**1. Introduction**

World freshwater extractions (surface and groundwater) increased by about 2.5 times from 1960 to 2010. As a result, some four billion people live in conditions of severe water scarcity where levels of water consumption are more than twice that of the readily available water, at least, one month per year [1]. Further, up to 80% of the global population is exposed to high levels of water threats in relation to watershed disturbances, pollution, water resource development and biotic factors [2].

The on-going challenge is that water extractions are projected to increase by a further 50% by 2100 [3] and, with business as usual, about half of the world's population by 2050 is projected to reside in water basins where more than 40% of the available water is extracted [4]. Using a Blue Water Sustainability Index (BIWSI), which measures the proportion of blue water use from non-sustainable water resources (including groundwater and uses that reduce environmental flows), Wada and Bierkens [3] estimate that currently some 30% of human water consumption (including groundwater) is non-sustainable in that it will result in either the degradation of surface water or depletion of groundwater resources. At a regional level, Nechifor and Winning [5] project that India

will need to lower its projected 2050 total water demand by almost 40% (292 Billion Cubic Meters, BCM), the rest of South Asia by 43% (100 BCM), the Middle East by 42% (168 BCM) and North Africa by 17% (30 BCM), if water extractions are not to exceed the current total renewable water resources of these regions.

Aeschbach-Hertig and Gleeson [6] argue that current food production in key farming regions of India, China and the USA cannot be maintained unless groundwater levels are stabilized. Another concern is that Wada et al. [7] estimate that, in 2000, non-renewable groundwater extraction contributed to 20% of global irrigation water extraction. This has important implications for food production because, globally, irrigation accounts for about 70% of global freshwater extractions and provides 40% of total human food calories. This tension between water for food production and other purposes is likely to be exacerbated into the future. For instance, by 2050: (1) the current water supply is projected to be less than the projected water applied for irrigation in major food-producing countries with production methods, and (2) a plateau is projected in terms of crop food production from water extractions if there are no further increases in the global irrigated agriculture area [8]. The key point is that in the absence of reform that includes: (1) better water governance and (2) how water is currently extracted and consumed, there are large, and with climate change, increasing risks to future food security [9].

Government responses to the global water crises have, typically, been to adopt a "hard" infrastructure or engineering solutions to increase water supply that has sometimes been part of "water nationalism" [10] and even as a "hydraulic mission" as part of a foreign policy tool [11]. Arguably, since at least the 1990s, and certainly since the Report of the World Commission on Dams was published in 2000 [12], there has been an increasing focus paid to "soft" infrastructure and governance [13]. A reprioritization towards governance and sustainability of water use is welcome as traditionally implemented water supply "solutions" have often been delivered with little regard to ecological impacts, to their negative consequences on freshwater ecosystems [14] or to the poor or marginalized who lack a voice in water planning [15]. While "hard" infrastructure is frequently needed to mitigate water insecurity, the pressures (such as population and per capita income growth, and urbanization) and states (such as per capita water availability, water variability, and climate change) of water challenges [16] require multiples responses (such as water demand managemen<sup>t</sup> and also water justice which includes fairness, equity, participation and the democratization of water governance) [15].

Here, we provide guidance as to what should be strategic considerations in response to a growing water demand with a limited water resource and especially in terms of equity with regard to how water is allocated and used [17]. Our focus is on water governance reform noting that a change process is ongoing, must be context specific, and designed to respond to multiple challenges [18]. While there are already existing governance principles and frameworks [19–21], we contend that there is still a real need for practical guidance about how to apply key strategic considerations in relation to water reforms, and to do so in an integrative way. In Section 2, we briefly describe existing water governance frameworks and outline our own seven strategic considerations for water governance reform. In Section 3, we apply these strategic considerations in four different locations to show the added value of our approach and also discuss how our framework can be used to generate improved water outcomes. In Section 4, we offer our conclusions.

### **2. Water Governance Principles and Frameworks**

Multiple frameworks and approaches exist in relation to governance, in general, and with respect to water, in particular. The Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework provides a useful way of describing the broad governance space and includes: (1) the exogenous variables (biophysical constraints, community attributes and rules) and (2) the action arenas (situations and participants) that determine outcomes and feedbacks [22]. In the IAD framework, water governance reform operates within action arenas intended to influence or promote particular and desired outcomes. Within social, economic and political settings, the IAD framework also provides a means of describing and linking resource systems, governance systems, resource units, users, interactions, outcomes and related ecosystems [23].

### *2.1. Existing Water Governance Principles and Frameworks*

The most long-standing water governance framework is the Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) that promotes coordinated managemen<sup>t</sup> actions in relation to environmental sustainability, economic efficiency, and social equity [24]. Beyond the principles of integration across actions and their consequences, consideration of the "triple bottom line", an exhortation to ensure participatory approaches and the full inclusion of women in management, IWRM is non-prescriptive. This has allowed IWRM to be readily adapted to multiple contexts and applied in many different ways such that 80% of countries have already adopted its principles in their water laws [25]. Nevertheless, its usefulness has been questioned [26], especially in relation to what it fails to say in regard to water resource allocation, while its dominance as a water governance paradigm is challenged by the notions of water security [27,28], the nexus [29] and integrative approaches to water policy dilemmas [30].

