The Effects of Public Participation on Multi-Level Water Governance, Lessons from Uganda

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Public Policy
• Water Resource Management

Background:

• Water governance operates across fragmented local to supra-national levels, necessitating inter-level interactions.
• Decentralization and public participation are common water management reforms, but their impact on sustainability and inter-level dynamics is unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how interactions among multiple levels of water governance manifest over time within a participatory intervention.
• To analyze the influence of participation on information, hydrosocial, financial, and human flows across governance tiers.

Main Methods:

• A case study in the Rwenzori region, Uganda, comparing multi-level interactions before and during a participatory process.
• Analysis of four key flows: information and knowledge, hydrosocial, financial, and human.
• Utilized participatory tools such as role-playing games and planning matrices.

Main Results:

• Participatory tools facilitated bi-directional information and knowledge flows between governance levels.
• Hydrosocial flows' depth remained unchanged, but organizational legitimacy was enhanced.
• Financial flows were introduced via a provincial academic institution, bypassing regular budgeting.

Conclusions:

• Participatory processes can be engineered to foster more collaborative and effective multi-level water governance.
• Specific interventions can bridge governance gaps and improve inter-level communication and coordination.
• The study offers practical suggestions for designing future participatory water management initiatives.