Politics, water management and infrastructure

Area of Science:

• Environmental Engineering
• Urban Planning
• Political Science

Background:

• Modern water management faces criticism for lacking democratic input, impacting system resilience.
• Centralized water management often disconnects from public decision-making processes.
• Developing resilient urban water systems requires addressing governance and public participation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine how resilient water infrastructure experiments politicize centralized water management.
• To analyze the contestation and politicization of techno-managerial water management through a 'third-pipe' system.
• To investigate how techno-managerial discourses delegitimized a stormwater reuse system.

Main Methods:

• Case study analysis of a 'third-pipe' stormwater reuse system in Auckland, New Zealand.
• In-depth examination of resident and expert views on safety, cost, and security.
• Qualitative analysis of discourse and power dynamics in water management implementation.

Main Results:

• The implementation of the 'third-pipe' system politicized centralized water management as techno-managerial approaches were contested.
• Water management authorities used techno-managerial discourses to delegitimize the 'third-pipe' system.
• The stormwater reuse system was ultimately rendered inoperable due to these de-politicizing efforts.

Conclusions:

• Experiments with resilient water infrastructure can highlight and challenge existing power structures in water management.
• Techno-managerial discourses can be used to de-politicize and undermine innovative water management projects.
• Despite setbacks, such experiments provide valuable lessons for achieving more democratic water governance and urban flood resilience.