Ideas for local action in water management Ideas for ... - MetaMeta

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AIM OF THIS BOOK
Many local initiatives have been started, and these are beginning to change the way
we think about and use water. However, these ideas need to spread. This is the
objective of this book, which brings together information on local action in water
management, including activities undertaken by local government, civil society and
the private sector and by those that facilitate local water management. The focus on
local action is important, even for large international organizations such as the
Global Water Partnership (GWP). GWP promotes local action through the development
of water partnerships at area, country and regional level. The water partnerships
form platforms for dialogue between many different stakeholders. They aim to
be open and inclusive and to address local water issues at sub-basin or country
level. Water partnerships try to bridge the gap between stakeholder groups and to
create synergies that will lead to long-term solutions.
The examples of local action presented here have been drawn from a variety of
organizations and many different places. They should provide a useful resource for:
•professionals in the water sector, at both a centralized and a decentralized level;
• local government groups interested in what is going on elsewhere;
• civil society groups trying to find ways to improve their reach and
incorporate new ideas;
• policy-makers who want to strengthen the local dimension of water management;
• water partnerships such as those established within GWP,
providing help to formulate their programs;
• anyone interested in what local action can do and what support
organizations are available.
WHY EMPHASIZE LOCAL ACTION IN WATER MANAGEMENT?
There are several reasons why systematic emphasis on local action in water management
is needed:
Responsibility center-stage
Recent years have seen considerable debate on what should be done to avert the
Introduction
water crisis, highlighting the need for improved water governance, water reallocation,
new financing mechanisms and better water wisdom. But what does improved water
management mean in terms of local action? What can we, and the organizations or networks
to which we belong, do? This book aims to explore opportunities at this level.
The subsidiarity principle in practice
The subsidiarity principle says that water should be managed at the lowest appropriate
level. Yet, in spite of the subsidiarity principle, local water management is
often the blind spot in overall water management plans. Local organizations are
seldom involved enough and there is a need to activate many more players. Local
government, local civil society and the local private sector all have important, and
often unique, roles to play in water management, and need to be encouraged to
participate.
Micro-environments observed
Robert Chambers (1990) has reported that microenvironments are often overlooked.
This certainly applies in water management. The interaction between different land
and water users at the local level is not the same as that occurring at the national
or the regional level. Priorities vary and it is not correct to assume that issues and
agendas are similar at different geographical scales and at different political levels.
Local issues are often particular to the local scale and are not necessarily covered
by policies coming from the top. However, there are thousands of microenvironments
with common local issues, creating a need to scale some of these local issues
up to higher policy levels.
Effective enforcement
Water management plans and regulations can only be enforced locally. Water quality
provides a good example: although legislation and effluent standards exist in
many places, experience shows that regulations are often ineffective. But regulations
are enforced where local pressure is exerted by those directly affected and
where local government assumes responsibility. This makes all the difference
between water regulation on paper and water management in practice.