Multi-level Integrated Water Governance: Examples from New South Wales and Colorado

Abstract

Water governance refers to the range of political, social, economic and administrative systems that are in place to develop and manage water resources, and the delivery of water services, at different levels of society. The functions of water governance include the definition of sustainable limits and priorities for the use of water resources, the establishment of water-use entitlements and plans and organisations to administer them (Rogers and Hall 2003; Svendsen 2005). Decision-making in a watergovernance system takes place at many different spatial, temporal and jurisdictional scales (Cash et al. 2006; Young 2002). This decisionmaking involves trade-offs and compromises that are