Song, Shuang, Wang, Shuai, Wu, Xutong, Wei, Yongping, Cumming, Graeme S., Qin, Yue, Wu, Xilin, and Fu, Bojie (2023) Identifying Regime Transitions for Water Governance in the Yellow River Basin, China. Water Resources Research, 59 (12). e2022WR033819.

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Abstract

Water governance determines “who gets water, when, and how” in most large river basins. Shifts in water governance regimes from natural to social-ecological or “hydrosocial” carry profound implications for human wellbeing; identifying regime changes in water governance is critical to navigating social-ecological transitions and guiding sustainability. We characterized water governance along with the three main aspects—stress, purpose, and allocation—to develop a quantitative integrated water governance index (IWGI) at a basin scale. Applying the IWGI to the rapidly changing Yellow River Basin (YRB) in China clarifies shifts in water governance between massive supply, transformation governance, and adaptation-oriented regimes. In the YRB, the underlying causes of regime shifts were increasing water supply and demand before the governance transformation and re-allocation and regulation after the change. The IWGI offers a comprehensive and straightforward approach to linking water governance regimes to sustainability, providing valuable insights into hydrosocial transitions.

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