Exploring Water Governance Arrangements in the Swiss Alps from the Perspective of Adaptive Capacity
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Exploring Water Governance Arrangements in the Swiss Alps From the Perspective of Adaptive Capacity Author(s): Flurina Schneider and Christine Homewood Source: Mountain Research and Development, 33(3):225-233. 2013. Published By: International Mountain Society DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-13-00004.1 URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-13-00004.1 BioOne (www.bioone.org) is a nonprofit, online aggregation of core research in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences. BioOne provides a sustainable online platform for over 170 journals and books published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses. Your use of this PDF, the BioOne Web site, and all posted and associated content indicates your acceptance of BioOne’s Terms of Use, available at www.bioone.org/page/terms_of_use. Usage of BioOne content is strictly limited to personal, educational, and non-commercial use. Commercial inquiries or rights and permissions requests should be directed to the individual publisher as copyright holder. | downloaded: 6.10.2021 BioOne sees sustainable scholarly publishing as an inherently collaborative enterprise connecting authors, nonprofit publishers, academic institutions, research libraries, and research funders in the common goal of maximizing access to critical research. https://doi.org/10.7892/boris.39666 source: Mountain Research and Development (MRD) MountainDevelopment An international, peer-reviewed open access journal Transformation knowledge published by the International Mountain Society (IMS) www.mrd-journal.org Exploring Water Governance Arrangements in the Swiss Alps From the Perspective of Adaptive Capacity Flurina Schneider1* and Christine Homewood2 * Corresponding author: [email protected] 1 Centre for Development and Environment/Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Hallerstrasse 10, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland 2 Geography Unit, Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Muse´e 4, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland Open access article: please credit the authors and the full source. In times of increasing qualitative interviews and a document review. The research uncertainty because revealed that the adaptive capacity of the investigated of climate and arrangements is rather high with regard to reactive ways of socioeconomic changes, responding to water shortage problems. However, there is the ability to deal with limited capacity to proactively anticipate possible changes uncertainty and surprise and to find prospective solutions on a regional scale. We is an essential conclude that with increased environmental and social requirement for the pressures, forms of proactive water resource governance sustainability of alpine should be introduced, taking into account the welfare of water governance. This people in both upstream and downstream areas. article aims to contribute to the understanding of the adaptive capacity of water governance arrangements in the Swiss Alps Keywords: Water governance; adaptive capacity; reform and to propose options for reforms. To this purpose, we options; reactive and proactive responses; Switzerland. evaluated the current arrangements and the ways the actors have dealt with water shortages in the past, based on Peer-reviewed: April 2013 Accepted: May 2013 Introduction current water governance arrangements and practices in these regions have to be fundamentally reconsidered to In future, the supply and consumption of water in guarantee their sustainability. highland and lowland areas may be significantly modified By sustainable water governance, we understand the by both climate change and socioeconomic developments. process that involves all relevant stakeholder groups in Consequently, existing conflicts of interest are likely to be coordinating water-related activities in a way that ensures fueled and conflicts are likely to be created. Dry valleys in social and economic welfare without compromising the the European Alps will be particularly affected. It must be viability and integrity of the supporting hydroecosystems assumed that in these regions, the general water supply in the long-term (Wiek and Larson 2012). Water will become even scarcer and seasonal distribution may governance arrangements encompass formal and change significantly (Beniston et al 2011). Numerous signs informal institutions such as laws, regulations, property of climate-driven changes in the Alps have already been rights, policies, and social norms, as well as practices (Hill observed, as exemplified by the general retreat of 2013). In times of increasing uncertainty because of mountain glaciers (Beniston et al 2011; Viviroli et al 2011). climate and socioeconomic change, the ability to deal Water resources are of central importance to the with uncertainty and surprise is an essential requirement prosperity and development of Alpine societies. In many for the sustainability of governance arrangements (Pahl- Alpine regions, water is a fundamental pillar of the local Wostl 2009). Thus, trying to assure sustainability of economy, which is often built on tourism, agriculture, and governance arrangements in the long term requires hydropower production. Economic, tourism, and urban drawing attention to their adaptive capacity (Engle 2011). development in the last decades have resulted in The concept of adaptive capacity has received increasing water demands (Reynard and Bonriposi 2012). significant attention in studies on climate change Moreover, specific characteristics of mountain water adaptation (Engle 2011). Following Hill (2013), Adger et al governance arrangements—such as asymmetries between (2005), and others, in this study we define adaptive upstream and downstream users (van der Zaag 2007) and capacity as the capacity of actors to create and respond to territorial complexities with cross-cutting political, social, variability and change in the state of the system in both land use, and hydrological boundaries (Reynard 2000)— proactive and reactive ways. Proactive responses are pose additional challenges. Against this background, particularly important, because they allow anticipation of Mountain Research and Development Vol 33 No 3 Aug 2013: 225–233225 http://dx.doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-13-00004.1 ß 2013 by the authors MountainDevelopment and influence on future water problems. In other words, Case study: the Crans-Montana-Sierre region creating adaptive capacity is about creating options now and in the future, rather than limiting them (Hill 2013), by The 11 communes of the study region are located in one creating flexibility (Hurlbert 2009) as well as connectivity of the driest parts of Switzerland, in the canton of Valais, and trust among actors (Folke et al 2005). Empirical studies on south-facing slopes with a considerable difference in have found that adaptive capacity is influenced by actors’ altitude (from 500 masl in Sierre to 3000 masl on the access to financial, human, and social resources (Olsson Plaine Morte Glacier). They are limited in the west by the et al 2006; Babel et al 2011), as well as to knowledge and Lienne River and in the east by the Raspille River. All 11 information (Engle and Lemos 2010). Moreover, there is communes are organized in the district of Sierre. The growing agreement that for anticipating potential tourism resort of Crans-Montana belongs to the 6 problems and developing farsighted solutions, high communes that make up the High Plateau, whereas the 5 learning capacity is needed (Tompkins and Adger 2004; other communes are located downstream on the hillsides Folke et al 2005; Olsson et al 2006; Pahl-Wostl et al 2007). or in the Rhone plain (Figures 1 and 2). There is a strong Learning by judicious doing represents a departure from hydrological gradient; the difference between the more traditional approach of rigid and irreversible precipitation and evapotranspiration averages about planning and management to a concept of policy 150 mm/y in Sierre and more than 2200 mm/y at high experimentation, social learning, and scenario planning. elevations. The region occupies 4 main watersheds and is This is especially important because the future may bring drained by several small streams flowing toward the changes that are not susceptible to past and present coping Rhone River. The discharge of meltwater from the Plaine strategies (Hill 2013). Morte Glacier is an important water resource for the This study contributes to the debate by exploring region, but the glacier is projected to retreat considerably water governance arrangements and practices in a Swiss over the next decades and even to disappear by 2080 Alpine region. The overall aim is to identify options for (Finger et al 2013). While the 11 communes depend on meaningful water governance reforms from the water from the same higher mountain areas and are part perspective of adaptive capacity. of the same administrative district, the water resources of each municipality are highly variable (Bonriposi 2013). Approach The prevailing water shortage problems are described later. We evaluated the water governance arrangements of the Crans-Montana-Sierre region and the ways actors there Basic features of the water have dealt with water shortages in the past. In doing so, we assumed that water shortages might become more frequent governance arrangement in the future under conditions of climate and socioeconomic change. The study is based on a qualitative In Switzerland, all administrative levels (the research perspective