Irrigation and River Basin Management: Options for Governance and Institutions

• Published in: Irrigation and river basin management: options for governance and institutions
• Main Author: Svendsen, M
• Format: eBook
• Language: English
• Published: Wallingford, UK CABI Publishing 2005; CABI
• Edition: 1
• Subjects: Africa; Africa South of Sahara; America; Anglophone Africa; APEC countries; Arid regions; ASEAN Countries; Asia; Case studies; catchment areas; choice; citizen participation; Commonwealth of Nations; community involvement; decision making; Developed Countries; Developing Countries; Europe; European Union Countries; Indochina; institution building; institutions; Integrated water development; Irrigation; irrigation systems; irrigation water; Latin America; Mediterranean Region; North America; OECD Countries; organizations; Pacific States of USA; planning; politics; rivers; social participation; South East Asia; Southern Africa; stakeholders; subsaharan Africa; Threshold Countries; United States of America; USA; Viet Nam; water allocation; water availability; water management; water policy; water resource management; water supplies; water supply; watering; Watershed management; watersheds; West Asia; Western Europe; Western States of USA; Africa South of Sahara; USA; Vietnam; Turkey; Mexico; South Africa; California; France
• ISBN: 9780851996721; 0851996728
• DOI: 10.1079/9780851996721.0000

With increasing water scarcity, pressure to re-allocate water from agriculture to other uses mounts, along with a need to put in place institutional arrangements to promote 'higher value' uses of water. Many developing countries are now experimenting with establishing new institutional arrangements for managing water at the river basin level.This book, based on research by IWMI and others, reviews basin management in six developed and developing countries. It describes and applies a functional theory of river basin management, based on the idea that there is a minimum set of functions required to manage basins effectively and a set of basic conditions that enable effective management institutions to emerge. The book examines the experiences of both developed and developing countries in order to see what lessons can be learned and to identify what constitutes the core of a 'theory of river basin management'. It concludes that although it is difficult for developing countries to adopt approaches and institutional designs directly from developed countries, basic principles and lessons are transferable.