IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/waterr/v21y2007i12p1993-2004.html

Asymmetry and Equity in Water Resources Management; Critical Institutional Issues for Southern Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Pieter Zaag

Abstract

Water users wish to achieve the highest benefits from water resources. Rules limit the manner in which water users may utilise the water resources occurring within their constituencies or territories. However an asymmetrical situation exists whereby downstream users may not affect upstream users but upstream users do cause downstream impacts. Because of this asymmetry the equitable sharing of water resources between upstream and downstream users will always imply that upstream users have to forego some potential water benefits. The general question that this paper addresses is: which institutional arrangements can be devised to (re-)establish an equilibrium between up- and downstream entities within a catchment area or river basin? The paper addresses this question by first focusing on some local and national water allocation arrangements. After briefly reviewing the different management regimes, customary and colonial, that co-evolved in Southern Africa, it assesses the water management principles that are currently being espoused. The focus then turns to the principles in international water law that deal with the allocation of water in transboundary river basins. It is concluded that it often proves difficult to reach agreement over how to share the scarce resource. The paper then discusses the current trend to look beyond water and beyond the river basin when seeking peaceful means to share a common water resource. The concept of “hydrosolidarity” emerges as a normative value that may help to recreate a balance between the various (asymmetrical) interests that exist within a river basin. The paper concludes that water resources can only be governed wisely is there is capacity to understand and monitor the water fluxes within a river basin. If such capacity is wanting, priority should be given to strengthen it. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2007

Suggested Citation

  • Pieter Zaag, 2007. "Asymmetry and Equity in Water Resources Management; Critical Institutional Issues for Southern Africa," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 21(12), pages 1993-2004, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:waterr:v:21:y:2007:i:12:p:1993-2004
    DOI: 10.1007/s11269-006-9124-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11269-006-9124-1
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11269-006-9124-1?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tomasz Potkanski & William Adams, 1998. "Water scarcity, property regimes and irrigation management in Sonjo, Tanzania," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(4), pages 86-116.
    2. repec:iwt:bosers:h030980 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Baland, Jean-Marie & Platteau, Jean-Philippe, 1999. "The Ambiguous Impact of Inequality on Local Resource Management," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 773-788, May.
    4. repec:iwt:bosers:h044409 is not listed on IDEAS
    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. Caretta, Martina Angela, 2015. "Managing variability and scarcity. An analysis of Engaruka: A Maasai smallholder irrigation farming community," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 318-330.
    2. Michael Kaplowitz & Frank Lupi & Oscar Arreola, 2012. "Local Markets for Payments for Environmental Services: Can Small Rural Communities Self-Finance Watershed Protection?," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 26(13), pages 3689-3704, October.
    3. Jos Timmermans, 2009. "Interactive Actor Analysis for Rural Water Management in The Netherlands: An Application of the Transactional Approach," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 23(6), pages 1211-1236, April.
    4. Leon Hermans, 2011. "An Approach to Support Learning from International Experience with Water Policy," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 25(1), pages 373-393, January.
    5. Sarah Acquah & Frank A. Ward, 2017. "Optimizing Adjustments to Transboundary Water Sharing Plans: A Multi-Basin Approach," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(15), pages 5019-5042, December.
    6. George Atisa & Mahadev Bhat & Michael McClain, 2014. "Economic Assessment of Best Management Practices in the Mara River Basin: Toward Implementing Payment for Watershed Services," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 28(6), pages 1751-1766, April.
    7. Henry Amorocho‐Daza & Pieter van der Zaag & Janez Sušnik, 2024. "Ethical considerations of using system dynamics in participatory settings: a social‐ecological‐systems perspective," System Dynamics Review, System Dynamics Society, vol. 40(2), April.
    8. Mul, M.L. & Kemerink, J.S. & Vyagusa, N.F. & Mshana, M.G. & van der Zaag, P. & Makurira, H., 2011. "Water allocation practices among smallholder farmers in the South Pare Mountains, Tanzania: The issue of scale," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(11), pages 1752-1760, September.
    9. Ann Griensven & N. Fohrer & C. McCulloch, 2007. "Editorial Notes," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 21(12), pages 1991-1992, December.
    10. Ali Dinar Abdullah & Ioana Popescu & Ali Dastgheib & Pieter Zaag & Ilyas Masih & Usama F. A. Karim, 2017. "Analysis of Possible Actions to Manage the Longitudinal Changes of Water Salinity in a Tidal River," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(7), pages 2157-2171, May.
    11. Stewart Rood & Jenny Vandersteen, 2010. "Relaxing the Principle of Prior Appropriation: Stored Water and Sharing the Shortage in Alberta, Canada," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 24(8), pages 1605-1620, June.
    12. Amorocho-Daza, Henry & Sušnik, Janez & Slinger, Jill H. & van der Zaag, Pieter, 2026. "A participatory system dynamics approach to assess transboundary nutrient pollution: modelling the water-energy-food-ecosystems nexus in the Lielupe River Basin, Lithuania and Latvia," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 513(C).

