Browsing by Author "Gearey, Mary"

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    Concepts of legitimacy within the context of adaptive water management strategies
    (Elsevier, 2006-11) Gearey, Mary; Jeffrey, Paul
    This paper argues that to prevent or lessen the impact of episodic water stress within modern political economies, harnessing and tailoring emerging modes of legitimacy will play a crucial role in formulating pragmatic, solution-focused policy. In setting out a case for this position, we analyse the role which existing and novel modes of legitimacy play in shaping the boundaries and opportunity spaces for policy tool development. Central to the arguments outlined is a rethinking of the concept and practise of ‘legitimacy’ to include informal relationships between actors and amongst institutions. Legitimacy's re-evaluation is pertinent as existing demand management elements of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) become increasingly ineffectual in the face of escalating water stress. This paper's focus is on the interface between IWRM and socio-political values associated with potable water. This leads us to concentrate almost exclusively on public water supply issues within developed countries. It is argued that adaptive water management techniques will play a key role in policy development; but only if strategies recognise the need to engage with the diverse range of legitimacy models which typify late-industrial societies. The paper reviews theories of state action, civic participation and sovereignty to explore, through the use of case studies, what types of legitimacy models, and what types of policy to enact these models, could be used to support strategies to alleviate water stress.
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    Integrated water resources management: lost on the road from ambition to realisation?
    (IWA Publishing, 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z) Jeffrey, Paul; Gearey, Mary
    The recognition that water plays a central role in industrial, agricultural, economic, social and cultural development has, over the past half century, led to the development of strategic management approaches based on the concept of integrated water resources management (IWRM). This paper assesses the extent to which IWRM theory has been converted into practice and identifies existing “research gaps”. We set out our arguments as a critique of IWRM; describing its basic tenets, exploring its value as a conceptual tool, considering its scientific pedigree, questioning its novelty as a resource management paradigm, and suggesting ways of translating the theory into more widespread practice. Finally, we argue that whilst models in their broadest sense can make a significant contribution to IWRM research and practice, a revised assessment of the source of their value is requi
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    Role of legitimacy in the relationships between water users and governance bodies under conditions of increasing water stress
    (Cranfield University, 2005-07) Gearey, Mary; Jeffrey, Paul
    Water stress is an issue of increasing concern in developed countries. In particular localised water stress 'hot spots', are a new challenge. This emergence creates a series of difficulties. Firstly, the potential impact of water stress in modern political economies is not fully understood by either natural or social scientists. Secondly, policies targeted to limit water stress may need to be deployed well before it moves from an episodic to an endemic phenomenon. These policies may entail radical changes to the way water is valued and consumed by society. Understanding how existing relationships between water users and water governance bodies are negotiated is crucial to successful policy implementation. As water stress might potentially strain these relationships, the aim of this thesis is twofold. Firstly to determine where opportunities may exist for developing consensual, pro-resource strategies within and between these two stakeholder groups. Secondly, to examine the current strengths and weaknesses within these relationships to isolate what changes may need to be instigated in order to support approaches which manage water stress. Exploring the role that legitimacy plays in these current relationships will underpin this analysis. Legitimacy can be understood as the concept that explains how authority operates in modern political economies. In other words, legitimacy enables people, processes and policies to function; transaction costs are subsequently lower in polities where legitimacy is well embedded. Reflexively moving between theory and empirical fieldwork, a detailed analysis of one river catchment, the River Nene, and the water users and governance bodies within it, is undertaken. Primary conclusions suggest that water stress as a concept has a very low profile; however, different symptoms of water stress are recognised along the catchment with a wide range of possible solutions offered by stakeholders. Legitimacy is embedded within governance bodies along the catchment, though it is not uniformly distributed; this colours the perception of their effectiveness in water resource management. Novel policy options to ameliorate water stress are acceptable to water users, though reuse technologies and steep price hikes are rejected.