Digital Library of the Commons

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Die Siedlungswasserwirtschaft unter Wettbewerbsdruck : Nachhaltigkeit, Demokratie und die Neuregulierung des Oeffentlichen
(2005) Katzmayr, Michael
"In Austria, the local water services are in most cases still provided by public authorities. However, this may change due to strong tendencies to liberalise and privatise the public services. Especially the European Commission and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) of World Trade Organisation (WTO) favour a liberalisation of the public services. This thesis deals with the effects of the liberalisation and privatisation of municipal water services (water supply and sewage disposal) on democracy and environmental policy aspects related to a sustainable local development. The theoretical part of this thesis provides a general overview of the relevant discourses in this field. Next, the concept of sustainable development is described, related to local communities. In the following, considerations are provided, how participation can be realised effectively in the community. Focus points in this connexion are the concepts 'strong democracy' (Teilhabe in German) and 'publicness'. After an overview of the social and ecological specialities of the local water services, reasons for and against liberalisation and privatisation in this sector are presented. In the empirical part of the thesis, the status quo of the local water services in Vienna and Linz is researched by the means of experts' interviews and an analysis of relevant documents. It is described, how these cities deal with the neoliberal claims concerning the public services. As a result, it can be stated that from an ecological point of view a decrease of the ecological performance due to privatisation can not be argued generally in the local water sector. However, a raise in the ecological performance is also not likely. Concerning the local democracy and participation, it can be stated that the local water services at present act paternalistically and undemocratically. This means that a substantial loss of democracy is not likely. Nonetheless, in case of privatisations the still existing chances and potentialities for 'strong democracy' and a democratisation of the public services are likely to get lost." German Abstract: "Die kommunale Siedlungswasserwirtschaft in Oesterreich wird derzeit noch weitgehend durch die oeffentliche Hand erbracht, allerdings steht dies durch Bestrebungen der Liberalisierung und Privatisierung der Daseinsvorsorge zunehmend zur Disposition. Insbesondere die Europaeische Kommission und das GATS-Abkommen der Welthandelsorganisation (WTO) treiben eine Liberalisierungspolitik in der Daseinsvorsorge voran. Diese Arbeit behandelt Auswirkungen der Liberalisierung und Privatisierung der kommunalen Wasserver- und Abwasserentsorgung auf demokratie- und umweltpolitische Aspekte einer nachhaltigen Gemeindeentwicklung. Im theoretischen Teil wird zu Beginn auf die derzeit gaengigen Diskurse in der Debatte rund um die Neugestaltung der Daseinsvorsorge eingegangen. Nach einer Annaeherung an den Begriff der nachhaltigen Entwicklung wird der Stellenwert der Gemeinde darin referiert. Daran fuegen sich Ueberlegungen, wie Partizipation auf kommunaler Ebene verwirklicht werden kann, wobei besonders auf die Konzeptionen 'Teilhabe' und 'Oeffentlichkeit' eingegangen wird. Nach einer Beleuchtung der oekonomischen und oekologischen Besonderheiten der kommunalen Siedlungswasserwirtschaft werden die Gruende für und wider eine Liberalisierung und Privatisierung gegenuebergestellt. Im empirischen Teil wird der Status quo der Siedlungswasserwirtschaft in Wien und Linz mittels Experteninterviews und einer Dokumentenanalyse erhoben und dargestellt, wie sich diese Staedte den neoliberalen Umgestaltungsprozessen der Daseinsvorsorge gegenueber verhalten. Als Ergebnis kann festgehalten werden, dass in oekologischer Hinsicht eine Verschlechterung der Umwelteffektivitaet durch eine marktliche Ausgestaltung der Siedlungswasserwirtschaft nicht pauschal behauptet werden kann, eine Verbesserung scheint jedoch ebenso unwahrscheinlich. Aus demokratiepolitischer Sicht muss festgestellt werden, dass sich die kommunale Siedlungswasserwirtschaft derzeit als weitgehend paternalistisch und undemokratisch darstellt und somit eine Ersetzung der politischen durch eine marktliche Steuerung nur wenig substantiellen Demokratieverlust mit sich braechte. Allerdings wuerden durch Privatisierungen die jetzt noch bestehenden Potentiale für eine Demokratisierung der oeffentlichen Dienste bzw. der res publica insgesamt verloren gehen."
