Department Environmental Social Sciences

Water Supply Structures in the Canton of Basel-Landschaft

 

Decentralized and small organizational structures characterize the water supply sector in the Canton of Basel-Landschaft. Each municipality generally has its own waterworks. Only a few larger, joint waterworks exist – i.e., more centralized structures with shared ownership and operation between multiple municipalities. These current structures, however,  increasingly reach their limits to meet present and future water supply challenges. Specifically, the small waterworks face increasing difficulties due to rising quality and quantity demands as they often lack funds and know-how.

Given this context, the project aims to shed light onto potentially viable future water supply structures in different regions of the Canton of Basel-Landschaft. To accomplish this objective, the research project involves the following steps:

(1) an analysis of the current water supply structures’ strengths and weaknesses in the canton for coping with the major present and future challenges;

(2) an evaluation of the pros and cons of alternative structures (e.g., more centralized or cross-sector forms with different financing models and regulations) based on analyzing the few existing joint waterworks in the canton as well as other structures for water supply and other sectors (e.g., electric power supply, wastewater) in Switzerland;

(3) the development of recommendations for the public authorities regarding the applicability of these alternative structures in the Canton of Basel-Landschaft, potential obstacles and how to foster their implementation.

Project Team

Prof. Dr. Karin Ingold Group Leader, Group: PEGO Tel. +41 58 765 5676 Send Mail

External team members

Eva Lieberherr (ETH Zürich)

Related Publications

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      authors => protected'Lienert, J.; Schnetzer, F.; Ingold, K.' (53 chars)
      title => protected'Stakeholder analysis combined with social network analysis provides fine-gra
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      categories => protected'actors; Infrastructure; social network analysis; stakeholder analysis; water
          supply; wastewater management' (106 chars)
      description => protected'Environmental policy and decision-making are characterized by complex intera
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          lacking quality and consistency. This lack is remedied here by a formal soc
         ial network analysis that investigates collaborative and multi-level governa
         nce settings in a rigorous way. We examine the added value of combining both
          elements. Our case study examines infrastructure planning in the Swiss wate
         r sector. Water supply and wastewater infrastructures are planned far into t
         he future, usually on the basis of projections of past boundary conditions. 
         They affect many actors, including the population, and are expensive. In vie
         w of increasing future dynamics and climate change, a more participatory and
          long-term planning approach is required. Our specific aims are to investiga
         te fragmentation in water infrastructure planning, to understand how actors 
         from different decision levels and sectors are represented, and which intere
         sts they follow. We conducted 27 semi-structured interviews with local stake
         holders, but also cantonal and national actors. The network analysis confirm
         ed our hypothesis of strong fragmentation: we found little collaboration bet
         ween the water supply and wastewater sector (confirming horizontal fragmenta
         tion), and few ties between local, cantonal, and national actors (confirming
          vertical fragmentation). Infrastructure planning is clearly dominated by en
         gineers and local authorities. Little importance is placed on longer-term st
         rategic objectives and integrated catchment planning, but this was perceived
          as more important in a second analysis going beyond typical questions of st
         akeholder analysis. We conclude that linking a stakeholder analysis, compris
         ing rarely asked questions, with a rigorous social network analysis is very 
         fruitful and generates complementary results. This combination gave us deepe
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      title => protected'Towards legitimate water governance? The partially privatized Berlin waterwo
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      description => protected'This article addresses how and to what extent a governance mode can legitima
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         c– private partnership (PPP) in the water supply and sanitation sectors. W
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         nt of this paper draws from a case-study analysis of the wastewater utility 
         in Zurich, Switzerland. The findings indicate that establishing competencies
          through the process of autonomization can lead to an increase in a utility'
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      title => protected'Acceptability of the Deschutes Groundwater Mitigation Program' (61 chars)
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      description => protected'In the last decade, the Deschutes River Basin in Central Oregon has faced gr
         owing urbanization, shifting water uses, and increasing ecosystem health con
         cerns. This has led the Oregon Water Resources Department to experiment with
          a voluntary market-based approach to water management. To meet groundwater 
         demands while maintaining instream flows and upholding prior water allocatio
         ns, the Oregon Water Resources Department developed the Groundwater Mitigati
         on Program in 2002. A program will be more effective and viable if it is dee
         med acceptable by its participants. As such, this research focuses on how ac
         ceptable the Groundwater Mitigation Program is to its participants. Comparin
         g two hypothetical alternative scenarios to the Groundwater Mitigation Progr
         am, I determine acceptability by the following criteria: usability, accounta
         bility, enforcement, equity, information dissemination, cost-effectiveness, 
         and utility. The research incorporates a mixed-method approach, conducting i
         nterviews and surveys of program participants. Results indicate that althoug
         h the Groundwater Mitigation Program is more acceptable than the proposed al
         ternatives, a lengthy groundwater permitting process, passive enforcement, a
         nd a lack of information nonetheless make the program unfavorable to its par
         ticipants. Increased awareness could promote acceptance of the Groundwater M
         itigation Program, and at the same time, contribute to the effectiveness of 
         the program.' (1456 chars)
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Stakeholder analysis combined with social network analysis provides fine-grained insights into water infrastructure planning processes

