A Paradigm Shift in Water Quality Governance in a Transitional Context: A Critical Study about the Empowerment of Local Governance in Georgia

Withanachchi, Sisira Saddhamangala; Ghambashidze, Giorgi; Kunchulia, Ilia; Urushadze, T. F.; Ploeger, Angelika

doi:10.3390/w10020098

Cited by 31 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…Georgia is in a phase of transforming their water resource management systems so as to comply with the framework of the WFD. People's participation and a consideration of the people's concerns regarding water quality is therefore an essential governance element [36]. Thus, this study concludes by briefly explaining the policy implications of analyzing risk perceptions in the context of water quality.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…An analysis of the public risk perception and the consideration of their concerns over water quality have been identified as crucial factors for an operative water quality governance system [36,37,44]. Within this survey, we also asked about the existing mechanisms for farmers to participate in water quality governance.…”

Section: Policy Implications Of Farmers' Risk Perception Analysis Formentioning

confidence: 99%

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Farmers’ Perception of Water Quality and Risks in the Mashavera River Basin, Georgia: Analyzing the Vulnerability of the Social-Ecological System through Community Perceptions

et al. 2018

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Competing natural resources usage that leads to dramatic land use changes can threaten the balance of a social-ecological system. When this is the case, communities are directly exposed to the negative consequences of those land use changes. The Mashavera River Basin is considered one of the hotspots of environmental pollution in Georgia. This is of importance for public health because the food production from this basin meets a substantial proportion of the country’s food demand. The farmers’ perception of the water quality and their perceived risks to the economy, health, and lifestyle reflect the status of the environmental and social conditions. The inclusion of farmers’ risk perceptions is an important stage of water quality governance that could enable active civic participation. The approach of this research study was the convergence model in the triangular design of the mixed method approach. As part of the social data, the research study was conducted with a survey of 177 households, for which agriculture was either a main or partial source of income. A few focus group discussions were also conducted. A binary logistic regression analysis was employed as the main method for the analysis. The results from the pollution load index (PLI) were used as the supportive data to verify some geospatial hypotheses. We found that aesthetic attributes (i.e., color changes observed in the river) and the source of the water contamination (i.e., mining sites) were the main predictor variables for a perceived risk to water quality, health, and livelihoods. The people who work in agriculture as the main income source had more concern about their ability to sell their agricultural products as a result of water contamination in the river, compared with people for whom agriculture is a secondary source of income or for self-consumption. Age, amount of land, years of agricultural experience, and the source of water supply for agriculture did not have a significant effect on any of the risk perception or water quality perception models. The results indicate that the health risk is perceived more strongly in areas with more heavily contaminated water compared to less polluted areas. We propose that conducting a public risk perception assessment is an ideal means to detect people’s concerns regarding water quality governance for future risk analysis in Georgia. Another recommendation of this study is an integrated model of risk assessment that combines the results from a public risk perception assessment and a technical assessment. The benefits of such an integrated assessment include finding new hazard-sensitive areas for further analysis, the possibility to cross-check data for verification, communal communication of hazardous conditions by utilizing local knowledge, and the direct participation of the community in monitoring risks.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Policy Implications Of Farmers' Risk Perception Analysis Formentioning

confidence: 99%

Farmers’ Perception of Water Quality and Risks in the Mashavera River Basin, Georgia: Analyzing the Vulnerability of the Social-Ecological System through Community Perceptions

et al. 2018

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“…Participatory structures of different sizes and forms in France were frequently introduced at the hydrological scale without fully adapting them to political structure [51]. After examining the case of Georgia, a transitional country, Withanachchi et al (2018) found that granting a greater power to local governments can bring more financial, political, and social advantages to local water institutions regarding water quality issues since the local governments are the proximate level of water pollution control [52]. The degree of softness and the magnitude of scale jumping follow the specific logic of the division of powers among the governments at various levels.…”

Section: "Soft" Bureaucracy At Lower Levelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rethinking Environmental Bureaucracies in River Chiefs System (RCS) in China: A Critical Literature Study

Huang

2019

Sustainability

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Efforts to understand the political complexities of water governance must include critical hierarchical or bureaucratical perspectives. The River Chiefs System, China’s national mechanism which has evolved from local attempts, values more political control than governance efficiency. Water governance, which is regarded as a political task, is allocated from river chiefs at higher levels to lower levels. The River Chiefs System stipulates that local river chiefs fully mobilize and integrate various technical and administrative forces to achieve environmental goals. However, the strengthening of local authority enables local river chiefs to combat or eliminate state power. Although public involvement in the River Chiefs System is encouraged to some extent, “government-dependent” public participation hardly ensures real public involvement and supervision.

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“…However, the success of sustainable development is determined by potential relationships among the involved competing actors with natural resources across the entire levels and management structures in different governance scales. To meet competing socioeconomic demands, natural resources are governed, while environmental sustainability is also given priority [25].…”

Section: Governance Systems In Natural Resource Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effluent Water Reuse Possibilities in Northern Cyprus

Elkiran

Aslanova

Hızıroǧlu

2019

Water

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Northern Cyprus (NC) is suffering from limited water resources and reiterated drought condition experiences due to global warming effects. Previous studies revealed that the water management policy in the country is not sustainable from the perspective of demand and balance. Apparently, the reuse of recycled water will be an alternative resource and can be utilized for some specific purposes to reduce water extraction from the ground. It is expected that treated wastewater will reach 20 million cubic meters (MCM) per year after the completion of the new sewage system for Lefkosa. Today, 20,000 m3 of wastewater is treated at the Lefkosa Central Treatment Plant up to the secondary treatment level, in which the degree of treatment varies from 60% to 95% owing to the weather conditions in the country during the year. Effluent water reuse in NC was not accepted due to cultural belief. However, water scarcity was experienced in the country during the last decade, forcing the farmers to benefit from the recycled water. There is no regulatory framework available in the country for effluent water reuse. However, preparation studies are almost finalized after discussions among government and European Union (EU) agencies. Cyprus, as an EU country, has an obligation to treat the wastewater up to the secondary level before releasing it in an environmentally friendly nature, following the Directive 91/271/EEC. This paper analyzes the effluent water reuse possibilities as a component of integrated water resource management in Northern Cyprus considering laboratory experiment results. It appears that applying tertiary treatment in Northern Cyprus will allow 20 MCM of water contribution to the water budget and it will help protect the vulnerable environment. Also, since the cost of tertiary treatment will be 0.2 United States dollars (USD)/m3, it would be reasonable to prefer this process to the desalination of water, which costs of 1 USD/m3.

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A Paradigm Shift in Water Quality Governance in a Transitional Context: A Critical Study about the Empowerment of Local Governance in Georgia

Cited by 31 publications

References 75 publications

Farmers’ Perception of Water Quality and Risks in the Mashavera River Basin, Georgia: Analyzing the Vulnerability of the Social-Ecological System through Community Perceptions

Farmers’ Perception of Water Quality and Risks in the Mashavera River Basin, Georgia: Analyzing the Vulnerability of the Social-Ecological System through Community Perceptions

Rethinking Environmental Bureaucracies in River Chiefs System (RCS) in China: A Critical Literature Study

Effluent Water Reuse Possibilities in Northern Cyprus

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