Common Property to Co-Management: Social Change and Participation in Brazil's First Maritime Extractive Reserve
(2002) Pinto da Silva, Patricia
"Maritime Extractive Reserves, a new type of government-community collaborative management regime, are being established in coastal areas of Brazil in order to protect natural resources while sustaining local livelihoods. The long-term participation of resource users provides the cornerstone of this conservation and development model. This approach to conservation is supported by common property theory that questions the inevitable destruction of collectively managed resources. "This thesis explores the relationship between Maritime Extractive Reserves in Brazil and the traditional coastal communities they are created to protect. Specifically, it investigates the quality of the institutions which have traditionally governed the beach seining community in Arraial do Cabo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It then analyses the levels and kinds of participation and perceptions of the newly created Extractive Reserve, which attempts to build upon these traditional relationships. Finally, the study identifies community level factors that constrain or provide potential for long-term participatory conservation in this area. "A case study approach is adopted, involving both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Data were collected through a questionnaire, participant observation, formal and informal interviews, focus groups and document review. This hybrid approach enables contextual exploration for which qualitative methods are essential ensuring a higher degree of accuracy and reliability than either could offer in isolation. "The data reveal that, although local traditional resource management institutions have a long history and were once effective, they have weakened over time. The data also indicate that there are significant social barriers to collective action within this user group which have implications for the operational viability of the Extractive Reserve concept. These barriers include weak organization, hierarchical structures, high levels of intra-community conflict and mistrust of government. Consequently, both the quantity and quality of participation in the reserve is low and therefore, local fishers are not becoming decisive players in the decision-making process. The implications of these conclusions for future maritime conservation policy in Brazil are explored."
Collective Management of Irrigation in Eastern Spain: Integration of New Technologies and Water Resources
(2015) Ortega Reig, Mar Violeta
"The aim of this thesis is to analyze how farmer-managed systems adapt to the changes related to the integration of new water resources and drip irrigation technologies. Chapters two and three study the operating principles for water management. These principles, when applied by farmers as collective rules, result in interactions that create equity on water rights and transparency. The study area includes the irrigation system of the Huerta of Valencia (Spain). This system, well known internationally, has traditionally used surface water from the Turia River. Though recently, the use of groundwater and treated wastewater have been integrated with surface water. In this context, the analysis evolves around the subject of how the rules, developed for the sharing of surface water, have been adapted for conjunctive use of these new water resources. In addition, attention is also placed on how this process was crucial for the management of the 2005 - 2008 drought period. Results show that the operating principles, based in the proportionality and uniformity on irrigation frequency between users, underlie a system of distribution that is equitable, transparent and robust. In addition, the use of drought emergency wells and the reuse of treated wastewater have not resulted in any important conflict. These resources are used together with surface water during drought periods, increasing the guarantee of supply. However, treated wastewater use affects the uniformity on irrigation frequency among Water User Associations. Besides, Groundwater User Associations overlap in irrigated surface, farmers and infrastructure with Water User Associations using surface water. This situation results in informal conjunctive, a strategy that seems effective to deal with drought. Chapter four analyses the conversion to drip irrigation, an important technological transformation. In order to do that, institutional and management changes are examined. The cases studied are the Acequia Real del Júcar, the Júcar-Turia Channel and the General Community of Irrigators of Vall d'Uixó. At Water User Association level a centralization of managment has been observed (in the irrigation network, water resources managment and the merging of preexisting associations). In addition, the reasons to convert, the advantages, disadvantages and the satisfaction of users are also assessed. Besides, the work examines some aspects of how users adapt the use of irrigation and fertigation technology to their needs, diverging in some cases from the initial criteria of design. Chapter five discusses and compares the implications of the previous chapters. Some aspects of irrigation management and governance are assessed in a more detailed manner for the case of gravity irrigation Water Users Associations. In addition, the changes related to the introduction of drip irrigation technologies and new water resources are further compared In conclusion, the thesis reflects on current water policy dilemmas, focusing in currently prevailing water policy measures in the Valencia region, but also at world level: drip irrigation implementation, reuse of treated water and conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water. This allows identifying and comparing local aspects that influence the adoption and adaptation of new technologies and the integration of new water sources. Considering these features in irrigation policy would increase the efficacy of traditional solutions. Including these perspectives would also help to adapt new solutions to collective water and irrigation management settings characterized by significant complexity."
Organizational Effectiveness of User and Non-user Controlled Irrigation Systems in Nepal
(1991) Shivakoti, Ganesh P.