At an intergovernmental level, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has developed a water governance framework in collaboration with its member governments and a range of stakeholders [20]. This framework is the emerging dominant water governance paradigm given its endorsement by OECD governments. It is based on 12 principles embedded around: (1) effectiveness, in relation to defining and achieving clear and sustainable water policy goals (Principles 1. Clear roles and responsibilities, 2. Appropriate scales within basin systems, 3. Policy coherence and 4. Capacity); (2) efficiency, to maximize the benefits of sustainable water managemen<sup>t</sup> (Principles 5. Data and information, 6. Financing, 7. Regulatory frameworks and 8. Innovation); and (3) trust and engagement, build public confidence and inclusiveness with stakeholders (Principles 9. Integrity and transparency, 10. Stakeholder engagement, 11. Trade-offs across users and 12. Monitoring and evaluation) [31]. By contrast to IWRM, the OECD framework is highly prescriptive and features: (1) a "traffic light" of the current state of water governance; (2) detailed checklists of what should be done, with a series of "What, Who and How" questions for each Principle; and a (3) ten-point assessment that involves a diagnosis and the development of an action plan to resolve the "What, When, Who and How" of implementation.

Pegram et al. [21] developed a River Basin Planning framework intended to be strategic and multidisciplinary and to deliver improved economic, ecological and managemen<sup>t</sup> solutions at a basin scale. This framework is described using multiple examples and actual cases to show how river basin planning can be practically delivered. In common with the OECD framework, River Basin Planning is highly prescriptive and has as its core ten golden rules. These rules include: 1. Develop a comprehensive understanding of the entire system; 2. Plan and act, even without full knowledge; 3. Prioritize issues and adopt a phased and iterative approach; 4. Enable adaptation; 5. Accept basin planning is an inherently iterative and chaotic process; 6. Develop relevant and consistent thematic plans; 7. Address issues at the appropriate scale; 8. Engage stakeholders; 9. Focus on implementation; and 10. Select the planning approach and methods to suit basin needs [21]. The key steps in River Basin Planning include: (1) situation assessment, including future trends and scenarios; (2) vision formulation, including goals and outcomes; (3) Basin strategies, including conservation, water use and development, disaster risk managemen<sup>t</sup> and institutional management; and (4) detailed implementation, including activities and milestones, responsibilities and monitoring and review [21].

An alternative to the mainstream discourse on water governance is the Framework on Hydro-Hegemony (FHH) introduced by Zeitoun and Warner [32] and developed to analyze trans-boundary water conflicts. It has been widely employed at a river basin level [33] and provides an understanding of how three forms of power ("hard" or structural power; covert or bargaining power to shape agendas; and "ideational" power to shape perceptions and discourses) are used [34] and the nature of power asymmetries. While the FHH is not a governance framework per se, it does provide

an effective means to better understand socio-political-economic relations in relation to water, and how these relations determine water outcomes.

### *2.2. The Water Governance Reform Framework (WGRF)*

Given the existing water governance frameworks (IWRM, OECD, and River Basin Planning), why is there a need for a water governance reform framework? First, there is a "sweet spot" between the highly flexible, even vague, approach of IWRM and the highly prescriptive, even restrictive, rules and traffic lights frameworks of the OECD and River Basin Planning. Second, we contend the water governance reform framework (WGRF) offers both a more concise and easier-to-apply approach that complements the detailed water planning in the OECD and River Basin Planning approaches, among others, as well as more general policy frameworks. Third, as far as we are aware, the WGRF is the only water governance framework specifically developed and applied for strategic water reform. Fourth, it comprises three key strategies for integrative water security research that include: (1) linkage between the state of knowledge to decision-making; (2) an expanded water research agenda, such as comprehensive water accounting; and (3) a recognition of inequities in terms of water allocation and also the need for water justice [30].

The WGRF has as its core seven strategic considerations in relation to water reform and its implementation. Importantly, it is not a "checklist", but rather a set of strategic considerations that include: (1) well-defined and publicly available reform objectives; (2) transparency in decision-making and public access to available data; (3) water valuation of uses and non-uses to assess trade-offs and winners and losers; (4) compensation for the marginalized or mitigation for persons who are disadvantaged by reform; (5) reform oversight and "champions"; (6) capacity to deliver; and (7) resilient decision-making that is both beneficial and durable from a broad socio-economic perspective [35]. Of these strategic considerations; (3) in relation to water valuation, (5) reform oversight and "champions" and also (7) resilient decision-making are additional to the OECD and River Basin Planning frameworks. Importantly, the WGRF is also explicit about water equity in relation to (3) evaluation of winners and losers and (4) compensation for the marginalized and also those disadvantaged by reform. Thus, while the WGRF includes elements of existing frameworks, it is integrative, flexible and fit-for-purpose and, thus, a novel framework in its own right.

### **3. Applications of the WGRF to Australia, Tanzania, Mexico and USA, and Vietnam**

The value of any policy framework is not in its principles or steps per se, but rather how they are applied and, importantly, whether the framework generates positive net public benefits to the alternatives. The tactical aspects of water reform must also be context-specific and, thus, the WGRF should not be applied as a step-by-step "How-To-Manual" because what is prioritized and the sequencing of water reform must differ according to values, capacity, hydrological constraints, institutions and other factors.

To show both how to apply the framework and to demonstrate its potential for decision makers, we provide four applications of the WGRF: Murray–Darling Basin (Australia); Rufiji Basin (Tanzania); Colorado Basin (Mexico and USA); and Vietnam. The choice of these applications is, in part, based on our respective knowledge and experiences. The applications were selected to ensure a large variation in terms of institutional context, history, financial resources and capacity, and biophysical differences so as to test the flexibility and applicability of the water governance reform framework. For each application, we present an overview of the biophysical and socio-economic environment, which is then followed by an evaluation of each of the seven strategic considerations.
