The role of national governments in river management

Abstract

This discussion of the role of national governments in relation to river management uses three examples to highlight major themes – the Yellow River, the Colorado and the Murray-Darling system. I will argue that river management has requirements that only governments can hope to meet. Other types of organisations or institutions can assume responsibility for at best one or a few aspects of the whole. Even if governments cannot take account of all eventualities – as is undoubtedly the case – they can go further than any other institutional option in their capacity to respond comprehensively to the difficult issues facing river management. This capacity is evident in a number of areas. First is the access of national governments to enormous resources in areas such as funds, research and management. Second is the capacity to assess issues from a catchment wide perspective and distribute costs and benefits between different stakeholders, particularly upstream and downstream. Third is the ability to create frameworks of laws and regulations to which other individuals and other institutions have to respond. Fourth is the potential for a higher degree of corporate consistency over the long term (although religious organisations such as the Catholic Church are perhaps even more successful in that regard). Show more