**4. Discussion**

The four applications show that the WGRF is easy-to-apply, flexible and can be used in multiple contexts, and at both a basin and national scale. Collectively, the four cases show that, even in the absence of quantitative analysis and modeling, the strategic considerations provide a means to scope current water governance and to identify both the strengths and weaknesses of existing water reform processes.

The strategic considerations in the WGRF serve multiple purposes. First, as in the case of the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia, they provide a means to evaluate the successes and failures of reform, highlight power asymmetries and, importantly, provide constructive support for adaptive managemen<sup>t</sup> of the reform process. Second, as applied to the Rufiji Basin, Tanzania, the WGRF scopes the existing water governance structure and, thereby, identifies future possible opportunities for water reforms. Thus, the framework can be used to devise a more effective water reform agenda, ex ante and

not just during the reform process or to rectify past mistakes. Third, as in the case in the Colorado Basin, the WGRF frames current and past actions to support dialogues in relation to transboundary institutional reforms. In particular, the framework identifies the necessity for reform oversight and how barriers to water reform might be overcome in the Colorado Basin. Fourth, for Vietnam, the framework shows it can provide an evaluation of water governance strengths and weaknesses at a national level and not just a basin scale. Further, in terms of Vietnam, the WGRF shows how framing of the water institutions, and their roles, provides the opportunities for better coordination, decision-making and improved water outcomes, especially in relation to water quality.

While the WGRF can be used as a stand-alone approach to water reform, we highly recommend that it be part of an overall water policy cycle that can be applied to problem identification and also within each policy sequence that comprises: (1) formulation; (2) adoption; (3) implementation; and (4) monitoring and evaluation. We show that the WGRF is a valuable descriptive tool of water governance and reform, but its principal contribution is to support adaptive decision making and resilient public policy. This is because successful water reform in relation to "wicked problems" [13] cannot be decided ex ante without regard to learning, new information, changes in circumstances of stakeholders or a range of other unknown or unknowable factors. It is in this context of socio-ecological systems that the WGRF facilitates evidence-informed actions and integrative decisions that support desired water outcomes. Thus, we contend that WGRF should be core to any water governance reform process and is flexible enough to be applied at both a local, basin and national scale.
