IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/waterr/v25y2011i15p4081-4097.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Appreciating Institutional Complexity in Water Governance Dynamics: A Case from the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia

Author

Listed:
  • Philip Wallis
  • Raymond Ison

Abstract

Water managing systems are becoming more complex as new institutional arrangements are created in response to a changing climate. Our inquiry centred on the ‘water managing system’ within a nested set of Australian water governance regimes, including relevant local, regional, state and national governance regimes. New institutions in national and state systems, seemingly intended to reduce complexity through centralisation or integration, only increase complexity by adding to the existing mix of institutional arrangements. This complexity can reduce the effectiveness of water managing organisations by increasing administrative burden, creating high costs of entry for new staff and leading to confusion in communications with external stakeholders. Regional water managers deal with this complexity by drawing on relational capital built from long-term engagement in the water managing system. However, relational capital is difficult to build and easy to destroy, thus this ‘soft’ capacity is under threat from shifts in decision making power and of resources out of regional water governance systems. Institutional innovation is therefore required to create opportunities to build relational capital in order to effectively manage natural resources at the regional level as coupled socio-ecological systems. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011

Suggested Citation

  • Philip Wallis & Raymond Ison, 2011. "Appreciating Institutional Complexity in Water Governance Dynamics: A Case from the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 25(15), pages 4081-4097, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:waterr:v:25:y:2011:i:15:p:4081-4097
    DOI: 10.1007/s11269-011-9885-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11269-011-9885-z
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11269-011-9885-z?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kevin Collins & Ray Ison, 2010. "Trusting Emergence: Some Experiences of Learning about Integrated Catchment Science with the Environment Agency of England and Wales," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 24(4), pages 669-688, March.
    2. Ray Ison & Kevin Collins & John Colvin & Janice Jiggins & Pier Roggero & Giovanna Seddaiu & Patrick Steyaert & Marco Toderi & Chiara Zanolla, 2011. "Sustainable Catchment Managing in a Climate Changing World: New Integrative Modalities for Connecting Policy Makers, Scientists and Other Stakeholders," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 25(15), pages 3977-3992, December.
    3. David McClintock & Ray Ison & Rosalind Armson, 2003. "Metaphors for Reflecting on Research Practice: Researching with People," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(5), pages 715-731.
    4. Jim Woodhill, 2010. "Capacities for Institutional Innovation: A Complexity Perspective," IDS Bulletin, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(3), pages 47-59, May.
    5. Magnus Moglia & Stephen Cook & Ashok Sharma & Stewart Burn, 2011. "Assessing Decentralised Water Solutions: Towards a Framework for Adaptive Learning," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 25(1), pages 217-238, January.
    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. Daniele T. P. Souza & Eugenia A. Kuhn & Arjen E. J. Wals & Pedro R. Jacobi, 2020. "Learning in, with, and through the Territory: Territory-Based Learning as a Catalyst for Urban Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-19, April.
    2. Colvin, John & Blackmore, Chris & Chimbuya, Sam & Collins, Kevin & Dent, Mark & Goss, John & Ison, Ray & Roggero, Pier Paolo & Seddaiu, Giovanna, 2014. "In search of systemic innovation for sustainable development: A design praxis emerging from a decade of social learning inquiry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 760-771.
    3. Howard, Tanya, 2015. "Olivebranches and idiot's guides: Frameworks for community engagement in Australian wind farm development," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 137-147.
    4. Montgomery, Jenna & Xu, Wei & Bjornlund, Henning & Edwards, Jane, 2016. "A table for five: Stakeholder perceptions of water governance in Alberta," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 11-21.
    5. Aleksi Räsänen & Paula Schönach & Alexandra Jurgilevich & Milja Heikkinen & Sirkku Juhola, 2019. "Role of Transformative Capacity in River Basin Management Transformations," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 33(1), pages 303-317, January.
    6. Shion Takemura & Hidetomo Tajima & Juri Hori & Mitsutaku Makino & John Banana Matewere & Dorothea Agnes Rampisela & Tetsu Sato, 2022. "Autonomous Innovations in Rural Communities of Developing Countries II—Causal Network and Leverage Point Analyses of Transformations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-16, September.
    7. Lee Godden & Raymond Ison & Philip Wallis, 2011. "Water Governance in a Climate Change World: Appraising Systemic and Adaptive Effectiveness," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 25(15), pages 3971-3976, December.
    8. Zachary Bischoff-Mattson & Amanda H. Lynch, 2016. "Adaptive governance in water reform discourses of the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 49(3), pages 281-307, September.
    9. Ray Ison & Kevin Collins & John Colvin & Janice Jiggins & Pier Roggero & Giovanna Seddaiu & Patrick Steyaert & Marco Toderi & Chiara Zanolla, 2011. "Sustainable Catchment Managing in a Climate Changing World: New Integrative Modalities for Connecting Policy Makers, Scientists and Other Stakeholders," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 25(15), pages 3977-3992, December.
    10. Dong Liu & Mingjie Luo & Qiang Fu & Yongjia Zhang & Khan M. Imran & Dan Zhao & Tianxiao Li & Faiz M. Abrar, 2016. "Precipitation Complexity Measurement Using Multifractal Spectra Empirical Mode Decomposition Detrended Fluctuation Analysis," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(2), pages 505-522, January.
    11. Dong Liu & Mingjie Luo & Qiang Fu & Yongjia Zhang & Khan Imran & Dan Zhao & Tianxiao Li & Faiz Abrar, 2016. "Precipitation Complexity Measurement Using Multifractal Spectra Empirical Mode Decomposition Detrended Fluctuation Analysis," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(2), pages 505-522, January.
    12. Rob C. Loë & James J. Patterson, 2018. "Boundary Judgments in Water Governance: Diagnosing Internal and External Factors that Matter in a Complex World," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 32(2), pages 565-581, January.
    13. Miao Yu & Dong Liu & Jean Dieu Bazimenyera, 2013. "Diagnostic Complexity of Regional Groundwater Resources System Based on time series fractal dimension and Artificial Fish Swarm Algorithm," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 27(7), pages 1897-1911, May.
    14. Christine Harley & Louise Metcalf & Julia Irwin, 2014. "An Exploratory Study in Community Perspectives of Sustainability Leadership in the Murray Darling Basin," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(3), pages 413-433, October.
    15. Claudia Pahl-Wostl, 2017. "An Evolutionary Perspective on Water Governance: From Understanding to Transformation," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(10), pages 2917-2932, August.

