The Role of Tradable Permits in Water Pollution Control

This paper was prepared as a conceptual framework to stimulate discussions on the role and applicability of tradable permits in water pollution control among participants of the Technical Seminar on the Feasibility of the Application of Tradable Water Permits for Water Management in Chile (13-14 November 2003 in Santiago de Chile). In Chile, water pollution is a major problem. Until recently, existing regulations to control water pollution consisted mainly of non-market based instruments. Innovative instruments are now being explored via a recent national law for tradable emission/discharge permits. The instrument of tradable discharge permits is one of several market-based instruments used in water management and pollution control. Tradable discharge permits are actually among the most challenging market-based instruments in terms of both their design and implementation. Experience to date with tradable discharge permits for water pollution control has been limited and mainly comes from several regions of the US and Australia. The paper at first introduces tradable permits as part of an overall taxonomy of economic instruments in the field of water management. In this context, three fundamentally different fields of application of tradable permits systems relating to water are presented: tradable water abstraction rights, tradable rights to water-based resources and tradable water pollution rights. The remaining of the paper deals exclusively with the latter category, i.e. tradable water pollution rights, their role and applicability in water pollution control

Session B1: German Participatory Forum on Fish Protection and Downstream Migration

Abstract Fish protection and downstream fish migration has been an item of intensive and often controversial discussions in recent years in Germany, both from an environmental policy perspective and a technical point of view. In response, the Federal Environment Agency, with support from Ecologic Institute, initiated a Forum on Fish Protection and Downstream Fish Migration in 2012. The Forum includes participants from federal and regional water resource management authorities, nature and angler NGOs, consultancies, water managers and hydropower. More than 200 stakeholders have engaged in a dialogue process on the following jointly-identified key topics: environmental policy and legal framework; river basin-related strategies; applied behavioral and population biology; technical measures for fish protection and downstream migration; monitoring. The Forum has hosted a series of interactive workshops and conferences to foster dialogue and has achieved the exchange of information and experiences on the various topics put on the table. To increase acceptability and engagement of participants in the process, the Forum has not actively sought to reach consensus. In the outcomes of discussion on conflicting topics, both common and differing opinions have been taken on board. In addition, a common understanding has been developed on the current state of knowledge and technology that needs to be taken into account for fish protection, downstream fish migration and the conservation and establishment of fish populations. Next to the identification of key problem areas, the Forum experts proposed initial solutions and identified needs for further research and practical action. In 2014, the Forum produced a synthesis as a result of the discussions taking place so far during the workshops. The Forum participants have highlighted the improvement that has taking place in the debate culture on the topic of fish protection and downstream migration within Germany due to the Forum events. The participants highly recommended continuing this type of dialogue process

European Freshwater Ecosystem Assessment: Cross-walk between the Water Framework Directive and Habitats Directive types, status and pressures

The EU policies on the freshwater environment and nature and biodiversity are closely linked. The aims of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Habitat Directive (HD) are to achieve good status for water bodies (WFD) and for habitats and species (HD) respectively. The types of rivers and lakes and their ecological status and pressures under the WFD are not directly comparable to the conservation status and threats for freshwater habitats and species under the HD (EC 2011a). The objective of this study has been to explore the possibilities of linking WFD and HD information on types of water bodies and habitats, and their status, pressures and measures, using WISE WFD information on types, ecological status, pressures and measures (EEA 2012, ETC-ICM 2012) and HD information on habitat types, conservation status and threats (EC 2007). The results may be used as input to the EEA Freshwater Ecosystem Assessment in 2015, and also for future European assessments of specific objectives, status and trends for various types of rivers and lakes after the reporting of the WFD 2nd RBMPs and the next HD article 17 reporting. The outcome may also be used as a basis for discussions of the potential and limitations for WFD and HD synergies in terms of monitoring programmes, assessment systems and measures to improve status. The general methodology used in this report is to analyse data and information reported by Member States on WFD types, ecological status and pressures in river and lake water bodies and on Habitats Directive freshwater habitats and their conservation status and threats. The major data sources used are the WISE-WFD database and the HD Article 17 databaseJRC.H.1-Water Resource

