Climate change and water governance: an International Joint Commission case study

Abstract

Govemance has been identified by many scholars as a challenge to managing natural resources in a sustainable way. In addition, climate change is impacting natural resources, and complicating management. In light of these concerns, it is important that key characteristics of sustainable management are not ignored. Scientific legitimacy, an integrative ecosystem approach, long-term monitoring and pro-active govemance are all important characteristics of successful sustainable management plans. However, these characteristics have not all been included in the day-to-day functioning of the Intemational Joint Commission. Thi.s paper looks specifically at the key characteristics required for sustainable management of transboundary water resources and determines if the Intetnational Joint Commission, and particularly the International Rainy Lake Board of Control, are applying them to policies for tegulation and management of border waters shared by Ontario (Canada) and Minnesota (USA).

Making Europe go from bottles to the tap: Political and societal attempts to induce behavioral change

“…The reluctance of consumers to drink tap water rather than bottled water is strengthened by distrust in political elites and institutions (Hawkins, 2011) and the portrayal of tap water in the media (see also Holt, 2012;Queiroz, 2012). Parag and Roberts (2009) and Bleser and Nelson (2011) contend that one of the reasons why consumers resist the consumption of tap water is the failure of the institutions responsible for distributing tap water to engage in adequate communication with their users (Bleser & Nelson, 2011;Parag & Roberts, 2009). Consequently, they claim that the distributors of tap water have to establish more transparent and effective communications systems in order to remedy potential mistrust in the quality of tap water, which aligns with the strategies by the European Commission and the national initiatives.…”

Youths' Economic and Regulatory Traits in Water Resources Management as a Precursor for Good Water Governance

“…It refers to the interactions between networks of interested parties such as government, civil society and the private sector (UNWWDR1, 2003). Pro-active water governance brings about the inclusion of State (Mandarino et al, 2008) and non-State actors (Bulkeley, 2005;Biermann, 2007;Tortajada, 2010) such as civil society, including the youth representation, and the business sector, opening the political space to a wider range of stakeholders hence changing the power balance of the actors involved in the management of water problems and their solution (Mirumachi & Van Wyk, 2010) thereby contributing to the goal of sustainable water resource management (Bleser & Nelson, 2011).…”

“…Bakker (2003) aptly summarises sustainable water supply as being a cornerstone of sustainable communities thus cementing the importance of appropriately managed water resources along the three main pillars of sustainable development -social well-being, financial and economic viability and environmental integrity. Governance decisions need to take into account sustainability issues in that future generations need to be taken into account (Bleser & Nelson, 2011). Whilst scarcity has been the result of climatological phenomena in certain regions, it is true that socio-economic development has continued to produce additional pressures on the resource particularly in those areas where demand outstrips supply or in cases where groundwater abstraction is higher than recharge.…”

Key issues and trends in the water policy literature

“…No single geographic region dominated, with one paper relating to Europe, two to Asia, one to North America and four were not geographically specific. In 2011 only three articles were published on transboundary water issues (Alam, Dione et al 2011;Bleser and Nelson 2011;Chenoweth 2011). None of these articles had been cited by elsewhere by the end of 2011; one article related to the Middle East, one to North America, and one to Europe and Africa.…”