Common heritage of humankind or issue of common concern.
- Concept of merit goods = goods and services that are essential for human well-being but
which humans may not pay for and which states need to provide. those goods and
services that the government feels that people will under-consume, and which ought to
, be subsidised or provided free at the point of use so that consumption does not depend
primarily on the ability to pay for the good or service
- E.g. education, health care
Public goods can however be privatized and monopolized → leads to exclusion of
people from accessing water (too expensive for example) → water can become a
club good, only accessible to members of the club, or can become a private good, only
accessible to owners → detrimental to maintenance of the integrity of the global
atmospheric, hydrological and ecological system
Water problems
- Water quantity related issues at local to regional level
- Drought, slow-onset disasters (desertification), stress between regions and
peoples over water shortages
- Heavy rainfall, floods, storms
- Water quality related issues,
- Such as water pollution; think of chemicals, pathogens, heavy metals, plastic
waste incl. Microplastics, organic pollutants.
- Disease through insects or in public water.
- Water based ecosystems that are affected by water quality, quantity, and climate
change.
- Water and climate change
- Changing rainfall patterns, melting glaciers, storms and sea level rise
Environmental problems
- Air pollution
- Climate change
- Depletion of the ozone layers
- Persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic substances
These influence atmospheric composition and processes → influence humans
This implies that there are limited resources and that the carrying capacity of the earth is limited.
Tipping points and planetary boundaries exist, and there is limited ecospace - environmental
space - for humans.
Impacts on health, equity and conflict
People die from poor quality of water or because their wellbeing is affected as a result of rising
food prices and/or water related conflict and especially women are at risk. Chemicals in water
leads to infertility, antimicrobial and antibiotic resistant infections, cancer
Impacts of water and environmental problems are often inequitable at local through global level.
- Those who face the consequence are not those who caused it
- Access to water is inequitable being monopolized by riparians, those who have historic
rights, can buy water, or have contracts/permits.
, The driving factors of water and environmental degradation
Principal and underlying factors
- The pursuit of economic growth as it depends on extraction resources and expelling
wastes. Growth has led to the concentration of wealth in the few, at the cost of many. So
not everyone benefits from growth, as was expected
- The development of technologies and infrastructures as these use resources and
generate waste. It also increased the rate of resource extraction. Those creating the
technologies capture the profits, while society is exposed to its risks
- Climate change
- Demographic factors such as population growth and urbanization
Indirect drivers
- Energy; which uses resources and the energy generated dissipates and cannot be
recycled.
- Food; which uses resources and the food consumed cannot be recycled easily. Lots of
food is wasted, which could be reduced. Agriculture affects the water system and
biodiversity.
- Other commodities use huge amounts of resources and chemicals and generate large
wastes.
Direct drivers
- Water problems caused by agricultural, industrial, water service sector and water related
infrastructure
- Air pollution caused by energy use and transport
- Biodiversity loss is caused by deforestation, land use change, pesticide residues, trade
in endangered species and invasive species.
- Etc.
Equity = fairness, underlying in the indirect and direct drivers. Those who have more access to
financial resources have a larger impact on the environment. These suffer less from
environmental degradation.
Driving factors are also related to issues of power. Those who control water have greater power.
Water is controlled through ‘ownership’ or property rights in water, through the monopoly control
over the water resource, through technologies and infrastructures, and through policies and
laws that privilege some over others.
- Hydro Hegemony = where power is used to dominate on a river basin.
Driving factors also have a temporal dimension. It’s vital to analyze how history has
shaped current debates and choices and created path dependencies. At the same
time, this can lead to irreversible changes in the water and environmental systems
around us → look into the future to preempt irreversible damage = future proofing
