PLAN 597

Planning for Water Resources Management

Governance Systems I: 6th February 2008

Laws, Institutions and Governance

 

In this session we examine the third part of an analytical framework for planning and management of water resources -- legal-institutional systems or, more broadly, governance systems. In the first half of the morning we discuss governance systems in terms of the legal, jurisdictional and legislative frameworks (i.e. who has what rights and responsibilities) and the use of market mechanisms (i.e. buying and selling and the uses of pricing). In the second half we consider how governance institutions have evolved. What skills are needed by the people involved? How should institutional arrangements be re-formed to facilitate the resolution of conflict and cooperation in planning and management?

Reading for First Hour and Half

Hill, C. et al. 2007. "A Survey of Water Governance Legislation and Policies in the Provinces and Territories." Appendix 1, in Bakker, K. (Ed.) Eau Canada: The Future of Canada's Water. Vancouver: UBC Press. pp. 369-392. Available in WebCT.

Christensen, R. and Lintner, A. 2007. Trading Our Common Heritage? The Debate Over Water Rights Transfer in Canada, in Bakker, K. (Ed.) Eau Canada: The Future of Canada's Water. Vancouver: UBC Press. pp. 219-241. Available in WebCT.

Cantin, B., Shrubsole, D., and Ait-Ouyahia, M. 2005. "Using Economic Instruments for Demand Management: Introduction." Canadian Water Resources Journal 30.1 pp 1-10. Available in WebCT.

Supplementary

Rueggeberg, H. and Thompson, A. 1984. Water Law and Policy Issues in Canada. Vancouver: Westwater Research Centre. pp. i-13. (this reading repeats some of Christensen and Lintner's discussion of water rights but in a different way and includes the characteristics of an ideal system; it also adds a complementary discussion of water quality to the quantity issues that are the focus of their discussion).

Discussion

  1. What is an institutional system? A governance system?
  2. Who owns the water in Canada?
  3. How are water rights allocated and responsibilities enforced in B.C.?
  4. What is the potential of economic instruments for demand management?
  5. What are the roles of executive, legislative, judicial and market mechanisms in Canadian water governance today? Tomorrow?
  6. Preparation for class presentations (below and schedule)
  7. Questions about Analytical Exercise I?


TO BE COMPLETED

(revision from last time)

PREPARATION FOR PRESENTATIONS

Schedule for preparing and presenting