Towards Just Water (Re)Allocation: Re-Imagining Permit Systems

Organized by Research Centre Amsterdam

The simultaneous increase in water demand and decrease in supply have resulted in billions worldwide facing water scarcity, leading to competition over access to and control of water resources. This competition involves determining who gets how much water and for what purpose. Countries typically place water ownership in the public domain and water use permits are commonly used to allocate water for private, commercial, and industrial uses. They enable their holders to use water for a specified period, often allowing them to transfer permits and seek compensation from the state. Thus, permits may lead to quasi-property rights over water resources, i.e., de facto privatisation.

There is no “one-size-fits-all” approach for designing permits systems that ensure a just and equitable (re)allocation. Permit quasi-property characteristics create disparities among users, potentially perpetuating inequalities and limiting the state's ability to reallocate water, disadvantaging the “furthest behind” and nature. Balancing water supply for all and legal security to permit holders amidst changing circumstances is a complex challenge. This calls for water (re)allocation innovation, re-imagining governance to address the current imbalance triggered by de facto privatization to ensure user rights while adapting to new priorities.

In this panel, we discuss norms, regulations, and institutions that govern and guide water permits, creating quasi property rights, and the ways in which we can re-imagine water (re)allocation governance to offer legal security, adaptability to changing water availabilities, and just and equitable access to water resources.