Unreliable piped water systems in peri-urban areas force households to employ complex multi-source water management strategies, yet little is understood about these interconnected choices. This study examines household water supply decisions in peri-urban Central India using discrete choice modelling with 250 households. Binary and multinomial logit models analyse pipe network connections and source selection for drinking versus bathing. Results show higher income, education and storage capacity increase piped water use for bathing, while female literacy and quality perceptions favour piped/hand pump water for drinking. The study recommends differentiated service levels based on willingness to pay, emphasizing demand-side management approaches.
By 2023, the Australian government spent similar to AUD5 billion subsidizing on- and off-farm irrigation infrastructure programmes as one means of returning water from consumptive to environmental purposes in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB). We modelled the impacts of the infrastructure programme on southern MDB water extractions for irrigation and found that subsidies increased regional water extractions by up to 24% in later years (2015-16 to 2020-21), compared to no infrastructure subsidies. This policy-induced rebound effect (increased water extractions) was most likely to occur at the intensive margin in horticultural industries (especially fruit and nut) and with higher temperatures, at least in the short-term.
Treated wastewater reuse is increasingly promoted to address water scarcity in semi-arid regions of the Global South, yet it often develops outside formal regulation. This study examines how reuse is organized and governed in the Valle Alto region of Cochabamba, Bolivia, using a qualitative case study combining farmer interviews, policy and legal analysis, and technical information on treatment plants. The findings show that reuse practices are shaped less by technological constraints than by fragmented governance conditions. Regulatory ambiguity sustains locally negotiated arrangements that enable access under scarcity but generate risks related to public health, environmental protection and unequal access.
Smart water technologies (SWT) are increasingly used to improve water management and infrastructure efficiency. This study systematically reviews global literature on the relationship between SWT and community water governance, with particular attention to lessons relevant to South Africa. Following PRISMA-P guidelines, the review synthesises evidence from peer-reviewed and grey literature sources. Findings indicate that smart technologies can support improved monitoring, transparency, and decision-making in water governance systems. However, effective implementation depends on institutional capacity, community engagement, and governance structures that enable the meaningful use of technological data for sustainable and climate-resilient water management.
The macro, meso and micro scale approach is central to circular economy research. When applied to water systems management, defining the physical boundaries of the macro scale remains a blind spot even though it is essential to clearly identify the origin of water we use and share. We present a method to physically delimit the macro system that supplies water at a lower scale. The method is conceptual, but the results can be used for quantitative analysis. We emphasize the need for a macro scale to necessarily be grounded in the physical reality.
The water rebound effect (WRE) challenges sustainable irrigation by offsetting gains from improved irrigation efficiency. Using a DID approach and panel data from 1999 to 2022, this study finds that China's Comprehensive Agricultural Water Price Reform (CAWPR) significantly reduces the WRE in Western China. The reform promotes water-saving irrigation while limiting the reuse of saved water, turning efficiency gains into actual regional water conservation. These findings show that CAWPR can address the irrigation efficiency paradox and support agricultural water sustainability.
Although cognitive and behavioural factors are crucial for understanding rebound effects, their role in irrigation modernization remains underexplored. This study reports a survey experiment conducted with 183 Spanish farmers to examine psychological ownership, distribution beliefs and use preferences of water savings. We find no difference across theorized knowledge and investment routes to psychological ownership. However, our data show that farmers assign ownership of water savings predominantly to their water user association, that modernization is associated with stronger environmental ownership beliefs, and that these beliefs are related to pro-social preferences.
This paper draws on hydrosocial territories to unravel the persistence of traditional rural communities, which is centred on localized cultural meanings embedded in, yet underpinning, water-related farming practices and community relations. Based on ethnographic examinations in a Miao village preserving its rice-fish co-culture in Guizhou, China, this article finds that, the local community sustained these plural cultural meanings by proactively adapting them in continuous negotiations with the state and market. These included embedding state institutions into local social networks shaped by the material agency of the water-rice-fish nexus, mobilizing cultural resources to participate in tourism economy while integrating it with reciprocal ethics, and selectively adopting modern technologies based on vernacular knowledge. Through such practices, cultural meanings were recursively invoked and transformed, enabling the community's co-evolution with external territorializing forces. The findings reveal how robustness of rural communities is generated through strategic engagements in hydrosocial territorial politics.
