Facing Change: Understanding Transitions of River Basin Policies Over Time

The purpose of this chapter is to sythesise current knowledge and understanding of river basin management and governance in the context of water resilience. In particular, the chapter explores the politics and socio-ecological conditions that enabled or challenged policy responses to deal with major changes occurring in a basin using the case studies of the Mekong, Colorado and Murray-Darling rivers. The chapter focuses on the way institutions evolve to address uncertainties and the role of stakeholders and their use of knowledge and learning. It is shown that river basin development occurs over time with varying opportunities for institutionalising water resources management and governance across these three basins. It is found that water resilience is contested by multiple stakeholders, highlighting the power laden ways in which institutions evolve. Insights from the cases inform policy lessons on water resilience that emphasise scrutiny on an institution’s suitability to support continual processes of deliberation and stakeholder engagement.