Karen Bakker

• Professor at University of British Columbia

This paper examines copy-and-paste regulating in hydraulic fracturing (HF) fluid disclosure regulation across US states. Using text analysis, cluster analysis and document coding, we compare HF regulations of twenty-nine states and two “model bills” drafted by the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the Environmental Defen...

In this article, we evaluate competing environmental knowledge claims in U.S. hydraulic fracturing (HF) regulation. We conduct a case study of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) rule-making process over the period from 2012 to 2015, which was the first attempt to update federal oil and gas regulations in thirty years. Our study addresses a gap i...

Research on socially responsible investing (SRI) and investor-led governance, especially in the climate sector, suggests that shareholders adopt social movement tactics to influence corporate governance, including building networks, engaging directly with corporations and lobbying regulators. Further, research on corporate transparency and financia...

This chapter explores the evolution of transboundary water governance along the Canada-US border. We examine two key examples in two eras of water management across the Canada-US border, separated by more than a century. First, we examine the Boundary Waters Treaty (a bi-national agreement between the federal governments of Canada and the United St...

This chapter reviews Canada’s approach to drinking water governance, focusing on the regulations, policies, practices and institutions related to the management and provision of drinking water. This review is significant given Canada’s highly decentralized approach to water governance. We critically evaluate the implications of decentralization for...

The extraction of unconventional oil and gas—from shale rocks, tight sand, and coalbed formations—is shifting the geographies of fossil fuel production, with complex consequences. Following Jackson et al.’s (1) natural science survey of the environmental consequences of hydraulic fracturing, this review examines social science literature on unconve...

Despite calls to increase federal oversight of hydraulic fracturing (HF), the U.S. Congress has maintained a regulatory system in which environmental regulatory authority is devolved to the states. We argue that this system is characterized by a long-standing "policy monopoly": a form of stability in policy agenda-setting in which a specific manner...

Executive Summary: The Government of British Columbia and its wholly owned utility, BC Hydro, have embarked on an $8.3 billion large-scale hydroelectric project at Site C on the Peace River in northeastern British Columbia. The Project is currently in the early stages of construction with a scheduled commissioning date of 2024. The purpose of this...

This chapter argues that there are important distinctions between large dam development in the twentieth century and the twenty-first century by conceptually framing dams not as mere objects in space but also as agents in dynamic and contested spatial strategies. This is illustrated by two examples: the Aswan High Dam on the Nile, and the Nam Theun...

https://www.wcel.org/publication/between-law-and-action-assessing-state-knowledge-indigenous-law-undrip-and-free-prior

http://www.bcuc.com/Documents/wp-content/10/00682_F106-10_Program-on-Water-Governance_University-of-British-ColumbiaUBC_SiteC_Submissions.pdf

Scholars assert that traditional approaches to urban water management need reforming. These debates have identified the need to move toward systems and complexity thinking. The literature offers limited insight into the utility of complexity theory in enhancing urban water policy and practice. This paper aims to address this gap by: (i) synthesizin...

First Nations in British Columbia (BC), Canada, have historically been—and largely continue to be—excluded from colonial governments’ decision-making and management frameworks for fresh water. However, in light of recent legal and legislative changes, and also changes in water governance and policy, there is growing emphasis in scholarship and amon...

http://watergovernance.ca/2017/07/15/comparative-analysis-of-greenhouse-gas-emissions-of-site-c-versus-alternatives/

This paper analyzes the barriers and opportunities that decentralized water governance regimes pose to effective microbial risk assessment and management for drinking and recreational water quality. The paper presents a case study of Canada (a country whose approach to water governance is among the most decentralized in the Organisation for Economi...

This paper introduces the concept of ‘not-quite-neoliberal natures’ in relation to contemporary theoretical debates and Latin American political processes. The phrase is meant to signal both our appreciation of and reservations about theoretical elaborations of neoliberalism, post- neoliberalism, and (post-)neoliberal natures in relation to the wid...

This article analyzes the rescaling of transboundary water governance and explores challenges and opportunities for the twenty-first century. The analysis is grounded in the example of the Canada–United States transboundary water governance regime, and asks two questions: What are the lessons learned since Canada and the United States first signed...

This article reviews the literature relevant to market environmentalism in the water sector, focusing on five themes: the privatization of resource ownership and management, the commercialization of resource management organizations, the environmental valuation and pricing of resources, the marketization of trading and exchange mechanisms, and the...

This article presents the first comprehensive review and analysis of the uptake of the Canadian Drinking Water Quality Guidelines (CDWQG) across Canada's 13 provinces and territories. This review is significant given that Canada's approach to drinking water governance is: (i) highly decentralized and (ii) discretionary. Canada is (along with Austra...

