On Seven Principles of Water Governance

Water problems extend beyond the watershed of local communities and single countries. A novel governance approach must comprise coordination and institutional arrangements at the global scale, and rely on a set of axioms that guide the decision-making and actions of various stakeholders involved in water-related issues. These principles must reflect the awareness of water paradigms across history and geography, as well as the economic, social, environmental, and ethical dimensions of water, aiming at ensuring its sustainable and equitable use, driving governance towards recognizing the value of water for public health and social cohesion, the link of landscape and identity values to water bodies, the social, aesthetic-recreational, and symbolic values of water across the world, and the functions of water in nature. The principles presented here include the human right to water, ecosystem centrality, the principles of shared integration, precautionary, responsibility, and subsidiarity, along with the concept of the common good. The assessment of principles of water governance is essential for implementing any guideline of water management aimed not only at efficiency and security, but at equity and sustainability of water supply and flood mitigation in a globalized and conflict-ridden world.