Water Governance and Water Institutional Reform - The Politics of Water Institutional Reform in Neopatrimonial States - page 11

Figure 2: Dimensions of good water governance

Social Dimension Social Dimension

Water
Governance

Water
Governance

Sustainable use Sustainable use democratic use democratic use

Economic Dimension Economic Dimension

Source: Tropp 2005: 13
Following these conceptualizations, good water governance in my definition has a process
dimension as well as an output dimension: Good water governance is a democratic and cohe
rent coordination and regulation process that leads to equitable, efficient, and sustainable water
usage. This is the aim of water institutional reforms and these are the factors with which suc
cess and failure can be measured.

2.2 Water Institutional Reform

With the significance attached to governance, water institutions have gained relevance.
Institutions are no longer seen as one aspect influencing water sector performance, but as a
subject to be addressed by reform efforts: Water institutions need to be changed so they allow
for good water governance, hence democratic, equitable, efficient and sustainable usage of
water resources. Water institutional reform (WIR) is now perceived as key for reforms of the
water sector (see e.g. Allan 1999; Neubert, Scheumann, van Edig 2002). The subsequent
chapter will provide the theoretical approach to institutions and institutional change (reform),
but first I would like to elaborate on WIR as the dependent variable of this study.
In the following chapter 3.2, water institutions will be defined in detail. Anticipating the
definition, which will be elaborated below, water institutions are formal and informal rules,
norms and their underlying cognitive and symbolic systems, as well as the organizations that
set and enforce them, that purposefully regulate usage, distribution, and status of water
resources in a society. Following Saleth and Dinar (1999, 2004), they can be divided into water
policy, water law, and water administration. Water institutional reform can address all types of
water institutions: The water administration is restructured, formal rules like laws are changed,
and policies are reformulated. Efforts can also be targeted at changing the perception of water
as an endless and free resource that does not have to be economized; hence it challenges
informal institutions such as norms of water consumption and religious values assigned to
water, and the notion of infinetly being able to take water for granted. Water institutional
reform is thus a political reform program aiming at changing existing water institutions.