A Study of the Evolutionary Procedures of Water Resources Management in the World:Transition from "Integrated Water Resources Management" to "Governance of Water, Energy and Food Nexus"

Document Type : Research

Authors

Ameneh Yadegari ¹

Abbas Amini ²

Ali Yousefi ³

¹ PhD Candidate in Geography and Rural Planning, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

² Dept. of Geography and Rural Planning Faculty of Geographical Sciences and Planning, University of Isfahan

³ Assistant Professor, Department of Rural Development, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22067/jgrd.2024.84996.1352

Abstract

Even though the water shortage problem has been assigned to the gap between water demand and supply for years, evidence suggests that water scarcity in the world's water-stressed countries has been prompted by inefficient water governance. On the other hand, given that water problems are a blend of natural, social, and political factors, they are complex and interdisciplinary in nature. Such considerations undermine water management that are solely based on pure scientific or technical assessments. Hence, finding the optimal solution for such problems determines the capacity of the water governance system. Under these circumstances, the sustainable management and governance of water resources require a framework that can change our understanding of the way water resources are managed. However, the question that remains unanswered is that why after more than two decades of implementing IWRM, as the common governmental water management method in countries, there have been no remarkable changes in sectoral boundaries? The current study, with a systematic review of the evolution of water resources management in the world, explores the problems of the centralized administration of the water sector and introduces the Polycentric Governance of Water-Energy-Food Nexus (WEFN) as a new alternative. According to the results of this study, the Nexus approach, which emerged in the wake of the failure of sectoral management strategies, has attracted attention as a metaphor to describe the integrated nature of resources and as a bridge to surpass the shortcomings of sectoral thinking.
 
 

Keywords

Water Resource Management

Integrated Water Resources Management

Water Governance

Polycentric Governance

Water-Energy-Food Nexus

Subjects

• Sustainable development and environmental sustainability

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