Normative Assessment of Enabling Factors for Adaptive Water Governance; Evidence and Lessons from the Hirmand River Basin, Iran.

Based on analyzing the composing elements of the water governance regime in the Hirmand River Basin, Iran, this paper examines the factors that facilitate the emergence of Adaptive Governance in a Global South context. Although the literature provides valuable insights into the characteristics of a well-established Adaptive Governance regime in the context of the Global North, relatively little research has been conducted on Adaptive Governance's fostering factors in the states in the Global South. To address this gap, this study utilizes an analytical framework upon which the features of water governance regimes are assessed. A combination of primary and secondary qualitative data (survey research and document analysis) is used to evaluate the assessment framework, which aims to analyze the characteristics that enhance resilience to the imposed changes and disturbances in complex environmental and water systems. The analysis suggests that addressing scalar and sectoral tensions, well-functioning reflecting mechanisms, adaptable policies, and flexible financial mechanisms are vital requisites for the transition towards more adaptive forms of water governance. The results also propose that the formal water governance system in the region has felt the urgency to adapt to new circumstances; however, unlike cases from the Global North, it lacks the required agility to escape from the rigidity trap it finds itself in.

A new bankruptcy method for conflict resolution in water resources allocation.

Growing competition over water resources has caused political disputes among stakeholders and has brought conflict resolution in the focus of negotiation processes. In these cases, bankruptcy rules for redistributing an asset when it is not sufficient to meet all claims could be applied. In this paper, we develop a new bankruptcy rule for water resources problems that considers agents' contribution to the total resources as well as their claims, which is in accordance with the UN Watercourses Convention (1997), as important factors for reallocation. Using the Euphrates River and a hypothetical case from the literature as examples, the new rule is compared with four alternative rules. The results show that the novel solution is potentially more powerful to help solving conflicts over river sharing problems.