Water-related problématiques: five archetypical contexts of water governance
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In: Ecology and Society, Vol. 30, No. 1, 10, 01.2025.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Water-related problématiques
T2 - five archetypical contexts of water governance
AU - Bilalova, Shahana
AU - Villamayor-Tomas, Sergio
AU - Newig, Jens
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2025 by the author(s).
PY - 2025/1
Y1 - 2025/1
N2 - It is necessary to consider the contextual factors surrounding water governance systems to understand their performance. We conducted a review of 165 empirical studies and 223 cases from the water governance literature to investigate water-related contexts. Our analysis is based on an archetype analysis of three dimensions of water-related contexts across 160 cases: water resources, related water uses, and sustainability issues. Our results show that there are five distinct water-related problématiques: “groundwater exploitation in agriculture,” “land and water systems sustainability,” “surface water pollution,” “industrial and household water security,” and “hydropower vs. water ecology.” These problématiques often exhibit geographical patterns and regional associations. Noteworthy insights from the analysis of problématiques include the prominence of the groundwater exploitation in agriculture problématique, contrary to arguments that groundwater is understudied, and the limited coverage of hydropower governance compared to other problématiques. Overall, our results enhance the understanding of contextual factors in water governance and suggest potential avenues for developing middle-range theories and advancing water governance diagnostics.
AB - It is necessary to consider the contextual factors surrounding water governance systems to understand their performance. We conducted a review of 165 empirical studies and 223 cases from the water governance literature to investigate water-related contexts. Our analysis is based on an archetype analysis of three dimensions of water-related contexts across 160 cases: water resources, related water uses, and sustainability issues. Our results show that there are five distinct water-related problématiques: “groundwater exploitation in agriculture,” “land and water systems sustainability,” “surface water pollution,” “industrial and household water security,” and “hydropower vs. water ecology.” These problématiques often exhibit geographical patterns and regional associations. Noteworthy insights from the analysis of problématiques include the prominence of the groundwater exploitation in agriculture problématique, contrary to arguments that groundwater is understudied, and the limited coverage of hydropower governance compared to other problématiques. Overall, our results enhance the understanding of contextual factors in water governance and suggest potential avenues for developing middle-range theories and advancing water governance diagnostics.
KW - archetype
KW - cluster analysis
KW - context
KW - water governance
KW - water problems
KW - Sustainability Governance
KW - Environmental Governance
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85216530196&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.5751/ES-15681-300110
DO - 10.5751/ES-15681-300110
M3 - Journal articles
AN - SCOPUS:85216530196
VL - 30
JO - Ecology and Society
JF - Ecology and Society
SN - 1708-3087
IS - 1
M1 - 10
ER -