Transboundary Water Governance – Takeaways from 2015 World Water Week

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This year marked the 25th anniversary of the World Water Week organized by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) in Sweden. The event lived up to its past reputation as a key event for gathering water practitioners, scientists, global experts, financiers, diplomats and politicians from around the world. From transboundary water perspective, this year also saw […]

Issues of Complexity Science and Negotiation Theory (an annotated and evolving bibliography)

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Water access, demand, usage and management become complex due to the crossing of multiple boundaries: political, social and jurisdictional, as well as physical, ecological and biogeochemical. The complexity of many water issues lie in the interconnections and feedbacks among variables, processes, actors and institutions operating in the knowledge and political communities. Consequently, many water management […]

Exploring the Interconnections and Interdependencies at Play in California’s Water Problem

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This article is the first installment of the series Water Diplomacy: Issues of Complexity Science and Negotiation Theory — Farmers in California’s Central Valley prominently display signs along the highway reading “Congress created this dustbowl,” while, in Los Angeles, the water conservation mascot “Lawn Dude”, prominently displayed on billboards in and around the city, reminds residents to stick within regulated limits for watering their lawns. Though the drought itself is not record-breaking, a combination of severe groundwater depletion, water shortages along the Colorado River, and rising heat (and thus evaporation) have created a critical water supply problem for the state