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Governance

In a context of major economic, demographic and climatic changes, competing uses and fragile access to water resources tend to generate “water crises”, which are very often “governance crises”. Governments have to adapt to higher demands with fewer financial and human resources, and may find themselves facing a crisis of trust from citizens, who are better informed and more eager to influence political decisions.

Objectives

The members of the French Water Partnership have a strong international reputation for promoting effective, efficient, transparent and socially acceptable water governance, whether at the appropriate scale (international, regional, national, basin or sub-basin) or at the level of local water and wastewater utilities.

Their recommendations are based on:

  1. The Lisbon Charter for Public Policy and Regulation of Drinking Water, Sewerage and Waste Services, adopted by the International Water Association (IWA);
  2. The work of the OECD, which together with the International Office for Water and ASTEE (Association Scientifique et Technique pour l’Eau et l’Environnement), as well as many other members of the French Water Partnership, have prepared “principles for water governance” based on the preparatory work for the 6th World Water Forum in Marseille in 2012;
  3. The work of NGOs to promote transparency and citizen participation in the management of water and water services, such as the Butterfly Effect.

These recommendations address the following points:

  1. Stakeholder involvement and equity: map all relevant stakeholders, their motivations and fundamental interactions; define and implement water governance systems and strategies that reinforce equity between users, territories and generations; engage stakeholders in a process of contributing to decision-making and the implementation of solutions;
  2. Effectiveness: ensure a legal and institutional framework that clarifies roles, responsibilities and means for establishing and implementing public policies; encourage coherence between the various levels of government and administration, and particularly cross-sectoral coordination between the water, energy, agriculture and spatial planning sectors; ensure sufficient capacity for water-related institutions at all levels of government, as well as operators, users and all stakeholders;
  3. Efficiency: produce, update and share performance indicators to guide, evaluate and improve public policy and water management; adopt mechanisms to help mobilize and catalyze the necessary financial resources; identify and remove obstacles to innovation (technical, economic, social, political and cultural), and ensure an interface between science and public policy;
  4. Transparency: develop integrity and transparency in policies and governance systems, with the aim of making them more clearly assessable; evaluate public policies and share the results with the public to identify areas for improvement and adjust them where necessary.

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