Understanding the Complexity of Water Supply System Governance: A Proposal for a Methodological Framework
The question of how the complexity of water governance may be understood beyond a heuristic concept remains unanswered. In this paper, we propose a Water Governance Complexity Framework to address the complexity of water governance. Through a literature review, rapid surveys, and 79 semi-structured...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Water |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/13/20/2870 |
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| author | Fernando Gumeta-Gómez Andrea Sáenz-Arroyo Gustavo Hinojosa-Arango Claudia Monzón-Alvarado Maria Azahara Mesa-Jurado Dolores Molina-Rosales |
| author_facet | Fernando Gumeta-Gómez Andrea Sáenz-Arroyo Gustavo Hinojosa-Arango Claudia Monzón-Alvarado Maria Azahara Mesa-Jurado Dolores Molina-Rosales |
| author_sort | Fernando Gumeta-Gómez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The question of how the complexity of water governance may be understood beyond a heuristic concept remains unanswered. In this paper, we propose a Water Governance Complexity Framework to address the complexity of water governance. Through a literature review, rapid surveys, and 79 semi-structured interviews, we propose how this framework may be operationalized using different proxies and by applying it to the case of the water supply system for domestic use in Oaxaca, Mexico. In places such as the rural communities of Oaxaca, where the state plays a partially absent role in the water supply, we found legal pluralism and diverse formal and informal stakeholders in a multi-level structure. At the local level, four modes of governance were identified, resulting from seven institutional change trajectories. These trajectories result from linear (alignment) and non-linear (resistance and adaptation) interactions between local, state, and national institutions over different periods. We provide a pragmatic framework to understand complexity through the organization and historical configurations of water governance that may be applied globally, providing a necessary starting point and solid foundation for the creation of new water policies and law reforms or transitions to the polycentric governance model to ensure the human right to water and sanitation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:08:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-13e98b056beb42928aaf9af61cc52628 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4441 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:08:10Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water |
| spelling | doaj.art-13e98b056beb42928aaf9af61cc526282023-11-22T20:21:57ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412021-10-011320287010.3390/w13202870Understanding the Complexity of Water Supply System Governance: A Proposal for a Methodological FrameworkFernando Gumeta-Gómez0Andrea Sáenz-Arroyo1Gustavo Hinojosa-Arango2Claudia Monzón-Alvarado3Maria Azahara Mesa-Jurado4Dolores Molina-Rosales5Departamento de Conservación de la Biodiversidad, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Unidad San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas 29290, MexicoDepartamento de Conservación de la Biodiversidad, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Unidad San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas 29290, MexicoCátedra CONACYT-CIIDIR Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Unidad Oaxaca, Oaxaca 71230, MexicoCátedra CONACYT-El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Unidad Campeche, Campeche 24500, MexicoDepartamento de Ciencias de la Sustentabilidad, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Unidad Tabasco, Tabasco 86280, MexicoDepartamento de Ciencias de la Sustentabilidad, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Unidad Campeche, Campeche 24500, MexicoThe question of how the complexity of water governance may be understood beyond a heuristic concept remains unanswered. In this paper, we propose a Water Governance Complexity Framework to address the complexity of water governance. Through a literature review, rapid surveys, and 79 semi-structured interviews, we propose how this framework may be operationalized using different proxies and by applying it to the case of the water supply system for domestic use in Oaxaca, Mexico. In places such as the rural communities of Oaxaca, where the state plays a partially absent role in the water supply, we found legal pluralism and diverse formal and informal stakeholders in a multi-level structure. At the local level, four modes of governance were identified, resulting from seven institutional change trajectories. These trajectories result from linear (alignment) and non-linear (resistance and adaptation) interactions between local, state, and national institutions over different periods. We provide a pragmatic framework to understand complexity through the organization and historical configurations of water governance that may be applied globally, providing a necessary starting point and solid foundation for the creation of new water policies and law reforms or transitions to the polycentric governance model to ensure the human right to water and sanitation.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/13/20/2870institutional changenestednessgovernance modelegal pluralism |
| spellingShingle | Fernando Gumeta-Gómez Andrea Sáenz-Arroyo Gustavo Hinojosa-Arango Claudia Monzón-Alvarado Maria Azahara Mesa-Jurado Dolores Molina-Rosales Understanding the Complexity of Water Supply System Governance: A Proposal for a Methodological Framework Water institutional change nestedness governance mode legal pluralism |
| title | Understanding the Complexity of Water Supply System Governance: A Proposal for a Methodological Framework |
| title_full | Understanding the Complexity of Water Supply System Governance: A Proposal for a Methodological Framework |
| title_fullStr | Understanding the Complexity of Water Supply System Governance: A Proposal for a Methodological Framework |
| title_full_unstemmed | Understanding the Complexity of Water Supply System Governance: A Proposal for a Methodological Framework |
| title_short | Understanding the Complexity of Water Supply System Governance: A Proposal for a Methodological Framework |
| title_sort | understanding the complexity of water supply system governance a proposal for a methodological framework |
| topic | institutional change nestedness governance mode legal pluralism |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/13/20/2870 |
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