All over the world countries struggle with water stress. Problems vary
from water scarcity and a degrading water quality, to floods and a
rising sea level due to climate change. The European Union adopted a
Water Framework Directive to improve the sustainability of water
management in its member states. Water management should be coordinated
at the level of river basins as a whole. Interests of various user
groups should be better represented. River basin visions should take
into account the impact of all human activities on the status of the
resource. Water legislation needs streamlining and more focus on its
implementation. The European Union advocates regulating water prices by
charging the costs of water services on the basis of full cost recovery
and the polluter pays principle.
This book examines the development of water management in the
Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy and Switzerland. It is based
on the European research project EUWARENESS. The authors apply a
theoretical framework for the analysis of institutional regimes, water
governance and property rights. The evolution of national water resource
regimes is described over a period of almost 200 years (1800-2000). The
long-term perspective enables the reader to see the conditions under
which regime transformation and paradigm change are made possible. The
book also includes a critical analysis of policy making by the European
Union, and a comparative review and analysis of regime development in
the six countries involved.
This book is followed by another volume published with Kluwer Academic
Publishers on "Integrated Governance and Water Basin Management", edited
by Hans Bressers and Stefan Kuks.
