Public policy and water regulation : some examples from the Americas

Abstract

Water supply and sanitation are essential for socioeconomic and environmental sustainability. The adequate provision of these services is full of complexities and involves a great many challenges. Growing population and economic activities, plus soaring energy generation, environmental concerns, and climate change will exert great pressures on water security. It is not surprising that water has climbed to the top of the political agenda. The requirement of appropriate public policies to deal with these challenges is self-evident. Sound water regulation is a major component of this design. The unfolding of water regulation, however, reveals a wide and complex kaleidoscope of affairs, which involve different actors, dimensions and spatial scales. Surface and groundwater provides another set of challenges in discussing water regulation. More particularly, transboundary waters – within and between countries – impose, in addition to technical challenges, the need for diplomatic skills in the handling of their issues and the proposal of solutions. This issue of Network Industries Quarterly (NIQ) is linked to the Public Policy and Water Regulation International Forum, which was organized by Tecnologico de Monterrey, the Water Center for Latin America and the Caribbean, and Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma – Heineken México in May 2017. The Forum had an academic framework plus perspectives from practitioners working in the field of water regulation in Latin America. Other selected contributors were invited to complete this issue with its focus on the Americas. The papers on Canada and Texas are a reflection of this inclusion. The following are the themes included in this issue of NIQ: • Science, policy and management of groundwater in Canada; •Groundwater regulation in Texas; •Regulation of water and sanitation services in Latin America; •Incorporation of natural infrastructure in water management in Latin America; •The water guarantee fee in Mexico.