Achieving water security

Water security means people have secure rights to use water, including future generations. For poor people, this comes from fair and adequate representation in policymaking processes. They also need improved water technology, and management processes that they can use.

There are many challenges to achieving secure water rights, in which politics, institutions, participation and the role of advisers are central issues.

Challenges to water security

Not everyone agrees about how governance should address contemporary water security issues. In Neuquen, Argentina, a Water User Community group was created to resolve struggles over water availability and river degradation. However, they were forced to reform because appointed representatives did not represent the interests of everyone. For example, there were struggles over which data sets should be used to set governance agendas. This shows that governance evolves through political struggles and negotiation, rather than 'blue print' models.

Institutional practices and models

Many governance models and 'best' practices create new problems, rather than enhancing water security. For example, some irrigation and water supply policies promote privatisation and public-private partnerships. However, by increasing charges, these can actually reduce access to water for poor people and often fail to improve service conditions.

Processes to determine water rights are also often 'top-down', focusing on newly defined, tradable rights. This 'top-down' focus is often at odds with existing land and water rights. For example, after a new Water Code was passed in Chile in 1981, indigenous communities were unaware of the need to register their rights. As a result, these rights were declared 'unused' and reallocated to commercial companies and bigger landlords. Indigenous groups had little chance to regain their rights, greatly reducing their water security. This shows the need for flexibility and monitoring when intervening in new governance approaches, so that changes can be made and impacts mitigated.

Participation in new models

To overcome these challenges in building complementary and effective new institutions, governance models to secure water rights should use participatory approaches. In Bolivia, previous projects to improve community irrigation systems often recommended new 'blue-print' models for management organisation, instead of referring to local practices for managing water. They also lacked participatory approaches during design and implementation. Nevertheless, there are ongoing efforts in Bolivia to improve participatory approaches between local government, designers, implementing engineers and farmers, which should improve water rights security for poor people.

The way ahead

Our power to challenge any faulty consensus about water security and governance policies comes through being better advisers. This includes our critical teaching and training, our independent field research and the development of alternative ideas for public action over water. Improving water security requires 'understanding from below' – how different groups manage their water use and how to work with them. This is more important than advocating specific governance and management models lifted from other locations.

Linden Vincent
Irrigation and Water Engineering Group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700AA Wageningen, the Netherlands
Linden.Vincent@wur.nl
T +031 317 484195
F +31 317 484759

See also

Politics, Institutions and Participation, Seminar 3 in the 'Water Governance: Challenging the Consensus' seminar series, 2006
www.splash.bradford.ac.uk/projects

Politics, Institutions and Participation in Water Governance, paper from Seminar 5 in the 'Water Governance: Challenging the Consensus' seminar series, by Linden Vincent, 2006
www.splash.bradford.ac.uk/projects

Riego campesino y dise–o compartido, Quito: IEP Ediciones, by Z. GutiŽrrez, 2006

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