Water Governance in a Comparative Perspective: From IWRM to a 'Nexus' Approach?

TLDR

Nexus thinking integrates water security with agriculture, energy, and climate to support greener economies and sustainable development, yet its novelty, complementarity to existing governance, and national applicability remain contested. The study reviews nexus literature to identify common criteria. It then examines nexus implementation compared to established IWRM models. Evidence from the UK and Bangladesh shows that nexus has not replaced IWRM, and integration across water, energy, climate, and agriculture remains limited, though opportunities for greater merging are discussed.

Abstract

Nexus thinking, in the form of integrating water security with agriculture, energy and climate concerns, is normatively argued to help better transition societies towards greener economies and the wider goal of sustainable development. Yet several issues emerge from the current debate surrounding this concept, namely the extent to which such conceptualisations are genuinely novel, whether they complement (or are replacing) existing environmental governance approaches and how – if deemed normatively desirable – the nexus can be enhanced in national contexts. This paper therefore reviews the burgeoning nexus literature to determine some common indicative criteria before examining its implementation in practice vis-a-vis more established integrated water resources management (IWRM) models. Evidence from two divergent national contexts, the UK and Bangladesh, suggests that the nexus has not usurped IWRM, while integration between water, energy, climate and agricultural policy objectives is generally limited. Scope for greater merging of nexus thinking within IWRM is then discussed.