This paper engages with recent work in political ecology that explores the ways in which scale is imbricated in environmental governance. Specifically, we analyze the deployment of specific ecological scales as putatively 'natural' governance units in rescaling processes. To undertake this analysis, the paper brings two sets of literature into dial...

http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/books/b9789004280724s004

Water governance is critical to water security, and to the long-term sustainability of the Earth's freshwater systems. This review examines recent debates regarding the governance dimensions of water security, including adaptive governance, polycentric governance, social learning and multi-level governance. The analysis emphasizes the political and...

Since 1909, the waters along the Canada-US border have been governed in accordance with the Boundary Water Treaty, but much has changed in the last 100 years. This engaging volume brings together experts from both sides of the border to examine the changing relationship between Canada and the US with respect to shared waters, as well as the implica...

A new approach is developed for assessing water security status: the Water Security Status Indicators (WSSI) assessment method. The WSSI has four innovative aspects which address important gaps in the literature. First, it was developed in cooperation with end-users, whose participation enabled the design of a user-friendly assessment method. Secon...

In this paper, we critically engage with the notion of a ‘post-neoliberal turn’ in Latin America. The analysis interrogates the existence and characteristics of post-neoliberalism as a mode of regulation, and explores the contributions (and limits) of the concept as a means of theorizing political and economic restructuring. We critically synthesiz...

This paper presents a historical analysis of the evolution of the World Bank's policies on urban water supply networks, from 1960 to the late 1980s. The analysis frames urban water supply as an attempt (contested and incomplete) to extend the biopolitical power of developmental states. I argue that the World Bank's agenda was predicated on a set of...

This article documents the increasingly variegated pattern of urban water supply privatization since the 1990s. The analysis cautions against sweeping generalizations of postneoliberalism often associated with putative alternatives to private water supply. The continued growth of private-sector activity, combined with the strategic retreat of priva...

The number of fresh water-related assessment indicators in Canada has proliferated rapidly over the past decade. This article presents a comprehensive review and evaluation of existing fresh water-related indicators in Canada, and analyzes the extent to which these indicators can be (and are being) used to guide effective water assessment. Specific...

Based on a large-scale survey, in-depth interviews, and a facilitated workshop, the authors document the concerns held by water policy makers, managers, and practitioners regarding the limitations of water security assessment capacity in Canada. A primary objective of the research presented in this paper was to refine and test a definition of water...

https://utorontopress.com/ca/water-without-borders-4

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781135125059

The purpose of this book is to present an overview of the latest research, policy, practitioner, academic and international thinking on water security—an issue that, like water governance a few years ago, has developed much policy awareness and momentum with a wide range of stakeholders. As a concept it is open to multiple interpretations, and the...

https://www.gwp.org/globalassets/global/toolbox/publications/p763_gwp_proceedings_paper.pdf

New strategies for analyzing water security have the potential to improve coordination and generate synergies between researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners.

IntroductionEvolving Perspectives on Environmental Issues within Economic GeographyRethinking “Nature”Conclusions: A “New Materialism” in Economic Geography?References

http://watergovernance.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2011/12/Water_Security_Guidance_Document_March_2012.pdf

This presentation presents a meta-analysis of water-security related research in all disciplines over the period 1990 - 2010. We identify divergent definitions of water security, and distinct approaches to water security assessment which are deployed with different methods and at different scales. We explore the consequent challenges (and opportuni...

This paper presents a comprehensive review of the concept of water security, including both academic and policy literatures. The analysis indicates that the use of the term water security has increased significantly in the past decade, across multiple disciplines. The paper presents a comparison of definitions of, and analytical approaches to, wate...

This introductory article of the themed section introduces a series of papers that engage with water governance and the politics of scale. The paper situates the ongoing 'politics of scale' debates, and links them to discussions germane to water governance. We call for closer attention to the inter-relationships between power and social networks in...

This paper explores Canada's approach to water governance. It argues that fragmented governance has had negative impacts on Canada's ability to manage water resources adequately (particularly in the context of urbanization, agriculture and resource extraction), and to deal with new issues (such as climate change). Further, it argues that Canada's h...

Municipal water conservation is increasingly promoted as a key dimension of environmental sustainability at the municipal scale. Progress toward municipal water conservation in Canada has, however, been poor. This paper examines the governance dimension of water conservation, and presents evidence in support of the argument that conservation effort...

Municipal water conservation is increasingly promoted as a key dimension of environmental sustainability at the municipal scale. Progress toward municipal water conservation in Canada has, however, been poor. This paper examines the governance dimension of water conservation, and presents evidence in support of the argument that conservation effort...

https://www.jovis.de/en/books/details/product/urban-constellations.html

http://publishing.unesco.org/details.aspx?Code_Livre=4889

The right to clean water has been adopted by the United Nations as a basic human right. Yet how such universal calls for a right to water are understood, negotiated, experienced and struggled over remain key challenges. The Right to Water elucidates how universal calls for rights articulate with local historical geographical contexts, governance, p...

The concept of water security has received growing attention over the past five years in academic debates and policy circles, particularly with respect to cumulative impacts assessment and watershed management. We propose an integrative definition for water security; one that considers both stressors and impacts (or effects) on hydrological systems...