"This study, which focuses on the organizational effectiveness of user and non-user controlled irrigation systems in the western hills of Nepal, was conducted with the purpose of assessing the extent to which these systems differ in perceived effectiveness, level of participation and perceptions of equity in meeting the water needs of the farmers being served. The study design included both survey methodology and rapid appraisal. The conditioning variables included socioeconomic status of household, family structure, and demographic characteristics of the respondents. The dependent variable was organizational effectiveness which was measured by perceived effectiveness, level of participation, and perception of equity. Several hypotheses were tested. The major one was: Perceived organizational effectiveness will be higher in user controlled irrigation systems than in non-user controlled systems as manifested by higher scores of perceived effectiveness, level of participation and perceived equity. The findings indicate that leadership pattern for solving problems that relate to dam and canal repair, water acquisition, allocation and distribution of water were significantly different for user and non-user controlled systems. Significant positive relationships were found only between participation and farm size and farm income."
The International Water Soft Path: Possibilities and Challenges in a New Era of Global Water Affairs
(2012) Kraff, David
"The purpose of this study is two-fold: first, to demonstrate how any serious consideration of what experts tell us about how to best manage water resources in a new era of global water challenges begs the central question above; and second, to offer a strategy for how to answer it. This study uses Elinor Ostrom’s recently developed social-ecological system framework to diagnose and compare four cases of international transboundary water situations. Ostrom’s new tool allows for analysis that provides a better understanding of when states might manage shared water resources using soft path approaches. Qualitative analysis about international water norms is also used in order to provide appropriate context for the analysis conducted using Ostrom’s framework. Conclusions are drawn that the international system is largely not ready for the integrated soft path management of transboundary water resources. However, five variables are identified as affecting the likelihood that states will manage shared waters using soft path approaches, which is itself an indication that Ostrom’s new framework is a valid tool for addressing this topic. Finally, this study appeals to a form of ecological political consciousness as a means of working towards sustainable water management at the global level."
Enhancing Social-Ecological Resilience in the Colorado River Basin
(2012) Eidem, Nathan T.
"This research presents the Colorado River basin as a social-ecological system. Utilizing event data on cooperative and conflictive interactions over fresh water, the system is decomposed to look for evidence of outcomes of resilience enhancement. The Animas-La Plata Project in the upper San Juan basin is presented as a case study, and qualitative methods are used to analyze interactions that led to its construction in order to assess social-ecological outcomes. In the upper San Juan basin, cooperative interactions over fresh water outnumbered conflictive ones. Interactions over water rights and infrastructure were most common, and the most cooperative interactions focused on these issue types. Many of these interactions focused on the Animas-La Plata Project compromise, which ultimately enhances social-ecological resilience in the Colorado River basin."
Managing Common-pool Resources in a Public Service Industry: The Case of Conjunctive Water Management
(2001) Heikkila, Tanya
"Water providers, public administrators, and policy-makers in the Western United States face consequential decisions regarding the use and management of limited water supplies for growing populations. A tool that water providers have employed to address this issue is conjunctive water management, or the coordinated use of ground and surface water supplies. Using the natural capacity of groundwater basins for storage of surface supplies, this method aims to enhance overall supplies and guard against drought. Implementing conjunctive water management, however, is not simple. Water providers operate under a complex array of institutional settings that affect conjunctive water management. This dissertation explains the development and implementation of conjunctive water management in the western United States in relation to the institutional arrangements that govern water resources. This dissertation looks to two literatures from a common research framework to evaluate conjunctive water management: the literature on public service industries and common-pool resource management theory. This dissertation identifies where the two literatures are weak and shows how the two theories can complement each other, helping resolve their respective weaknesses. Common-pool resource theory sets up criteria for sustainable resource management that requires matching institutional boundaries to natural resource boundaries. This dissertation explains how the criteria limit the theory's generalizability to large, complex systems. To resolve this weakness, the theory development section of this dissertation uses insights from public service industry theory on inter jurisdictional coordination. Second, this dissertation considers the weakness of public service industry theory in explaining coordination across jurisdictions. It borrows from common-pool resource literature to resolve this deficiency. The theory development section then derives hypotheses from the two literatures to explain how institutional arrangements affect conjunctive water management. The empirical section of this dissertation tests these hypotheses. In addition to testing the inferences from the theory development, the empirical analyses illustrate the different ways in which water providers coordinate the management of groundwater and surface water supplies in the West. Understanding these management outcomes in relation to their institutional settings has important policy implications for natural resource management in general."
