Decentralization of River Basin Management : A Global Analysis

Decentralization of River Basin Management : A Global Analysis

Decentralization and increased stakeholder involvement have been major elements of water sector reform as ways to promote sustainable and integrated resource management particularly of river basins. Based on an analytical framework for relating decentralization and stakeholder involvement to improved river basin management, this paper infers several hypotheses about factors associated with greater or lesser likelihood of success of the decentralization process using data from 83 river basins worldwide. The results suggest that physical, political, economic, financial, and institutional characteristics of the basin do affect the process and the level of performance of the decentralization. In particular, the presence of water scarcity may be a stimulus to reform, uniting the stakeholders in the basin and leading to better performance; organized user groups push for the initiation of decentralization reforms but may be associated with costs to the process and difficulty of achieving decentralization; the existence of dispute resolution mechanisms supports stakeholder involvement and improves decentralization performance; where stakeholders accepted greater financial responsibility, complying with tariffs and contributing to the budget for basin management, the decentralization process and performance measures increased; basins with higher percentages of their budgets from external governmental sources benefited from better stability and support and it shows in the performance of the decentralization process.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Dinar, Ariel, Kemper, Karin, Blomquist, William, Diez, Michele, Sine, Gisèle, Fru, William
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2005-06
Subjects:ACCOUNTABILITY, AGRICULTURE, AUTHORITY, BASIN AREA, BASIN COMMUNITIES, BASIN LEVEL, BASIN ORGANIZATIONS, BASIN USERS, BASIN-LEVEL INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS, CENTRAL GOVERNMENT, COALITIONS, COMMUNITY GOVERNANCE, DECENTRALIZATION, DECENTRALIZATION PROCESS, DECENTRALIZATION REFORM, DECISION MAKERS, DECISION MAKING, DECISION-MAKING, DOWNSTREAM USERS, DROUGHT, DROUGHT EXPOSURE, EXTENSION, FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, FINANCIAL AUTONOMY, FINANCIAL CAPACITY, FINANCIAL RESOURCES, FINANCIAL SELF-SUFFICIENCY, FINANCIAL SUPPORT, GLOBAL WATER PARTNERSHIP, GOVERNANCE ARRANGEMENTS, GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE, GOVERNMENT FUNDING, GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITY, GROUNDWATER, INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS, INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS, INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK, INSTITUTIONAL REFORM, INSTITUTIONAL VARIABLES, LEGISLATION, LOCAL AUTONOMY, LOCAL COMMUNITIES, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, LOCAL STAKEHOLDERS, MANAGING WATER RESOURCES, MIDDLE EAST, NATIONAL LEVEL, PERFORMANCE INDICATORS, POPULATION DISTRIBUTION, PUBLIC SERVICES, RIVER BASIN, RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT, RIVER BASINS, RIVERS, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, SERVICE PROVISION, SOCIAL CAPITAL, STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT, SUB-BASIN, SUB-BASIN ORGANIZATIONS, SURFACE WATER, TRANSPARENCY, WATER ALLOCATION, WATER MANAGEMENT, WATER PRICING, WATER QUALITY, WATER RESOURCE, WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT, WATER SECTOR, WATER SUPPLY, WATER USERS,
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/06/5860958/decentralization-river-basin-management-global-analysis
https://hdl.handle.net/10986/8219
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Summary:Decentralization and increased stakeholder involvement have been major elements of water sector reform as ways to promote sustainable and integrated resource management particularly of river basins. Based on an analytical framework for relating decentralization and stakeholder involvement to improved river basin management, this paper infers several hypotheses about factors associated with greater or lesser likelihood of success of the decentralization process using data from 83 river basins worldwide. The results suggest that physical, political, economic, financial, and institutional characteristics of the basin do affect the process and the level of performance of the decentralization. In particular, the presence of water scarcity may be a stimulus to reform, uniting the stakeholders in the basin and leading to better performance; organized user groups push for the initiation of decentralization reforms but may be associated with costs to the process and difficulty of achieving decentralization; the existence of dispute resolution mechanisms supports stakeholder involvement and improves decentralization performance; where stakeholders accepted greater financial responsibility, complying with tariffs and contributing to the budget for basin management, the decentralization process and performance measures increased; basins with higher percentages of their budgets from external governmental sources benefited from better stability and support and it shows in the performance of the decentralization process.

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