Addressing Water Governance Challenges in the Anthropocene - Climate Change and Water Governance: Adaptive Capacity in Chile and Switzerland - page 9

Flexibility in governance systems is one key criterion in building adaptive capacity
to react to the unanticipated conditions that may result from climate impacts
(Hurlbert 2009 ). Empirical studies have also suggested that designs that focus on
participatory, collaborative, and learning-based approaches can increase adaptive
capacity and support the sustainability of water systems (Folke et al. 2005 ; Kallis
et al. 2006 ; Pahl-Wostl et al. 2007 ; Tompkins and Adger 2004 ) . Other studies have
identified the important role that leadership plays in championing innovative
approaches and strategies for adapting to climate change (Engle 2010 ) as well as
steering social systems through transformative processes (Olsson et al. 2004 ) . Better
understanding how to identify and assess these governance mechanisms that foster
adaptive capacity is an integral part of transitioning to more sustainable water
governance regimes.

1.3 Converging Threats

Chile and Switzerland both face an interesting set of converging challenges.
Both countries have OECD status and possess high levels of the classic determi-
nants of adaptive capacity. Their citizens enjoy democratically elected legitimate
governments, strong economies (even through current economic woes of the
financial crash) and educated populations, despite recent events in Chile that have
elucidated the disproportionate levels of education between economic elite and
lower socio-economic levels. However, both case areas within the countries face
multiple challenges driven by climate, economic, socio-political and ecological fac-
tors. In Chile, the neoliberal model implemented by the Pinochet regime validates
strong deregulation, privatisation and market liberalisation in the interests of improv-
ing economic efficiency. While the particular market model pursued has been seen
to be effective so far for the development of supply and sanitation 4 and export based
economic growth, its limitations concerning effective protection of ecosystems,
climate change and upstream-downstream rivalries have gradually been recognised
(Vergara-Blanco 2004 ). The water rights market and Water Code do not take into
account the diverse nature of the different sectoral stakeholders, yet assumes agri-
culture, mining, energy and industry could all compete for the same resource on
equal terms. Carl Bauer has discussed at length the social and environmental conse-
quences of the Chilean water model, and presented a detailed description of the
major political challenges in reforming the 1981 Water Code to take better account
of environmental and social externalities (Bauer 1997, 1998, 2004 ) .
In March 2010, President Piñera took over the presidency from the Bachelet
government, heralding the fi rst Alianza government after 20 years of the Concertacion
coalition. For the first time since the Pinochet regime fell, the right wing neo-liberal

4 However, a recent UN-ECLAC study (Lentini 2011 ) has presented evidence that shows rising
costs for domestic consumers due to increasing water losses because utilities have allowed infra-
structure to deplete.