Integrierte institutionelle Wasserregime : Realisierung in Griechenland

Die Entwicklung und Etablierung eines integrierten Wassermanagements stellt für Griechenland angesichts seiner vielfältigen Wasserprobleme sowie der neuen EU Anforderungen durch die Wasserrahmenrichtlinie eine große Herausforderung dar. Um die Frage nach der Entwicklung des Wassermanagements im Detail zu beleuchten, wurde in der vorliegenden Studie das Konzept der institutionellen Wasserregime benutzt. Das erste Ziel bestand darin, die Entwicklung der Integrationsbemühungen zu analysieren, um bereits erfolgte Veränderungen innerhalb des griechischen Wasserregimes zu ermitteln. Auch Ansätze und Versuche für ein höheres Maß an Integration wurden berücksichtigt. Das zweite Ziel der Arbeit war es, die Ursachen und Gründe für Veränderungen zu mehr Integration oder deren Ausbleiben zu identifizieren. Um die Ziele der Studie zu erreichen, wurde das institutionelle Wasserregime zunächst auf nationaler Ebene und anschließend anhand von Fallstudien über zwei Einzugsgebiete (Vegoritida und Mygdonian) auf regionaler Ebene untersucht. Die institutionellen Wasserregime werden innerhalb der Studie als eine Kombination aus öffentlicher Governance sowie existierenden Eigentumsrechten definiert. Im verwendeten analytischen Rahmen werden Regimeveränderungen durch zwei Kriterien qualifiziert: Einerseits durch das Ausmaß der vom Regime regulierten Nutzungen und andererseits durch die Kohärenz des Regimes. Letztere unterteilt sich wiederum in die interne Kohärenz, die die Konsistenz innerhalb der öffentlichen Governance und den Eigentumsrechten beschreibt, sowie in die externe Kohärenz, die den wechselseitigen Bezug zwischen öffentlicher Governance und Eigentumsrechten charakterisiert. Außerdem werden bestimmte Kontext-Konditionen definiert, die die Entwicklung eines integrierten Regimes fördern könnten. Der zur Analyse der griechischen Einzugsgebietsregime angepasste Rahmen wurde zusätzlich in den Prozess der Regimeveränderung und seiner nachfolgenden Umsetzung unterteilt. Zudem wurden diese Prozesse erheblich durch die handelnden Akteure geprägt. Dies wurde durch einen Interaktionsansatz erklärt, der den Fokus auf Motivation, Information und Ressourcen der Akteure legte. Die Forschungsergebnisse zeigen, dass die Wasserregime weder auf nationaler noch auf regionaler Ebene (Vegoritida- und Mygdonian-Einzugsgebiete) ein höheres Integrationsniveau erreicht haben. Als wichtiger Grund dafür wurde der Mangel an einem integrationsförderndem Kontext identifiziert. Auf das nationale Regime bezogen bestand dieser hauptsächlich aus der ungleicher Machtverteilung zwischen unterschiedlichen administrativen Ebenen sowie dem Fehlen einer kooperativen, sektorenübergreifenden Politik. Der Mangel an integrationsförderndem Kontext in Bezug auf die Einzugsgebietsregime bestand im Wesentlichen im Fehlen einer traditionell verankerten Kooperation der Akteure, einer fehlenden Wahrnehmung für gemeinsame Probleme sowie dem Fehlen integrationsfördernder institutioneller Schnittstellen. Außerdem wurden beschlossene Regelungen und Maßnahmen bis jetzt nur teilweise in die Praxis umgesetzt. Die etwas höhere Integrationstendenz des Mygdonian Einzugsgebietsregimes gründete sich vor allem auf externe Impulse aus der EU- und von internationaler Ebene, die die Umsetzung eines verstärkten Feuchtgebietsschutzes forderten. Gedruckte Version im Logos Verlag [http://www.logos-verlag.de/] erschienen.Greece faces a great challenge to manage its water resources in a more integrated and sustainable manner, in view of its rising water problems and EU requirements due to the Water Framework Directive. To elaborate on this challenge, this study used the concept of institutional water regimes, aiming at identifying whether there has been any change or attempts to change the Greek institutional water regime towards more integration to date. Secondly, the study aimed at explaining why there has been change (if any) or lack of change towards integration. These aims were pursued empirically first on the national level and secondly in two water basins (Vegoritida and Mygdonian). Institutional water regimes are defined as a combination of public governance and property rights. Regime changes are qualified by the criteria of the extent of uses considered by the regime and of the coherence within and between public governance and property rights. Furthermore, certain context conditions are defined as potential determinants of the outcome of regime change attempts. The analytical framework, as this was adapted to assess institutional regimes in Greek basins, also distinguishes the process of regime change from the process of its implementation. Explicit emphasis is placed on the influence of actors’ motivation, information and resources and actors’ interactions on the outcome of these processes. The research findings show that neither the national regime nor the two basin regimes could change towards more integration so far, influenced by integration-unfavourable context conditions. The context influencing national regime changes was characterised mainly by unbalanced power distribution between different administrative levels and lack of cooperative intersectoral policy style. The context conditions influencing change in the basin regimes involved lack of tradition in actor cooperation, lack of integration-supportive institutional interfaces and lack of joint problem perceptions. Furthermore, key policies and measures adopted during regime change could only be inadequately implemented. The slightly higher tendency of the Mygdonian basin regime towards integration was stimulated mainly by external pressure from the EU & international level for a better implemented wetland protection framework in this basin. Printed version available from Logos Verlag: [http://www.logos-verlag.de/

The Role of Tradable Permits in Water Pollution Control

This working paper first introduces tradable permits as part of an overall taxonomy of economic instruments in the field of water management. In this context, three fundamentally different fields of application of tradable permits systems relating to water are presented: tradable water abstraction rights, tradable rights to water-based resources and tradable water pollution rights. Next, the authors provide literature-based empirical evidence of the international experience with tradable water pollution rights (case studies from the US and Australia). Subsequently, the authors make recommendations on the strategies for introducing tradable water pollution rights, they point out opportunities and limitations and discuss the instrument's compatibility in instrument 'mixes'. This paper was prepared for the Technical Seminar on the Feasibility of the Application of Tradable Water Permits for Water Management in Chile, organized by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and the National Environment Commission of Chile (CONAMA) held on November 13th and 14th, 2003 in Santiago de Chile

Evolution of the Greek national regime for water resources

This paper characterizes and explains the development of the Greek national water regime, based on a framework from institutional resource regime theory. The specific framework combines public resource policies with property rights and operationalizes the concept of integration for resource regimes. The paper concentrates on attempts at more integrated water management in Greece (via important national water laws), which were mainly driven by increasing water resource degradation and EU water policies. It is argued that national attempts since the 1980s (especially the 1987 Water Law) were unsuccessful also under the influence of an unfavourable institutional context which prevailed at the time of the attempts. The outcome of a new 2003 Water Law in practice remains to be seen. The path to integration must involve significant efforts to overcome institutional obstacles which hindered integrated water management in the past