Understanding Institutional Arrangements for Community-Based Natural Resource Management in the Mekong Delta of Cambodia and Vietnam: A Mixed Methods Approach
(2011) Werthmann, Christine
"This thesis focuses on the institutional arrangements that influence the management of land, water and fisheries in the region. It is assessed how property rights influence the natural resource use and how collective action can contribute to the sustainable management of land and water. The research was conducted in a community-based fish culture project that functions as a reference frame. This aquaculture project was implemented in the Mekong region by the WorldFish Center from 2005 until 2010. The aim was to test, whether community-based aquaculture can increase the food security of local communities. The thesis also addresses the question whether such a community-based approach can be successfully introduced in the described complex system of property rights. The underlying theories for this dissertation are New Institutional Economics and Game theory. As a framework for the analysis the Institutional Analysis and Design Framework is used. Further, the dissertation draws upon findings from other scholars in the realm of public goods and common-pool resources. The research uses as a mixed methods approach and contains qualitative as well as quantitative results. In four case study sites, action research was conducted along with the aquaculture project implementation. Further, a socio-economic survey was implemented, providing information about different livelihood aspects of a large amount of households. Based on the findings of both these methods, hypotheses in regard to resource users behaviour towards natural resources were elaborated. Those were then tested using the methods of experimental economics. The implementation of the community-based project faced several challenges and the pilot phase was discontinued by most of the villages. The results presented in this thesis show that reasons for this cannot be seen in the low willingness for cooperation of participants, but rather in the underlying property rights on natural resources. Due to a missing legal base as well as other informal regulations, the project members had no possibility to exclude other local users from the project sites and thus to protect their investments in material and fingerlings. Recommendations mainly focus on the decentralisation of land and water management in the region."
Groundwater Management in California: Rent-Seeking Behavior Under the Correlative Rights Doctrine
(1989) Hampton, Nathan Eric
"Groundwater is managed in California under two separate property rights systems. In the urban portions of Southern California, groundwater rights have been adjudicated. Adjudication modifies the Correlative Rights Doctrine, as established by Katz v. Walkinshaw (1903), by granting private property rights to a fixed quantity of groundwater. Without this modification of the Correlative Rights Doctrine, groundwater use is governed by common property rights. Groundwater use under common property rights, as compared to private property rights, result is a higher rate of overdraft and a lower level of income. Groundwater users in the San Joaquin Valley, despite high rates of groundwater overdraft, have not adjudicated rights to groundwater. Rights to groundwater were adjudicated in the South Coastal Plain of Southern California because establishment of private property rights allowed those with these rights to capture a rent from groundwater use. Alternative water supplies, mainly from the Metropolitan Water District, were more expensive than the cost of groundwater which encouraged most water users to use groundwater. The demand on the groundwater resources of the area threatened to raise the cost of groundwater and eliminate the cost differential between groundwater and water from the Metropolitan Water District."
Getting Out of the Trap: Changing an Endangered Commons to a Managed Commons
(1987) Blomquist, William
"This dissertation examines possibilities for management of a commons by resource users. A commons is a jointly-accessible resource generating subtractable yields. Resources used by multiple individuals are often endangered; indeed, the supposedly inevitable destruction of such resources is called 'the tragedy of the commons.' "The prognosis of doom for the commons has produced two prescriptions in the literature: central government management, and privatization. The prognosis and the prescriptions presume that all commons are alike, that the problems associated with the commons inhere in the nature of such resources, and that the commons is identical to such 'social traps' as the collective action problem and the Prisoner's Dilemma game. These presumptions, and the prescriptions derived from them, are reviewed and criticized." "In an alternative approach, the commons is reconsidered as a form of organization of the use of a resource. That organization is shaped by rules defining access and use. Those rules may be changed, and rule changes can transform a commons situation from resource endangerment to resource management. Furthermore, such changes need not be imposed by external regulators, and need not mean centralized governmental control or privatization. Resource users themselves may devise well-fitted rule systems for use of the commons. "Successful transition from an endangered commons to a managed commons will involve action by users on seven steps in a process of resolution of commons problems. The likelihood of successful resolution is affected by variables concerning the attributes of the resource, attributes of the user community, and institutional capacities available to users. That successful, as well as unsuccessful, user-based resolution is possible is demonstrated by comparative case studies of four groundwater basins in southern California, each of which has been an endangered commons. The situations, conditions, and processes of resolution in the basins are described and compared, and the outcomes attained are compared and evaluated. The cases demonstrate that, where users are able successfully to complete a resolution process, destruction can be averted, and efficiency of resource use can even be improved, without converting the commons to individually-held private property or centrally-controlled public property."

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