Introducing the Case Study Areas: Hydro-climatic and Governance Contexts - Climate Change and Water Governance: Adaptive Capacity in Chile and Switzerland - page 97

Table 6.1 (con tinued)
Parameters Rhône, Canton Valais, Switzerland Aconcagua, Region V, Chile

Encircled by the Bernese and Valaisanne
Alps; creating a rain shadow and
extremely low precipitation
Recession of glaciers, changes in
seasonality, melting of permafrost,
and changes in vegetation and
precipitation. Periods of low
precipitation have however so far been
offset with increased glacier meltwater

Local
authorities

1 region, 12 districts, 143 communes
Federal & Cantonal Water legislation
Mixture of private & public water rights
Complex framework of use & protection
regulation

1 region, 7 provinces

Water
gover-
nance

Water rights market implemented
in 1981 Water code
Neo-liberal regulation
Centralised institutions

Governance
mode

Decentralised, federal system of both
regulatory framework (with Federal
and Cantonal Laws) and decentralised
governance system known as
'Subsidiarity of Implementation'

Centralised governance for to
regulatory aspects, but 'laissez
faire' approach to water manage-
ment - leaving it primarily in the
hands of private actors

Mixture of public, private & common
property rights for water resources
Federal policy setting and legal frame-
work informs watercourse manage-
ment and flood provisions at canton
and local levels

Neo-liberal agenda with water as a
private commodity in the Water
Market, regulated by the 1981
Water Code, as well as competing
legal provision in laws governing
Energy and Mining

Source: Mauch et al. ( 2000 ) , Carrasco et al. ( 2005 ) , Kundzewicz et al. ( 2007 ) , Reyes Carbajal
( 2007 ) , Pellicciotti et al. ( 2008 ) , Valais ( 2009 ) , Beniston et al. ( 2011 )

While the two cases have a number of differences, the independent variable that
defines the distinction between the two case studies is the different governance
modes under which they operate. The governance models in Chile and Switzerland
are founded upon from different paradigms but both will need to adapt in the face of
future uncertainties and challenges from climate change. Chile is now an OECD
country, therefore its status as an emerging economy could be challenged, despite
the poverty and hardship that does exist for a large cross-section of the country.
However, it is important to note that Chile does have a more solid institutional foun-
dation than many other emerging economies, and therefore can be seen as a useful
non-developed country upon which to conduct a comparative analysis. In Chile, the
principle driver of water management is the definition of water rights as a market
commodity. Even though water is defined in the country's national constitution as a
public good, the perception of it as an economic good means that the private market