The implementation of water policy and the integrated management of water face multiple challenges in South Africa (SA), despite the successes of post-apartheid government programmes in which some significant equity, sustainability and efficiency milestones have been met. This study uses a series of intervention processes into municipal water service delivery to explore the context, constraints, and real-world messiness in which local water authorities operate. The equitable provision of drinking water by local government and the collaborative management of untreated water by ‘water user associations’ are two sites of institutional conflict that have been subjected to broad ‘turnaround’ and ‘transformation’ attempts at the national level. This thesis seeks to explore and understand the use of transdisciplinary research in engaging local water authorities in a process of institutional change that increases the likelihood of equitable water supply in the Lower Sundays River Valley (LSRV). Fieldwork was conducted as part of a broader action research process involving the attempted ‘turnaround’ of the Sundays River Valley Municipality (SRVM) between 2011 and 2014. A multi-method research approach was employed, which drew on institutional, ethnographic, and systems analyses within an evolving, transdisciplinary methodology. In the single case study research design, qualitative and quantitative data were collected via participant observation, interviews and documentary sources. Analytical methods included system dynamics modelling and an adapted form of the ethnographic tool of ‘thick description’, which were linked in a governance analysis. Government interventions into the SRVM failed to take account of the systemic complexity of the municipal operating environment, the interactions of which are described in this study as the ‘modes of failure’ of local government. These modes included the perpetual ‘firefighting’ responses of municipal officials to crises, and the simultaneous underinvestment in, and over-extension of, water supply infrastructure, which is a rational approach to addressing current water shortages when funds are unavailable for maintenance, refurbishment, or the construction of new infrastructure. The over-burdening of municipalities with technocratic requirements, the presence of gaps in the institutional arrangements governing water supply in the LSRV, and the lack of coordination in government interventions are analysed in this study, with policy recommendations resulting. The primary contribution of this study is in providing a substantively-contextualised case study that illustrates the value of systemic, engaged, extended, and embedded transdisciplinary research.

La thèse aborde la problématique des usages de l'eau dans un archipel ouest-africain semi-aride, pauvre, vulnérable, où la question des ressources hydriques a toujours posé de graves problèmes, que cinq siècles de colonisation n'ont pas résolu. Dans un monde ouvert, interdépendant, où les questions de durabilité environnementale, de production agricole, de sécurité alimentaire et de lutte contre la pauvreté et pour le développement sont des enjeux majeurs pour la planète et ses habitants, la gestion intégrée des ressources en eau (GIRE) constitue une solution intéressante pour une économie cap-verdienne de l'eau répondant à ces défis.L'objectif de la thèse est de contribuer à la mise en œuvre de la GIRE sur le territoire de la République du Cap-Vert. Elle s'interroge sur le « modèle transféré » des barrages hydrauliques, avec l'exemple de celui de Poilão, dans la Ribeira Seca de l'île de Santiago, premier barrage construit au Cap-Vert, avec l'aide de la coopération chinoise. Elle examine le rôle et les effets de l'irrigation, les impacts de sa réalisation sur l'environnement local, ainsi que les problèmes socio-économiques entraînés par l'usage de l'eau dans le bassin versant de la Ribeira Seca. La thèse s'interroge sur la question de la gouvernance juridique, réglementaire et institutionnelle de l'eau au Cap-Vert, avec des comparaisons internationales. Enfin, elle propose un modèle de gestion de l'eau inspiré de l'approche GIRE. / This thesis deals with the problem of water use in a poor, vulnerable, semi-arid West African archipelago where the issue of water resources has always posed major problems, problems which five centuries of colonization were unable to solve. In an open, interdependent world in which issues of environmental sustainability, agricultural production, food security and the fight against poverty and in favor of development are major challenges for the planet and its inhabitants, integrated water resources management (IWRM) constitutes an interesting solution for an economy of water that responds to these difficulties in the country.The objective of the thesis is to contribute to the implementation of integral water resource management in the territory of the Republic of Cabo Verde. It questions the “adopted model” of hydraulic dams, with the example of the Polião Dam in Ribeira Seca valley, on the island of Santiago, the first dam built in Cabo Verde, with the help of the People’s Republic of China. It examines the role and effects of irrigation, the impacts of engaging therein on the local environment, and the socio-economic problems caused by water usage in the Ribeira Seca watershed.The thesis also uses international comparisons to raise