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All over the world countries struggle with water stress. Problems vary from water scarcity and a degrading water quality, to floods and a rising sea level due to climate change. The European Union adopted a Water Framework Directive to improve the sustainability of water management in its member states. Water management should be coordinated at the level of river basins as a whole. Interests of various user groups should be better represented. River basin visions should take into account the impact of all human activities on the status of the resource. Water legislation needs streamlining and more focus on its implementation. The European Union advocates regulating water prices by charging the costs of water services on the basis of full cost recovery and the polluter pays principle.
This book examines water management integration in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy and Switzerland. It is based on the European research project EUWARENESS. Per country two case studies are considered, to analyze specific regime transitions at water basin level during the last decades. The twelve case studies are discussed within their national context and compared on conditions that are important for regime change towards sustainability. The book also provides theory on water governance, institutional regimes, and property rights, resulting in a tool for monitoring the progress of integrated water management at the basin level in EU member states or other countries.
This book follows another volume published with Kluwer Academic Publishers on "The Evolution of National Water Regimes in Europe", edited by Ingrid Kissling-N#f and Stefan Kuks.
Preface.- List of contributors.- Governance of water resources: Introduction.- Institutional resource regimes and sustainability: Theoretical backgrounds and hypotheses.- Harboring water in a crowded European delta: The IJsselmeer and the Regge in the Netherlands.- Diverging regimes within a recently federalised state: The Vesdre and the Dender in Belgium.- An innovative but uncompleted integration process: The Audomarois and the Sevre Nantaise in France.- Redistributing water uses and living with scarcity: The Matarrana and the Mula in Spain.- Competing integration principles in a decentralising state: The Chiese and the Marecchia in Italy.- Rivalry based communities in Europe?s water tower: The Valmaggia and the Seetal Valley in Switzerland.- Integrated governance and water basin management: Comparative analysis and conclusions.
From the reviews: "This book constitutes the research findings of the project 'EUWARENESS: European Water Regimes and the Notion of a Sustainable Status' ! . The book is very well-written and makes a significant contribution to the field ! . The variety of case studies from different geographical and institutional settings ! makes this volume very useful and informative. The well-structured combination of narrative and analytical sections makes the research results easily accessible for a spectrum of readers including researchers, students, as well as policy makers." (Stefanie Engel and Astrid Zabel, Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture, Vol. 45 (4), 2006)