Environmental policy and decision-making are characterized by complex interactions between different actors and sectors. As a rule, a stakeholder analysis is performed to understand those involved, but it has been criticized for lacking quality and consistency. This lack is remedied here by a formal social network analysis that investigates collaborative and multi-level governance settings in a rigorous way. We examine the added value of combining both elements. Our case study examines infrastructure planning in the Swiss water sector. Water supply and wastewater infrastructures are planned far into the future, usually on the basis of projections of past boundary conditions. They affect many actors, including the population, and are expensive. In view of increasing future dynamics and climate change, a more participatory and long-term planning approach is required. Our specific aims are to investigate fragmentation in water infrastructure planning, to understand how actors from different decision levels and sectors are represented, and which interests they follow. We conducted 27 semi-structured interviews with local stakeholders, but also cantonal and national actors. The network analysis confirmed our hypothesis of strong fragmentation: we found little collaboration between the water supply and wastewater sector (confirming horizontal fragmentation), and few ties between local, cantonal, and national actors (confirming vertical fragmentation). Infrastructure planning is clearly dominated by engineers and local authorities. Little importance is placed on longer-term strategic objectives and integrated catchment planning, but this was perceived as more important in a second analysis going beyond typical questions of stakeholder analysis. We conclude that linking a stakeholder analysis, comprising rarely asked questions, with a rigorous social network analysis is very fruitful and generates complementary results. This combination gave us deeper insight into the socio-political-engineering world of water infrastructure planning that is of vital importance to our well-being.
Lienert, J.; Schnetzer, F.; Ingold, K. (2013) Stakeholder analysis combined with social network analysis provides fine-grained insights into water infrastructure planning processes, Journal of Environmental Management, 125, 134-148, doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2013.03.052, Institutional Repository

Towards legitimate water governance? The partially privatized Berlin waterworks

This article addresses how and to what extent a governance mode can legitimately provide public services. A single case study of the partially privatized Berlin Waterworks is used to analyse the level of input and output legitimacy as well as potential trade-offs between the criteria emerging in a public– private partnership (PPP) in the water supply and sanitation sectors. While the Berlin Waterworks as a PPP leads to a lower level of resource protection and public acceptance, it leads to a higher level of efficiency and profitability than under the previous public model.
Lieberherr, E.; Klinke, A.; Finger, M. (2012) Towards legitimate water governance? The partially privatized Berlin waterworks, Public Management Review, 14(7), 923-946, doi:10.1080/14719037.2011.650056, Institutional Repository

Regionalization and water governance: a case study of a Swiss wastewater utility

The aim of this paper is to evaluate how regionalization trends might affect the performance of water governance in terms of three overarching performance criteria: legitimacy, efficiency and effectiveness. The empirical component of this paper draws from a case-study analysis of the wastewater utility in Zurich, Switzerland. The findings indicate that establishing competencies through the process of autonomization can lead to an increase in a utility's organizational efficiency and effectiveness; yet there is a notable trade-off with legitimacy because such processes tend to decrease direct democratic influence.
Lieberherr, E. (2011) Regionalization and water governance: a case study of a Swiss wastewater utility, In: Balsiger, J.; Debarbieux, B. (Eds.), Regional environmental governance: interdisciplinary perspectives, theoretical issues, comparative designs (REGov), 73-89, doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.03.026, Institutional Repository

Acceptability of the Deschutes Groundwater Mitigation Program

In the last decade, the Deschutes River Basin in Central Oregon has faced growing urbanization, shifting water uses, and increasing ecosystem health concerns. This has led the Oregon Water Resources Department to experiment with a voluntary market-based approach to water management. To meet groundwater demands while maintaining instream flows and upholding prior water allocations, the Oregon Water Resources Department developed the Groundwater Mitigation Program in 2002. A program will be more effective and viable if it is deemed acceptable by its participants. As such, this research focuses on how acceptable the Groundwater Mitigation Program is to its participants. Comparing two hypothetical alternative scenarios to the Groundwater Mitigation Program, I determine acceptability by the following criteria: usability, accountability, enforcement, equity, information dissemination, cost-effectiveness, and utility. The research incorporates a mixed-method approach, conducting interviews and surveys of program participants. Results indicate that although the Groundwater Mitigation Program is more acceptable than the proposed alternatives, a lengthy groundwater permitting process, passive enforcement, and a lack of information nonetheless make the program unfavorable to its participants. Increased awareness could promote acceptance of the Groundwater Mitigation Program, and at the same time, contribute to the effectiveness of the program.
Lieberherr, E. (2011) Acceptability of the Deschutes Groundwater Mitigation Program, Ecology Law Currents, 38(25), 26-35, Institutional Repository