    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. Elisabeth R. Gerber & Clark C. Gibson, 2009. "Balancing Regionalism and Localism: How Institutions and Incentives Shape American Transportation Policy," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(3), pages 633-648, July.
    2. Kahsay, Goytom Abraha & Medhin, Haileselassie, 2020. "Leader turnover and forest management outcomes: Micro-level evidence from Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    3. Schultz, Bill, 2020. "Resource management and joint-planning in fragmented societies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    4. Sirisha C. Naidu, 2005. "Heterogeneity and Common Pool Resources: Collective Management of Forests in Himachal Pradesh, India," Working Papers 2005-8, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Resource Economics.
    5. Begazo Curie, Karin & Mertens, Kewan & Vranken, Liesbet, 2021. "Tenure regimes and remoteness: When does forest income reduce poverty and inequality? A case study from the Peruvian Amazon," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    6. Partha Dasgupta, "undated". "Inclusive National Accounts: Introduction," Working papers 67, The South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics.
    7. Mark Purcell & J. Christopher Brown, 2005. "Against the local trap: scale and the study of environment and development," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 5(4), pages 279-297, October.
    8. Sirak Robele Gari & Alice Newton & John D. Icely & Maria Mar Delgado-Serrano, 2017. "An Analysis of the Global Applicability of Ostrom’s Design Principles to Diagnose the Functionality of Common-Pool Resource Institutions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-17, July.
    9. Janssens, Wendy, 2010. "Women's Empowerment and the Creation of Social Capital in Indian Villages," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 974-988, July.
    10. Saudamini Das & Stephen C. Smith, 2012. "Awareness As An Adaptation Strategy For Reducing Mortality From Heat Waves: Evidence From A Disaster Risk Management Program In India," Climate Change Economics (CCE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 3(02), pages 1-29.
    11. Agarwal, Bina, 2009. "Gender and forest conservation: The impact of women's participation in community forest governance," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(11), pages 2785-2799, September.
    12. Shanshan Miao & Xueqin Zhu & Wim Heijman & Zengwei Xu & Qian Lu, 2022. "Deeds and Words: Farmers’ Attitude-Paradox in Collective Action for Small-Scale Irrigation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-17, December.
    13. Debasis Mondal & Manash Ranjan Gupta, 2023. "Private provision of public good and endogenous income inequality," Indian Economic Review, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 399-425, December.
    14. Perez-Cirera, Vanessa & Lovett, Jon C., 2006. "Power distribution, the external environment and common property forest governance: A local user groups model," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(3), pages 341-352, September.
    15. McCarter, Matthew W. & Budescu, David V. & Scheffran, Jürgen, 2011. "The give-or-take-some dilemma: An empirical investigation of a hybrid social dilemma," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 116(1), pages 83-95, September.
    16. Bertini, Raffaele & Grigoriadis, Theocharis, 2026. "Climate adaptation, water governance & conflict," Discussion Papers 2026/10, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    17. Moritz A. Drupp & Ulrike Kornek & Jasper N. Meya & Lutz Sager, 2021. "Inequality and the Environment: The Economics of a Two-Headed Hydra," CESifo Working Paper Series 9447, CESifo.
    18. Jeena T Srinivasan, 2005. "The Differential Impact of User Heterogeneity in Resource Management : A Case Study from Kerala," Microeconomics Working Papers 22411, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    19. Holstenkamp, Lars, 2019. "What do we know about cooperative sustainable electrification in the global South? A synthesis of the literature and refined social-ecological systems framework," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 307-320.
    20. Agarwal, Bina, 2001. "Participatory Exclusions, Community Forestry, and Gender: An Analysis for South Asia and a Conceptual Framework," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(10), pages 1623-1648, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:spr:waterr:v:21:y:2007:i:12:p:1993-2004. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.