Abstract
An ensemble of normative codes of conduct in the form of global, regional and domestic norms, principles of best practice and laws have developed over time providing standards of appropriate behaviour in the governance of transboundary rivers in an attempt to eradicate or minimise real or perceived conflicts. Through a multi-levelled analysis of water governance in the Orange-Senqu River basin in Southern Africa, this paper investigates the relationships between co-operative management norms constructed at different levels of scale, and the ways in which both norm and context are transformed as a result of the other. At the basin level, legal and institutional processes symbolise a movement towards norm convergence in the basin. However, norm drivers (such as technical co-operation, personalised politics, trust and confidence building) and norm barriers (such as skills flight and the lack of trust) to the development of a ‘community of interest’ in the Orange-Senqu River basin have also been significant in shaping the legal and normative landscape. An analysis of global, regional, basin-wide and local norms is therefore useful because it illustrates the interconnectedness of their interactions as well as how their content is affected.
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Notes
This was later referred to as Rhodesia, the Republic of Rhodesia, the Republic of Zimbabwe Rhodesia, and became Zimbabwe upon independence on 17 April 1,980.
This became Zambia upon independence on 24 October 1964.
This became Malawi upon independence on 6 July 1964.
This became Botswana upon independence on 30 September 1966.
This became Lesotho upon independence on 4 October 1966.
Abbreviations
- ANC:
-
African National Congress
- DRWS:
-
Directorate of Rural Water Supply
- DWAF:
-
Department of Water Affairs
- GDP:
-
Gross domestic product
- IBT:
-
Inter-basin transfer
- INGO:
-
International non-governmental organisation
- IWRM:
-
Integrated water resource management
- JIA:
-
Joint Irrigation Authority
- LHWP:
-
Lesotho Highlands Water Project
- MAR:
-
Mean annual run-off
- NEP:
-
National environment policy
- NWA:
-
National Water Act
- OKACOM:
-
Okavango River Commission
- ORASECOM:
-
Orange-Senqu River Commission
- PWC:
-
Permanent Water Commission
- RBO:
-
River Basin Organisation
- RWP:
-
Regional Water Policy
- RWS:
-
Regional Water Strategy
- SADC:
-
Southern African Development Community
- SADC WD:
-
Southern African Development Community Water Division
- SADC PF:
-
Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum
- SOLD:
-
Survivors of the Lesotho Dams
- TRC:
-
Transformation resource centre
- UN:
-
United Nations
- VNJIS:
-
Vioolsdrift and Noordoewer joint irrigation scheme
- WRC:
-
Water Research Commission
- WSASP:
-
Water supply and sanitation policy
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This article forms part of a larger study published in 2012 by the author entitled “The Politics of Water in Africa: Norms, Environmental Regions and Transboundary Co-operation in the Orange-Senqu and Nile Rivers” by Continuum Books.
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Jacobs, I.M. A community in the Orange: the development of a multi-level water governance framework in the Orange-Senqu River basin in Southern Africa. Int Environ Agreements 12, 187–210 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10784-012-9166-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10784-012-9166-1