IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i4p914-d137483.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Towards More Effective Water Quality Governance: A Review of Social-Economic, Legal and Ecological Perspectives and Their Interactions

Author

Listed:
  • Susanne Wuijts

    (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands
    Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80115, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands)

  • Peter P. J. Driessen

    (Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80115, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands)

  • Helena F. M. W. Van Rijswick

    (Utrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law, Utrecht University, Newtonlaan 231, 3584 BH Utrecht, The Netherlands)

Abstract

In this article, social-economic, legal and ecological perspectives on effectiveness of water quality governance and their interactions have been studied. Worldwide, authorities are facing the challenge of restoring and preserving aquatic ecosystems in accordance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 6). Over the last few decades, governance approaches have often been used to realise these ambitions. To date, scholars have identified that it is difficult to relate governance approaches to water quality improvement and have offered several different explanations for this. Combined with a targeted conceptualisation of the perspectives and their interactions, the systematic literature review demonstrates the gap that exists in the current understanding of these interactions and what their effects are on water quality improvement, especially in regard to the identification of ecological issues and their boundary conditions for the legal framework and the development of measures and follow-up. The review also reveals that the scientific debate is focused on the planning rather than implementation phase. A step forward can be made by supplementing existing analytical frameworks by the interactions between the different perspectives, especially those related to problem definition and the development and realisation of measures.

Suggested Citation

  • Susanne Wuijts & Peter P. J. Driessen & Helena F. M. W. Van Rijswick, 2018. "Towards More Effective Water Quality Governance: A Review of Social-Economic, Legal and Ecological Perspectives and Their Interactions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-19, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:4:p:914-:d:137483
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/4/914/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/4/914/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Woodhouse, P. & Muller, M., 2017. "Water Governance—An Historical Perspective on Current Debates," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 225-241.
    2. Kaitlin Steiger-Meister & Dennis R. Becker, 2012. "Using policy to promote participatory planning: an examination of Minnesota's Lake Improvement Districts from the citizen perspective," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(5), pages 599-615, August.
    3. Blackstock, K.L. & Waylen, K.A. & Dunglinson, J. & Marshall, K.M., 2012. "Linking process to outcomes — Internal and external criteria for a stakeholder involvement in River Basin Management Planning," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 113-122.
    4. Kirsty L Blackstock & Kerry A Waylen & Keith M Marshall & Jill Dunglinson, 2014. "Hybridity of Representation: Insights from River Basin Management Planning in Scotland," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 32(3), pages 549-566, June.
    5. Marleen van Rijswick & Jurian Edelenbos & Petra Hellegers & Matthijs Kok & Stefan Kuks, 2014. "Ten building blocks for sustainable water governance: an integrated method to assess the governance of water," Water International, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(5), pages 725-742, September.
    6. Huber-Stearns, Heidi R. & Cheng, Antony S., 2017. "The evolving role of government in the adaptive governance of freshwater social-ecological systems in the western US," Environmental Science & Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 40-48.
    7. Xiaomei Tan, 2006. "Environment, governance and GDP: discovering their connections," International Journal of Sustainable Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 9(4), pages 311-335.
    8. Johanna Kramm & Melanie Pichler & Anke Schaffartzik & Martin Zimmermann, 2017. "Societal Relations to Nature in Times of Crisis—Social Ecology’s Contributions to Interdisciplinary Sustainability Studies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-12, June.
    9. Arwin van Buuren & Jurian Edelenbos, 2004. "Why is joint knowledge production such a problem?," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 31(4), pages 289-299, August.
    10. Gani, Azmat & Scrimgeour, Frank, 2014. "Modeling governance and water pollution using the institutional ecological economic framework," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 363-372.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. James L. Wescoat Jr. & Jonnalagadda V. R. Murty, 2021. "District Drinking Water Planning for Sustainability in Maharashtra: Between Local and Global Scales," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-21, July.
    2. Mingjing Guo & Ziyu Jiang & Yan Bu & Jinhua Cheng, 2019. "Supporting Sustainable Development of Water Resources: A Social Welfare Maximization Game Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-15, August.
    3. Rudy Vannevel & Peter L. M. Goethals, 2021. "Structural and Contentual Complexity in Water Governance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-46, August.
    4. Aude Zingraff-Hamed & Frank Hüesker & Gerd Lupp & Chloe Begg & Josh Huang & Amy Oen & Zoran Vojinovic & Christian Kuhlicke & Stephan Pauleit, 2020. "Stakeholder Mapping to Co-Create Nature-Based Solutions: Who Is on Board?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-23, October.
    5. Apoloniusz Kurylczyk & Tomasz Czapiewski & Malgorzata Zakrzewska, 2021. "Implementation of the Directive 2006/7/EC in Selected EU Member States in the 2017-2019 Period," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(2B), pages 1174-1184.
    6. David Langlet & Aron Westholm, 2021. "Realizing the Social Dimension of EU Coastal Water Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-17, February.
    7. Susanne Wuijts & Helena F. M. W. Van Rijswick & Peter P. J. Driessen, 2021. "Achieving European Water Quality Ambitions: Governance Conditions for More Effective Approaches at the Local-Regional Scale," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-20, January.

