Faculdade de Ciencias Sociais e Humanas

In the context of growing demand, loss of quality, increasing regional scarcity, and global climate uncertainty, sustainable water management, as well as more integrated approaches to water planning, are crucial. This is receiving increasing attention through cross-cutting synergetic cooperation between hydrologists and other disciplines. International agencies such as UNESCO are promoters of this dialogue.
UNESCO HELP is a cross-cutting programme aiming to improve the links between hydrology and the water
needs for society. Complimentarily, the UNESCO Ecohydrology Programme aims to use knowledge about
the integrated relations between hydrologic and biologic processes. The Guadiana River, on Portugal and
Spain, is a UNESCO HELP basin, and in July 2009, an international HELP forum brought to the Guadiana
experts from all continents to discuss, with the planning team and local community, experiences from river basins around the world. More opportunities for cooperation in the Guadiana basin were created with the additional classification of the basin as a Ecohydrology Reference Basin, in 2010. This paper discusses how this particular synergy can be beneficial to the planning process. Under the European Water Framework Directive, river basin plans must integrate ecological, social and economic dimensions. This challenge has proven to be more difficult than expected for European countries. Programs such as HELP and Ecohydrology
can effectively support the planning process by improving dialogue between different disciplines, sectors and perspectives on water, resulting in a much richer consideration of the issues and possible solutions. The
paper intends to stress the benefits that can be obtained through synergies between UNESCO programs operating within the same river basin.

Na arquitetura institucional do novo quadro administrativo criado entre 2005 e 2008, com a promoção dos princípios de governança da água advogados pela DQA e ampliados na Lei-quadro da Água de 2005, as novas estruturas administrativas das ARH procuraram ganhar espaço e constituíram uma oportunidade para uma nova governança da água que passava, entre outros aspetos, pelo diálogo com as populações residentes nas bacias hidrográficas, através da dinamização dos processos participativos. Criou-se assim uma oportunidade de revitalização do papel de ‘agência’ por parte das ARH que faltava no quadro institucional anterior. A alteração do ciclo político, com o novo Governo em 2011, veio descontinuar o processo e interromper este modelo de gestão, retirando autonomia às ARH e integrando-as na Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente (APA). A APA passou a representar o Estado português como Autoridade Nacional da Água, com atribuições nos vários domínios e escalas territoriais da gestão dos recursos hídricos, incluindo o planeamento, licenciamento, monitorização e fiscalização ao nível da região hidrográfica. Com o fim das ARH como entidades desconcentradas, autónomas e dos recursos económicos e humanos de que dispunham, entrou-se numa fase regressiva.

Despite huge differences in population, household income and development levels, Australia and Brazil have some temporal convergences in their water governance systems. Over the last 20 years, both countries have significantly reformed their water policies and practices by introducing a legal foundation for more integrated and participatory catchment/basin management based on the best information available. A critical test of any water reform is how effective it is in meeting the challenges of extreme and unpredictable conditions of drought and floods, which are expected to increase under climate changes scenarios. This paper compared the contemporary water governance frameworks of Australia and Brazil in relation to three elements of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM): integration, participation, and information/knowledge. We focused on insights from Brazil's recent drought and Australia's fluctuating water crises to derive lessons and recommendations for future changes. Among the main recommendations, we stress the need for both systems to improve effective participation and to embrace a more comprehensive approach to cope with water scarcity in future scenarios. Furthermore, water related decisions should be based on a transparent and well informed process, and take into account the lessons from similar situations worldwide in order to avoid unnecessary or ineffective measures. As demonstrated in the Australian case during the Millennium Drought, the most effective initiatives were those involving government, the private sector and society to achieve a more sustainable consumption pattern in all sectors. There is much to learn from the Brazilian and Australia experiences in water reforms and crises, but it is imperative to understand the social, economic and environmental context within which these took place. Continuing to develop the capacity and willingness of researchers and policy makers to work together can make an important contribution towards meeting the growing and spreading challenges in water resource management around the world.

Through the lens of the 12 OECD Principles on Water Governance, this article examines six water resources and water services frameworks in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and South America to understand enhancing and constraining contextual factors. Qualitative and quantitative methods are used to analyze each framework against four criteria: alignment; implementation; on-ground results; and policy impact. Four main target areas are identified for improving water governance: policy coherence; financing; managing trade-offs; and ensuring integrity and transparency by all decision makers and stakeholders. Suggestions are presented to support practical implementation of the principles through better government action and stakeholder involvement.

KEYWORDS: OECD principles, water governance, Likert scale, multilevel assessment