This paper presents a meta-analysis of recent critiques of geographical scholarship on ‘neoliberal natures’. The analysis juxtaposes distinct (and at times divergent) conceptualizations of neoliberalism — as political doctrine, as economic project, as regulatory practice, or as process of governmentalization — and also of nature — as primary commod...

Restructuring municipal water supply using ‘alternative service delivery’ models is a growing trend. The author examines potential contradictions between ‘alternative service delivery’ business models, on the one hand, and goals of good governance and sustainability on the other. A case study of water conservation and efficiency programs implemente...

This paper explores the non‐compliance of water users through a case study of groundwater resources in the Gulf Islands (British Columbia (BC)) and the San Juan Islands (Washington). The research challenges two assumptions: that local regulations can easily incorporate scientific research, which in turn leads to sound on‐the‐ground management; that...

http://watergovernance.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2010/08/PractisingSharedWaterGovernancePrimer_final1.pdf

http://watergovernance.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2010/04/WaterSecurityPrimer20101.pdf

Water supply privatization was emblematic of the neoliberal turn in development policy in the 1990s. Proponents argued that the private sector could provide better services at lower costs than governments; opponents questioned the risks involved in delegating control over a life-sustaining resource to for-profit companies. Private-sector activity w...

http://www.oupcanada.com/catalog/9780195432008.html

www.waterdialogues.org

http://watergovernance.ca/files/2010/03/IndicatorsReportFINAL1.pdf

There is no abstract for this paper.

PrologueIntroduction: The Triumph of Market Environmentalism?Neoliberal Reforms and Resource Management: Clarifying the DebateDebating Neoliberalization: Anti-privatization Campaigns and the “Human Right to Water”Alter-globalization and the CommonsConclusions AcknowledgementsEndnotesReferences

IntroductionWater and LandscapesWater and Risk: (De)Constructing Water HazardsWater and Sustainability: Integrated Water Resources ManagementWater and ScaleConclusions Bibliography

The Yorkshire drought of 1995 was the most extreme climate event faced by the English and Welsh water industry since its privatization in 1989. As an emblem of crisis in privatized water management, and as a potential signal of climate change, the 1995 drought has motivated change in water regulation and management. In this paper I challenge conven...

This paper examines the rescaling of transboundary water governance along the Canada-U.S. border. We draw on recent research in geography on rescaling and borderlands to query two assumptions prevalent in the water governance literature: that a shift in scale downwards to the subnational or "local" scale implies greater empowerment for local actors...

The Participation of the Private Sector in Water Management: Recent Tendencies and Debates in Developing Countries Private sector participation has been one of the most controversial issues in urban water management in developing countries over the past two decades. This paper examines recent trends in private sector participation, and summarizes r...

Prepared for the Urban Secretariat of the OECD, as part of the Venice Territorial Review

Prepared for the Urban Secretariat of the OECD, as part of the Venice Territorial Review

Given the high degree of variation in water governance practices across Canada, and the rapid rate of water-related legislative change in some provinces over the past decade, the purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of water legislation and governance that examines all thirteen provinces and territories, focusing on formal legisl...

This paper queries the relevance of the ‘splintering urbanism’ thesis to postcolonial cities of the South, and responds to calls for the production of a decentered theory of urbanization through a case study of Jakarta. Drawing on archival and interview data, the paper demonstrates that Jakarta has, since its inception, been characterized by a high...

Summary This paper applies a conceptual framework of "governance failure" to an analysis of the institutional dimensions of urban water supply provision to poor households, focusing on the case of Jakarta. Data from a household survey, archives, GIS-based mapping, and interviews are used to document governance failures that create disincentives for...

The concept of community has become increasingly important in debates over alternatives to privatization, and is invoked by both proponents and opponents of private sector provision of water supply. This paper presents a critique of the concept of community water supply when it is invoked as an alternative to privatization. The analysis presents a...

http://waterbucket.ca/wcp/files/2008/12/UBC_Achieving-Water-Conservation-Sept08.pdf

This article seeks to extend recent debates on urban infrastructure access by exploring the interrelationship between subjectivity, urban space and infrastructure. Specifically, it presents a case study of the development and differentiation of the urban water supply in Jakarta, Indonesia. Drawing on concepts of governmentality and materiality, it...

http://watergovernance.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2010/02/Good-Governance-Primer.pdf

https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/technical-papers/climate-change-water-en.pdf

Private sector partnerships (PSPs) have been increasingly advocated as an instrument of ‘pro-poor’ water supply policies. This article examines the performance of the private sector with respect to network connections for poor households in Jakarta, Indonesia, drawing on three sources: data collected through a household survey of poor households in...

In response to the growth of private sector involvement in water supply management globally, anti-privatization campaigns for a human right to water have emerged in recent years. Simultaneously, alter-globalization activists have promoted alternative water governance models through North-South red-green alliances between organized labour, environme...