    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. Susanne Wuijts & Helena F. M. W. Van Rijswick & Peter P. J. Driessen, 2021. "Achieving European Water Quality Ambitions: Governance Conditions for More Effective Approaches at the Local-Regional Scale," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-20, January.
    2. Grilli, Gianluca & Curtis, John, 2021. "Knowledge and awareness of water quality protection issues within Local Authorities," Papers WP712, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    3. Susanne Wuijts & Peter P. J. Driessen & Helena F. M. W. Rijswick, 2018. "Governance Conditions for Improving Quality Drinking Water Resources: the Need for Enhancing Connectivity," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 32(4), pages 1245-1260, March.
    4. Liang Liu & Cong Feng & Hongwei Zhang & Xuehua Zhang, 2015. "Game Analysis and Simulation of the River Basin Sustainable Development Strategy Integrating Water Emission Trading," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-21, April.
    5. Cesar Casiano Flores & Joep Crompvoets & Maria Eugenia Ibarraran Viniegra & Megan Farrelly, 2019. "Governance Assessment of the Flood’s Infrastructure Policy in San Pedro Cholula, Mexico: Potential for a Leapfrog to Water Sensitive," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-28, December.
    6. Geoff Goodwin, 2018. "Water, Infrastructure and Power: Contention and Resistance in Post‐colonial Cities of the South," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 49(6), pages 1616-1630, November.
    7. Griewald, Yuliana & Rauschmayer, Felix, 2013. "Exploring a nature-related conflict from a capability perspective," UFZ Discussion Papers 7/2013, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Division of Social Sciences (ÖKUS).
    8. Elisabeth A. Shrimpton & Dexter Hunt & Chris D.F. Rogers, 2021. "Justice in (English) Water Infrastructure: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-18, March.
    9. Yuping Deng & Yanrui Wu & Helian Xu, 2022. "Emission Reduction and Value-added Export Nexus at Firm Level," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 22-19, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    10. Mahanta, Ratul & Chowdhury, Jayashree & Nath, Hiranya K., 2016. "Health costs of arsenic contamination of drinking water in Assam, India," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 30-42.
    11. Chung Nguyen Hoang, 2021. "The Effects of Economic Integration on CO2 Emission: A View from Institutions in Emerging Economies," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 11(2), pages 374-383.
    12. Erica Lynn Porta & Aaron T. Wolf, 2021. "Intrinsic and Spiritual Dimensions of Water at the Local Scale, and the Disconnect with International Institutions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-27, August.
    13. Roth, Alyssa P. & de Loë, Rob C., 2017. "Incorporating Outcomes from Collaborative Processes into Government Decision Making: A Case Study from Low Water Response Planning in Ontario, Canada," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 169-178.
    14. Imanina Eka Dalilah, 2016. "Role of Institutional Economics in Minimizing Industrial Waste Water," GATR Journals jber119, Global Academy of Training and Research (GATR) Enterprise.
    15. Philip Harrison, 2021. "Sustainability in City-Regionalism as Emergent Practice: The Case of the BRICS," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-19, April.
    16. Garrett Ward Richards, 2019. "The Science–Policy Relationship Hierarchy (SPRHi) model of co-production: how climate science organizations have influenced the policy process in Canadian case studies," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 52(1), pages 67-95, March.
    17. Lu, Shibao & Zhang, Xiaoling & Bao, Haijun & Skitmore, Martin, 2016. "Review of social water cycle research in a changing environment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 132-140.
    18. Amirova, Iroda & Petrick, Martin & Djanibekov, Nodir, 2019. "Long- and short-term determinants of water user cooperation: Experimental evidence from Central Asia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 10-25.
    19. Abrams, Jesse, 2019. "The emergence of network governance in U.S. National Forest Administration: Causal factors and propositions for future research," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 1-1.
    20. Sara Soares & Daniela Terêncio & Luís Fernandes & João Machado & Fernando A.L. Pacheco, 2019. "The Potential of Small Dams for Conjunctive Water Management in Rural Municipalities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-17, April.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:4:p:914-:d:137483. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.