Hydrology and Earth System Sciences
www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net
1027-5606
1607-7938
12
1
2008
10.5194/hess-12-223-2008
http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/12/223/2008/
http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/12/223/2008/hess-12-223-2008.html
http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/12/223/2008/hess-12-223-2008.pdf
223
238
2008-02-04
Institutional design and regime effectiveness in transboundary river management – the Elbe water quality regime
I. Dombrowsky
ines.dombrowsky@ufz.de
UFZ, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany
The literature on transboundary river management suggests that institutions
play an important role in bringing about cooperation. However, knowledge
about how such institutions should be designed in order to do so remains
limited. One way to learn more about adequate institutional design is to
assess the effectiveness of existing regimes, and to trace the causal
relationships that lead to the respective outcomes. In order to gain further
insights into the relationship between institutional design and regime
effectiveness, this paper presents a study on the water quality regime of
the International Commission for the Protection of the Elbe (ICPE). The
analysis is based on a review of pertinent documents and ten qualitative
interviews with Czech and German Commission members and NGO representatives.
Particular emphasis has been put on determining the ICPE's specific
contribution and the no-regime counterfactual as well as on the perceived
expediency of the institutional arrangements.
<br><br>
The study shows overall that the countries were relatively successful in
improving water quality in the Elbe basin. However, this outcome can only
partly be attributed to the ICPE itself. Furthermore, the ICPE's
contribution towards achieving the various goals varied significantly
between the different areas of activity: it was relatively significant where
the main responsibility for action lay with the public authorities, such as
in the area of wastewater treatment and the establishment of an
international alarm plan and model, but was practically non-existent in the
reduction of non-point pollution from agriculture, where success depended on
the behavior of individual private actors (farmers). The commission
contributed towards problem solving by serving as a forum for the joint
identification of priorities for action from a basin-wide perspective. The
resulting international obligations increased the power of national water
administrations and their access to funds. At the same time, the
Commission's reporting to the public served as an enforcement mechanism.
From a methodological point of view, the paper highlights the opportunities
and limitations of a combined quantitative and qualitative approach to
determining regime effectiveness.
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