Nature-based solutions (NbS) and grey infrastructure have traditionally been implemented separately to address environmental and societal challenges in vulnerable regions like the northern coast of Java, Indonesia. This research examines the extent to which the integration of NbS and grey infrastructure can be sustainably operationalized to promote coastal resilience in the northern coast of Wonokerto District. It focuses on stakeholder collaboration in implementation, the influence of community engagement and local knowledge, and the governance and institutional conditions that shape their sustainability. Using a qualitative approach, the research findings highlight the need for strong cross-sectoral collaboration and multi-level coordination to operationalize these solutions sustainably.
This article examines how Oman's modernization shifted drinking-water provision from decentral community-based systems called aflaj to a centralized, desalination-based national network. In a hyper-arid setting, aflaj historically combined hydraulic infrastructure and village governance, with religiously grounded inclusive access rules but inherited irrigation rights. Based on two field studies (2023, 2025) it is shown that aflaj now rarely supply drinking water, have ceased to function as commons and are mainly maintained as heritage. Centralization of water supply has increased supply security and governability, while aflaj have functionally migrated into the cultural domain.
This paper explores the transformative potential of river contracts (RCs) to enhance nature-based solutions (NBSs) by fostering collaborative governance and integrating ecological and social priorities. RCs are methods that promote multi-scalar landscape design and stakeholder engagement, addressing governance gaps and aligning top-down policies with bottom-up initiatives. This study examines the implementation of RCs in Italy with particular focus on the Sangone and Stura di Lanzo cases, demonstrating their role in improving resilience and sustainability through shared visions and action plans. Despite challenges, such as conflicting views and bureaucracy, RCs emerge as a socio-ecological transformative method for NBS implementation.
Complex water governance in developing countries often faces financial barriers, prompting governments to adopt a public-private partnership (PPP) to provide water for society. This study integrates stakeholder theory (ST) and the salience model with an analytical hierarchy process (AHP)-based framework to prioritize governance factors in PPP implementation, enabling a theory-driven and quantifiable analysis of stakeholder influence. Dissecting a PPP water project in Indonesia, this study sequentially highlights the importance of non-governmental commitment, financial feasibility, political support and strong private consortia. Effective stakeholder management, aligned with ST dimensions, is essential to harmonize stakeholder contributions and ensure the success of water PPP projects.
This study centres on sequences of agricultural water use for society. Drawing on 36 international reorientation cases, defined as reforms in agricultural water management undertaken to accommodate shifts in societal priorities, it identifies one overarching sequence. Economic growth emerges as the primary driver of agricultural expansion and intensification. Yet societal priorities do shift, prompting changes in agricultural water management. This occurs when environmental, social or exogeneous limits are exceeded. Depending on the effectiveness of interventions, these shifts may temporarily or permanently reduce agricultural land, water resources and pollution. Directions for further research concern disinvestment, water caps and unexamined growth paths.
Jordan, among the world's most water-scarce countries, faces severe irrigation challenges in Jordan Valley (JV), its primary agricultural hub. We examine the successful establishment of Water Users Associations (WUA) in JV, focusing on how unwritten social norms, values, and social networks - known as informal institutions - affected and shaped this process. Employing qualitative methods and a customized institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework, we analyse how historical experiences and tribalism influenced institutional change. We find that integrating tribal values, such as collective responsibility, into the WUA implementation process played a pivotal role in their successful establishment.
This study develops a participatory household water security index (HWSI) to assess micro-scale water security in rural Assam, India. Using a mixed-methods, community-engaged framework, data were collected from 280 households across 28 villages in the Kampur Revenue Circle of Nagaon District in Assam, India. The index incorporates 11 sub-parameters across three dimensions: water quality, reliability of supply and household infrastructure. The findings reveal marked intra- and inter-village disparities driven by seasonal water stress, iron contamination and dysfunctional piped-water systems. The study highlights implications for rural water planning in Northeastern India and contributes insights into participatory, equity-oriented river basin governance in the Global South.
Small-scale managed aquifer recharge (s-MAR) can help replenish depleted aquifers, extend groundwater availability during dry seasons and drought, and reduce flooding. Whether s-MAR brings these benefits not only depends on hydrogeological conditions and technical design, but also on how interventions align with social norms, governance structures and local priorities. Drawing on s-MAR experiences in Ethiopia, India and Mexico, we apply a critical sociohydrological lens to examine how interactions between water, people and climate shape hydrological outcomes. We highlight implications for sociohydrology and improving the planning, participation and long-term governance of s-MAR interventions.
