A Study of Governance: The Saskatoon South East Water Supply System

The concept of water security increasingly frames global discussion of water issues. In 2012, water security became the local frame for water discussions in Saskatchewan when the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority was renamed the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency and the 25 Year Water Security Plan was rolled out. This research uses a qualitative approach to understand if the adoption of “water security” language by the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency is a signal of governance change and as a result was matched with changes to water planning and management in the Saskatoon South East Water Supply region. The analysis looked for factors of anticipatory governance as an approach supportive of the water security framework in three data sources: the Water Security Agency’s 25 Year Saskatchewan Water Security Plan, interviews with stakeholders from a subsection of the South Saskatchewan River Basin, and a social network map. Results from the study suggest that pockets of change in planning and management activities have occurred, specifically an increase in support of participatory decision making strategies. However, outside of this the majority of activities remain reflective of traditional water governance approaches in the Saskatoon South East Water Supply region. Therefore, it is likely additional work towards governance change will be needed to fully embrace an approach capable of supporting the water security framework and in turn enhance water security in Saskatchewan