Water Governance: Policy, Politics and Regulation in Honduras
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WATER GOVERNANCE: POLICY, POLITICS AND REGULATION IN HONDURAS Patricia Phumpiu August 2008 TRITA-LWR PhD Thesis 1045 ISSN 1650-8602 ISRN KTH/LWR/PHD 1045-SE ISBN 978-91-7415-103-9 Patricia Phumpiu TRITA-LWR PhD Thesis 1045 © Patricia Phumpiu 2008 Doctoral Thesis KTH Department of Land and Water Resources Engineering Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) SE-100 44 STOCKHOLM, Sweden ii Water Governance: Policy, Politics and Regulation in Honduras Abstract Water governance exerts an impact on the socio-politic life of Honduras. For instance, the new legal framework changes institutions. New water organisations are created, and new processes and proceedings are proposed. These times when strategies from developed countries are transferred to developing countries, such as water governance, the need for an evaluation is desirable to disentangle the problems and to look forward at opportunities and find alternatives. The journey from government to governance describes the change from the traditional government behaviour towards new governance. In countries like Honduras, as in developing countries, this change describes a complex process in which the imported strategies are conflicting with existing established socio-political patterns. The new water management approach as applied in Honduras needs to take into account the socio- political reality and the availability of resources, if the water governance process would gain relevance. Honduras is a relatively new democratic country after many years of military regime, thus the government needs also to be part of the governance process. This doctoral thesis studies and highlights the characteristics of the traditional Honduran government approach, and the effects that the new governance approach has posed in the country. The difficulties emerging from this shift of approaches are discussed, and explored. The research finds support in the exploration of Honduran political and institutional sociological history to elaborate the causes and motives for current governmental attitudes. The research relates to concepts of development strategies, institutionalism and regulation modes. This thesis argues that governance has achieved a pseudo empirical implementation in Honduras, and that new mechanisms need to be devised to balance the suggested governance mode using new notions of regulatory space, and the theoretical meta- governance approach, in order to balance between the imported measures and the reality. New governance theoretical notions are exposed to encourage and explore new alternatives for the water governance in the Honduras context. It is necessary to realise that institutional changes occur in a long-term adjustment period in order to build trust among actors and water authorities. Moreover, this thesis deems it pertinent that the government as the voter-elected entity should take the decisive lead of the governance approach. Key words: Honduras, institutions, water governance, government, policy, regulation, regulatory governance, regulatory state. iii Patricia Phumpiu TRITA-LWR PhD Thesis 1045 iv Water Governance: Policy, Politics and Regulation in Honduras A mi madre v Patricia Phumpiu TRITA-LWR PhD Thesis 1045 vi Water Governance: Policy, Politics and Regulation in Honduras Acknowledgements During my studies at KTH, Royal Institute of Technology Royal Institute of Technology, Land and Water Resources Engineering, several persons have supported me along the years. First of all, I would like to express my profound gratitude to my supervisor Associate Professor Dr. Jan Erik Gustafsson. Your initiative for my participation in the research project of Honduras, your guidance and encouragement has created a great spirit for digging further into the study of water, environment, and politics. Thanks for always sharing your experiences and for the discussions that showed me the other side of the coin. I appreciate your openness for research, because even though we do not always share the same opinions on the management of the water sector, you could still give me professional guidance on the matter. I would also like to thank Dr. Cecilia Scharp for her comments, even before been the co- supervisor for this thesis. To Sida-SAREC (Swedish Agency for Research Co-operation with developing countries) for financing this study and the field trips, without their financial support this study could not be possible. To the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Fund for travel financial aid to attend conferences related to this thesis. I am especially grateful for the endless debates on privatisation and regulation with my brother Dr. Paul Phumpiu, Associate Professor of Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, and former Executive Director of Peruvian Regulatory Agency for Water and Sanitation (SUNASS). I would like to express my profound gratitude and warm thanks to you for your support along my career. Your life and career path are a great inspiration to me. There are a number of people in Sweden and in Honduras that I would like to thank. Professor Dr. Per Erik Jansson for his support specially when I began doctoral studies. This acknowledgement would not be complete without acknowledging the help received during my field trips to Honduras. Especially during my first field trip, Engineer Humberto Puerto from the Regional Network of Water and Sanitation of Central America (RRAS-CA), who took the time to explain and discuss the current situation in those turmoil years of change. To Engineer Rodolfo Ochoa who kindly devoted time to explain and share his experience as the Director of the Research Division at SANAA. My gratitude to the warm people of the Juntas de Agua and residents of the ‘villas’, who kindly agreed to meet almost every weekend to share their concerns. My warm thanks to the enthusiastic and supportive colleagues of my office corridor during these four years of research, Research Engineer Ann Fylkner, Educational Adm. Kerstin Indebetou, Engineer Bertil Nilsson, Research Engineer Jerzy Buczak, Economist Lars-Erik Svahn, and to the cheerful Coordinator Christina Ek, with whom I shared my first work years at KTH. To Associate Professor Prosun Bhattacharya for his comments to the manuscript and Professor Emeritus Gunnar Jacks his energizing spirits. My last but not the least, thanks to David, my loving husband, for his support, encouragement and greatest patience. To my mother for always being there, with great inspiration and stimulus in times of despair. Patricia Phumpiu Stockholm, 20 August 2008 vii Patricia Phumpiu TRITA-LWR PhD Thesis 1045 viii Water Governance: Policy, Politics and Regulation in Honduras Table of contents Abstract.................................................................................................................................................................iii Acknowledgements................................................................................................................................................. vii Table of contents.....................................................................................................................................................ix List of Papers included in this doctoral thesis ............................................................................................................x Abbreviations and Acronyms..................................................................................................................................xi List of Figures.......................................................................................................................................................xii List of Tables........................................................................................................................................................xii 1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................1 Honduras and the Modernisation of State ............................................................................................4 The Water Institutional Reform in Honduras.......................................................................................5 2 THE RESEARCH: STRUCTURE AND PROCESS................................................................. 7 Aim......................................................................................................................................................7 The Synthesis.......................................................................................................................................7 The thesis work papers.........................................................................................................................9 The doctoral thesis research process...................................................................................................12 Limitations.........................................................................................................................................14 3 FRAMEWORK OF UNDERSTANDING................................................................................15 Development Theories.......................................................................................................................15 Globalisation and development. ..............................................................................................................................16 Institutional Theory, Institutional Economics, Institutional Change ...................................................18