Emergence, interpretations and translations of IWRM [Integrated Water Resources Management] in South Africa

South Africa is often regarded to be at the forefront of water reform, based on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) ideas. This paper explores how the idea of IWRM emerged in South Africa, its key debates and interpretations and how it has been translated. It maps out the history, main even...

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Autores principales: Movik, S., Mehta, L., van Koppen, Barbara
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/78535
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author Movik, S.
Mehta, L.
van Koppen, Barbara
author_browse Mehta, L.
Movik, S.
van Koppen, Barbara
author_facet Movik, S.
Mehta, L.
van Koppen, Barbara
author_sort Movik, S.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description South Africa is often regarded to be at the forefront of water reform, based on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) ideas. This paper explores how the idea of IWRM emerged in South Africa, its key debates and interpretations and how it has been translated. It maps out the history, main events, key people, and implementation efforts through a combination of reviews of available documents and in-depth semi-structured interviews with key actors. While South Africa sought to draw on experiences from abroad when drawing up its new legislation towards the end of the 1990s, the seeds of IWRM were already present since the 1970s. What emerges is a picture of multiple efforts to get IWRM to 'work' in the South African context, but these efforts failed to take sufficient account of the South African history of deep structural inequalities, the legacy of the hydraulic mission, and the slowness of water reallocation to redress past injustices. The emphasis on institutional structures being aligned with hydrological boundaries has formed a major part of how IWRM has been interpreted and conceptualised, and it has turned out to become a protracted power struggle reflecting the tensions between centralised and decentralised management.
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spelling CGSpace785352024-03-22T10:24:39Z Emergence, interpretations and translations of IWRM [Integrated Water Resources Management] in South Africa Movik, S. Mehta, L. van Koppen, Barbara integrated management water resources water management water allocation water law legislation institutions decentralization South Africa is often regarded to be at the forefront of water reform, based on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) ideas. This paper explores how the idea of IWRM emerged in South Africa, its key debates and interpretations and how it has been translated. It maps out the history, main events, key people, and implementation efforts through a combination of reviews of available documents and in-depth semi-structured interviews with key actors. While South Africa sought to draw on experiences from abroad when drawing up its new legislation towards the end of the 1990s, the seeds of IWRM were already present since the 1970s. What emerges is a picture of multiple efforts to get IWRM to 'work' in the South African context, but these efforts failed to take sufficient account of the South African history of deep structural inequalities, the legacy of the hydraulic mission, and the slowness of water reallocation to redress past injustices. The emphasis on institutional structures being aligned with hydrological boundaries has formed a major part of how IWRM has been interpreted and conceptualised, and it has turned out to become a protracted power struggle reflecting the tensions between centralised and decentralised management. 2016 2016-12-28T09:20:02Z 2016-12-28T09:20:02Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/78535 en Open Access Movik, S.; Mehta, L.; van Koppen, Barbara. 2016. Emergence, interpretations and translations of IWRM [Integrated Water Resources Management] in South Africa. Water Alternatives, 9(3):456-472.
spellingShingle integrated management
water resources
water management
water allocation
water law
legislation
institutions
decentralization
Movik, S.
Mehta, L.
van Koppen, Barbara
Emergence, interpretations and translations of IWRM [Integrated Water Resources Management] in South Africa
title Emergence, interpretations and translations of IWRM [Integrated Water Resources Management] in South Africa
title_full Emergence, interpretations and translations of IWRM [Integrated Water Resources Management] in South Africa
title_fullStr Emergence, interpretations and translations of IWRM [Integrated Water Resources Management] in South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Emergence, interpretations and translations of IWRM [Integrated Water Resources Management] in South Africa
title_short Emergence, interpretations and translations of IWRM [Integrated Water Resources Management] in South Africa
title_sort emergence interpretations and translations of iwrm integrated water resources management in south africa
topic integrated management
water resources
water management
water allocation
water law
legislation
institutions
decentralization
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/78535
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