Introducing the Case Study Areas: Hydro-climatic and Governance Contexts - Climate Change and Water Governance: Adaptive Capacity in Chile and Switzerland - page 98

based governance model dominates. There is a strong national centralised approach
to water management, with most of the power relegated to private interests and
private water rights.
By contrast, in Switzerland, the water governance framework is characterised
by the 'principle of subsidiarity', which defines the decentralised implementation of
public policy and law at the cantonal and municipal levels. Sovereignty over water
often resides at the commune level, as in the Valais; thereby devolving a far greater
share of power to the cantonal and communal level. The focus of Swiss water leg-
islation has been guided by the development of three general responsibilities; the
protection against water hazards; water exploitation (e.g. for hydropower); protec-
tion of water (Clivaz and Reynard 2008 ; Varone et al. 2002 ) . The water governance
regime is dominated by a government agency based model, but with influences of
the user based (especially in certain areas in the Valais region) as well as private
model.

6.2 Rhône Basin, Canton Valais, Switzerland

Within Switzerland there is a well-established decentralised framework for decision-
making and planning. Movements towards the Swiss Confederation began in the
thirteenth Century and were completed in 1848. In embryonic Switzerland, com-
munes (essentially villages) and the cantons sought to protect and maintain their
autonomy against the centralizing forces of the noble communities. This led to the
formation of a confederation of sovereign states and a nation founded on essentially
horizontal coalitions (Wiegandt 1977 ). The resulting alliances were held together
by a federal structure, forming a highly decentralised state with a high level of freedom
for the communes and cantons.
In the Swiss Confederation, these democratic traditions have led to a high num-
ber of public administrative units and a complex decision making structure, where
a far greater share of power is still devolved to the cantonal and communal level.
This is known as the Principle of Subsidiarity and is vital to Switzerland's highly
decentralised system, allowing each administrative task to be carried out at the low-
est level possible. Traditionally, political affairs took place predominantly at the
cantonal level, but as the Confederation has progressed, tasks have been increas-
ingly consolidated at the federal level. However, implementation of public policy
(including environmental laws) has mostly remained within the cantons, often with
considerable room for manoeuvre, known as the federalism of implementation
'Vollzugsföderalismus' (Mauch et al. 2000 ) .
The research presented in this topic focuses on the Canton Valais (VS), a bilin-
gual canton in the south-western part of Switzerland (see Maps 6.1 and 6.2 ), and the
third largest of the country's 26 cantons. Each canton has its own constitution, par-
liament and tribunal, as well as its own competency for education, health, transport,
police and fiscal departments. Communal authority and competencies vary greatly
between cantons. The Valais is situated in the south western part of Switzerland,
bordering both France and Italy. The canton comprises of 143 communes divided
between 12 districts (Valais 2009 ) .