Federal Rivers

Federal Rivers

The federal rivers research hub is the result of a collaboration between the Global Water Forum and researchers from the Australian National University, the University of Oxford, and McMaster University in Canada. The aim is to support comparative research and collaborative projects looking at water management in federal political systems.

The hub launched in 2012 with an initial workshop on water security and federal rivers held at the University of Oxford with 35 delegates from 12 countries in Asia, Africa, Australia, the Americas, and Europe. Those interested in learning more can find more information on federal rivers in the edited volume and the recent themed issue of water security.

Challenges of water management in federal political systems

The mismatch between political boundaries and river basins poses special challenges and opportunities for: i) systemic cost and benefit sharing; and ii) conflict management. The literature on international waters has identified the importance of international treaties and river basin organisations to promote cooperation and manage conflicts in shared waters. Federal systems often confront similar challenges and opportunities with conflict management and ?risk sharing to those arising in international waters despite having an institutional structure and legal regime to share powers. Several aspects of federal systems bear on transboundary water management, including the allocation of powers, fiscal arrangements and broader functioning of the federation.

Thinking federal

Federal rivers reserve authority to autonomous states or provinces to manage water risks – such as drought and flooding impacts – that span multiple jurisdictions. The multi-jurisdictional nature of water management is exemplified by recent experiences in the Colorado River Basin of the Western US. Reservoir levels reached their historic lows (since filling) after an unprecedented sequence of dry years from 1999-2010. States devised a shortage sharing agreement only after the federal government threatened to act unilaterally.

Federalism is defined as ‘self-rule plus shared rule’ to: i) share power; ii) negotiate issues of sovereignty; and iii) supplement self-rule for complex issues that transcend political boundaries and interests, such as river basins (Elazar, 1987). Federal systems are therefore polycentric governance arrangements in which power is dispersed across multiple political centres. Authority over water management in federal systems? is divided between independent federal, state and local units that may operate in conflict, cooperation or competition. This broad definition of federalism encompasses countries with an explicit constitutional? basis for federalism and quasi-federal countries or governance arrangements, such as China and the European Union Water Framework Directive. Quasi-federal countries lack constitutional federalism? but operate multi-jurisdictional arrangements with several federal characteristics.

In addition to the structural division of powers between national?and provincial authorities, water federalism confers considerable independence for water users associations in key rulemaking and implementation activities, such as monitoring and enforcement of water allocation rules for drought restrictions and flooding liability.

Toward a global picture of climate adaptation in federal rivers

Federalism has taken root in river basins in 28 countries encompassing over forty percent of the world’s population. The extent of federalism expands further by including international river basins shared between federal countries and unitary states, such as the Nile? and Tigris-Euphrates. Increasingly, multi-lateral regional organisations are being strengthened and have federal principles that mix self- and shared-rule for transboundary rivers. The European Union Water Framework Directive and Southern African Development Community’s protocol on shared rivers are emblematic of this trend.

Effective water management in federal rivers ?is expected to depend on river? basin adaptation to coordinate information, infrastructure,? and institutions across multiple jurisdictions. However, inter-state water agreements and integrated river basin adaptation have often proven elusive. Several gaps remain in our understanding? of the dynamics of federal river management; this challenge is hardly new in long established federations, such as the US and Australia, which have long confronted water management associated with nation-defining floods and droughts, such as the 1927 Mississippi River floods of the US or the ‘Federation’ drought in Australia. Nevertheless, these gaps have become more pressing due to the spread of federalism across diverse geographic regions.

The extent and diversity of the world’s federal rivers requires comparative perspective about effective river basin adaptation to water management. Several theories and analytical approaches have developed to examine this issue, including federalism, polycentric governance, public economics, fiscal federalism, and the politics of scale. The April 2012 workshop and the edited volume on water security and federal rivers develop? a global picture of the world’s federal rivers, the climate risks they face, and the diverse river basin management approaches developed in response.

Case Studies



Europe

Competing definitions of water security in Spain

Elena López-Gunn and Lucia De Stefano

Basin management is under pressure in Spain

Jose Albiac

Asia

China’s political system, economic reform and the governance of water quality in Pearl River

André Silveira

China’s federal river management in the Han River

Lan Fang

Tensions between governments and their agencies in the Tai Lake Basin in China

Ke Jian

Americas

Resilience of river basin governance institutions in the Saskatchewan River Basin

Theodore M. Horbulyk

Main challenges and strategies to deal with federalism and water security in Brazil

Ana Carolina Coelho et al.

Africa

Management of federal rivers in South Africa

Mike Muller

Further details

Further information on the issues of water management in federal river systems can be found at the Oxford University Water Security Centre where a series of online lectures and presentations can be found as well as conference reports and briefing notes. Alternatively, you can contact the team directly through the email addresses provided below: