(De)centralized Water Futures: Key Dimensions of Infrastructure, Governance, and Operations

Abstract

Water system centralization and decentralization have variously been promoted as key to achieving household water security and Sustainable Development Goal 6.1. We argue that the lack of specificity with which scholars and practitioners use the terms centralization and decentralization limits our understanding of different water system configurations and their impacts. In this Primer, we provide a framework for thinking about levels of (de)centralization across three linked system dimensions: infrastructure, governance, and operations and maintenance. We encourage those analyzing water systems to characterize (de)centralization with respect to these multiple dimensions, as well as the system's broader political-economic and hydro-climatic contexts. Emphasizing the importance of delineating the scale of analysis, we highlight distinct system configurations and the prevalence of hybridity. Increased specificity about dimensions and scale can clarify how the character of, or changes to, a given system impact users, which is critical to assessing their implications for water security, sustainability, and equity. We conclude with recommendations for future research to analyze the opportunities and challenges associated with different water system configurations. This article is categorized under: Human Water > Water Governance.

Keywords: centralization; decentralization; governance; infrastructure; operations & maintenance.

FIGURE 1

Schematic of key dimensions visualized as a cube with governance, infrastructure, and operations and maintenance as the three axes with “Decentralized” and “Centralized” on each end. The cube is surrounded by a circle reflecting the broader political‐economic and hydro‐climatic context. We note that some water provision systems exhibit hybridity within and across dimensions; that is, a given water provision system may not fit into a specific “point” in the schematic.