    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. Colvin, John & Blackmore, Chris & Chimbuya, Sam & Collins, Kevin & Dent, Mark & Goss, John & Ison, Ray & Roggero, Pier Paolo & Seddaiu, Giovanna, 2014. "In search of systemic innovation for sustainable development: A design praxis emerging from a decade of social learning inquiry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 760-771.
    2. Ray Ison, 2016. "Governing in the Anthropocene: What Future Systems Thinking in Practice?," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 595-613, September.
    3. Ison, Ray & Blackmore, Chris & Iaquinto, Benjamin L., 2013. "Towards systemic and adaptive governance: Exploring the revealing and concealing aspects of contemporary social-learning metaphors," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 34-42.
    4. Lee Godden & Raymond Ison & Philip Wallis, 2011. "Water Governance in a Climate Change World: Appraising Systemic and Adaptive Effectiveness," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 25(15), pages 3971-3976, December.
    5. Ray Ison & Kevin Collins & John Colvin & Janice Jiggins & Pier Roggero & Giovanna Seddaiu & Patrick Steyaert & Marco Toderi & Chiara Zanolla, 2011. "Sustainable Catchment Managing in a Climate Changing World: New Integrative Modalities for Connecting Policy Makers, Scientists and Other Stakeholders," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 25(15), pages 3977-3992, December.
    6. Toderi, Marco & Francioni, Matteo & Seddaiu, Giovanna & Roggero, Pier Paolo & Trozzo, Laura & D’Ottavio, Paride, 2017. "Bottom-up design process of agri-environmental measures at a landscape scale: Evidence from case studies on biodiversity conservation and water protection," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 295-305.
    7. Cornelis Leeuwen & Jos Frijns & Annemarie Wezel & Frans Ven, 2012. "City Blueprints: 24 Indicators to Assess the Sustainability of the Urban Water Cycle," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 26(8), pages 2177-2197, June.
    8. Dono, Gabriele & Cortignani, Raffaele & Doro, Luca & Giraldo, Luca & Ledda, Luigi & Pasqui, Massimiliano & Roggero, Pier Paolo, 2013. "Adapting to uncertainty associated with short-term climate variability changes in irrigated Mediterranean farming systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 1-12.
    9. Ray L. Ison & Kevin B. Collins & Ben L. Iaquinto, 2021. "Designing an inquiry‐based learning system: Innovating in research praxis to transform science–policy–practice relations for sustainable development," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(5), pages 610-624, October.
    10. Ray Ison & Andrea Grant & Richard Bawden, 2014. "Scenario Praxis for Systemic Governance: A Critical Framework," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 32(4), pages 623-640, August.
    11. B. Sonneveld & M. Keyzer & P. Adegbola & S. Pande, 2012. "The Impact of Climate Change on Crop Production in West Africa: An Assessment for the Oueme River Basin in Benin," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 26(2), pages 553-579, January.
    12. Hameeda A. AlMalki & Christopher M. Durugbo, 2023. "Systematic review of institutional innovation literature: towards a multi-level management model," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 73(2), pages 731-785, June.
    13. Kurtis Elton & S. Wolfe, 2012. "Water Efficiency and the Professional Plumbing Sector: How Capacity and Capability Influence Knowledge Acquisition and Innovation," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 26(2), pages 595-608, January.
    14. G. Raadgever & E. Mostert & N. Giesen, 2012. "Learning from Collaborative Research in Water Management Practice," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 26(11), pages 3251-3266, September.
    15. Falk, Thomas & Spangenberg, Joachim H. & Siegmund-Schultze, Marianna & Kobbe, Susanne & Feike, Til & Kuebler, Daniel & Settele, Josef & Vorlaufer, Tobias, 2018. "Identifying governance challenges in ecosystem services management – Conceptual considerations and comparison of global forest cases," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 32(PB), pages 193-203.
    16. Paschen, Jana-Axinja & Ison, Ray, 2014. "Narrative research in climate change adaptation—Exploring a complementary paradigm for research and governance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(6), pages 1083-1092.
    17. German, Laura & Stroud, Ann, 2007. "A Framework for the Integration of Diverse Learning Approaches: Operationalizing Agricultural Research and Development (R&D) Linkages in Eastern Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 792-814, May.
    18. Kathleen H Bowmer, 2013. "Ecosystem Effects from Nutrient and Pesticide Pollutants: Catchment Care as a Solution," Resources, MDPI, vol. 2(3), pages 1-18, September.
    19. Admire M. Nyamwanza & Krasposy K. Kujinga, 2017. "Climate change, sustainable water management and institutional adaptation in rural sub-Saharan Africa," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 693-706, April.
    20. Falk, Thomas & Kumar, Shalander & Srigiri, Srinivasa, 2019. "Experimental games for developing institutional capacity to manage common water infrastructure in India," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 260-269.

    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:25:y:2011:i:15:p:4081-4097. 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.