questions related to the legal, regulatory and institutional governance of water in Cabo Verde. Finally, it proposes a water management model inspired by the Integrated Water Resources Management approach. / A presente tese aborda a questão do uso da água num arquipélago Oeste Africano semiárido, pobre, vulnerável, onde a questão dos recursos hídricos sempre levantou problemas graves, que cinco séculos de colonização não conseguiram resolver. Num mundo interdependente e aberto, onde as questões de sustentabilidade ambiental, a produção agrícola, a segurança alimentar e a luta contra a pobreza e pelo desenvolvimento são as questões fundamentais para (a preservação) do planeta e seus habitantes, a gestão integrada dos recursos hídricos (GIRH) é uma solução interessante para uma economia cabo-verdiana da água que responda a estes desafios.O objetivo desta tese é o de contribuir para a implementação da GIRH no território da República de Cabo Verde. A tese questiona sobre o "modelo transferido " de barragens, como por exemplo o da Barragem de Poilão na Ribeira Seca, na ilha de Santiago, a primeira barragem construída em Cabo Verde, com a ajuda da Cooperação chinesa. A tese examina o papel e os efeitos da irrigação, o impacto da sua implementação no ambiente local, assim como os problemas socioeconómicos causados pelo uso da água na bacia hidrográfica de Ribeira Seca.A tese interroga-se sobre a questão da governança jurídica, regulamentar e institucional da água em Cabo Verde, usando o direito comparado internacional. Finalmente, a tese oferece um modelo de gestão da água, com base na abordagem GIRH.

This interdisciplinary thesis studies the diverse multi-stakeholder networks that are constitutive of contemporary water governance. It examines collaborative governance networks from a relational perspective in two case study watersheds in Tanzania and Ethiopia. Collaborative and networked governance approaches are increasingly promoted to address complex water challenges, but relatively little is known about how the everyday collaborative relationships (i.e. collaboration practices) among the multiple actors involved in the development, management and use of water, shape contemporary water governance processes. In this thesis, I advance, based on intensive fieldwork data collection, a conceptual and methodological framework for studying collaboration networks pertaining to watershed management. I examine local collaborative governance networks in two watersheds, in Ethiopia and Tanzania, from a relational perspective, using complementary qualitative and quantitative social network research methods. The thesis explores the opportunities and limitations of such collaborative governance networks in their concrete functioning, thereby contributing to a more context-sensitive, and nuanced, understanding of the role of governance networks and collaborative governance approaches in the management of water and related resources.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Land use alterations have been major drivers for modifying hydrologic cycles in many watersheds nationwide. Imbalances in this cycle have led to unexpected or extreme changes in flood and drought patterns and intensities, severe impairment of rivers and streams due to pollutants, and extensive economic losses to affected communities. Eagle Creek Watershed (ECW) is a typical Midwestern agricultural watershed with a growing urban land-use that has been affected by these problems. Structural solutions, such as ditches and tiles, have helped in the past to reduce the flooding problem in the upland agricultural area. But these structures have led to extensive flooding and water quality problems downstream and loss of moisture storage in the soil upstream. It has been suggested that re-naturalization of watershed hydrology via a spatially-distributed implementation of non-structural and structural conservation practices, such as cover crops, wetlands, riparian buffers, grassed waterways, etc. will help to reduce these problems by improving the upland runoff (storing water temporally as moisture in the soil or in depression storages). However, spatial implementation of these upland storage practices poses hurdles not only due to the large number of possible alternatives offered by physical models, but also by the effect of tenure, social attitudes, and behaviors of landowners that could further add complexities on whether and how these practices are adopted and effectively implemented for benefits. This study investigates (a) how landowner tenure and attitudes can be used to identify promising conservation practices in an agricultural watershed, (b) how the different attitudes and preferences of stakeholders can modify the effectiveness of solutions obtained via classic optimization approaches that do not include the influence of social attitudes in a watershed, and (c) how spatial distribution of landowner tenure affects the spatial optimization of conservation practices on a watershed scale. Results showed two main preferred practices, one for an economic evaluation (filter strips) and one for an environmental perspective (wetlands). A land tenure comparison showed differences in spatial distribution of systems considering all the conservation practices. It also was observed that cash renters selected practices will provide a better cost-revenue relation than the selected optimal solution.