IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envirc/v20y2002i2p281-295.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Public – Private Partnerships as Catalysts for Community-Based Water Infrastructure Development: The Border WaterWorks Program in Texas and New Mexico Colonias

Author

Listed:
  • Maria Carmen Lemos

    (Center for Latin American Studies, The University of Arizona, 103 Douglass Building, Tucson, AZ 85721-0028, USA)

  • Diane Austin

    (Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, The University of Arizona, Room 316, Anthropology Building, PO Box 210030, Tucson, AZ 85721-0030, USA)

  • Robert Merideth
  • Robert G Varady

Abstract

Increased awareness of shortcomings in both provision and maintenance of public services is triggering new approaches to policymaking and service delivery. Conventional debates over public versus private service provision obscure the multiple configurations possible. We consider the effectiveness and desirability of an alternative approach to public-service provision of water and wastewater services, specifically the Border Waterworks program, which has helped deliver water-related services to economically disadvantaged communities ( colonias ) along the US – Mexico border. We explore some issues that emerge when nonprofit organizations take on functions of governments and service providers, and examine the conditions under which the provision of water and wastewater infrastructure can be advanced by nonprofit organizations. We conclude that the general effectiveness of Border Waterworks was thanks to its ability to adapt to local circumstances and respond to situations as they arose in the context of the numerous problems in colonias. We also conclude that nonprofit providers are most effective when they serve as catalysts that assist the public sector rather than when they provide public-service infrastructure on their own.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Carmen Lemos & Diane Austin & Robert Merideth & Robert G Varady, 2002. "Public – Private Partnerships as Catalysts for Community-Based Water Infrastructure Development: The Border WaterWorks Program in Texas and New Mexico Colonias," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 20(2), pages 281-295, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:20:y:2002:i:2:p:281-295
    DOI: 10.1068/c12w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/c12w
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/c12w?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carrie A. Meyer, 1996. "NGOs and Environmental Public Goods: Institutional Alternatives to Property Rights," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 27(3), pages 453-474, July.
    2. Evan M. Berman & Jonathan P. West, 1995. "Public‐Private Leadership and the Role of Nonprofit Organizations in Local Government: The Case of Social Services," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 14(1‐2), pages 235-251, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Roberto Vivona & Mehmet Akif Demircioglu & David B. Audretsch, 2023. "The costs of collaborative innovation," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 873-899, June.
    2. Service Opare, 2011. "Sustaining water supply through a phased community management approach: lessons from Ghana’s “oats” water supply scheme," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 13(6), pages 1021-1042, December.
    3. Meyer, Carrie A., 1997. "The political economy of NGOs and information sharing," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(7), pages 1127-1140, July.
    4. S. Akbar Zaidi, 1999. "NGO failure and the need to bring back the state," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(2), pages 259-271.
    5. Eswarappa Kasi, 2015. "Marginal Communities in Drought-prone Regions: The Role of NGOs in Watershed Development in South India," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 31(1), pages 98-124, March.
    6. Lebdioui, Amir, 2022. "Nature-inspired innovation policy: Biomimicry as a pathway to leverage biodiversity for economic development," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    7. Crook, Wendy P. & Mullis, Ronald L. & Cornille, Thomas A. & Mullis, Ann K., 2005. "Outcome measurement in homeless systems of care," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 379-390, November.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:20:y:2002:i:2:p:281-295. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.