Institutions affecting the urban water environment

Abstract

The complexity of the legal framework discussed in Chapter 9 is mirrored by an equally intricate mosaic of legal and political institutions that govern, manage, and otherwise affect the urban water environment. Those include legislative bodies that pass the statutes, ordinances, and other enactments that affect urban water use and management; courts that interpret and enforce those legal rules and obligations; administrative agencies that implement and often further interpret applicable legislation; and governmental, quasi-governmental, and private entities that provide water and related services to end users of water and other beneficiaries of aquatic resources. As is true for the relevant sources of law, institutions affecting urban water resources operate at the local, state, regional, federal, and sometimes international levels. Water institutions can also consist of collaborative mixtures of organizations of various kinds and at various levels of government, working together to address problems of mutual interest, as well as a wide range of private entities not specifically discussed in this chapter. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009.