Post-Independence Water Policy

Post-Independence Water Policy

Recently, however, there is a pronounced concern for the survival of the Oasis. What has changed and what is different today? The newly implanted government administrative system lacked the knowledge, commitment, and legitimacy to support the needs of the community as the social and political environment was changing as the institutions that could accommodate or influence change no longer existed. A combination of external forces could not be mediated by a institutional forces solidified by social, political, and legal traditions steeped in history and value. The system was no longer balanced, engaging, trusted, or responsive. As a result, these institutions failed to keep in check unbalanced development by returning immigrants.

The new systems and institutions have broken with traditional practices that relied on experience with success and crisis. My research reveals that changes over the past decades have eroded fundamental institutional and governance supports and consequently left the community unprepared to effectively address the challenges of today.

While long-standing social, legal and political traditions supported a cautious balance of sustainability and development drastic changes over the past few decades have severed historical supports, undermined a base of social value, and introduced a new approach to dealing with the challenges of a modern era. A closer look at the changes in the institutional and cultural supports of the community allows us to better understand the important elements of a successful integrative resources management. And perhaps, the appropriate intervention to reestablish a base from which to develop effective institutions to support a system of good governance within the Oasis, supported by national policy.

Today the community is facing a crisis of a different nature: a crisis of value. The Oasis is faced with unprecedented water scarcity from both natural and human influences. Moreover, the mechanisms that were in place in the past to effectively address resource needs no longer exist. While Figuig witnessed major changes in its social, political and economic structure, two of the key principles of IWRM were unchanged, water property rights, and pricing controls.

The Water Council played a role beyond simple enforcement of property rights. It was a social expression of the value of water. Centered within the community’s social, political, and legal governance system its existence and prominence placed water at the center of society and politics: A constant reminder of the community’s balance with nature.(Figuig interviews, 2005) The fragmentation of society and sea changes in the institutional structure, including the dissolution of this respected, pillar of community brought about a process of disenfranchisement and disassociation and a disconnect with the community and the systems that allowed it to survive and prosper for so many generations. Moreover, institutional controls to safeguard the system and check negative and unbalanced influence necessary to support a sustainable system, necessary, according to the ICWE (ICWE, 1992), no longer existed.

The success of Integrated Water Resources Management system is dependent on the strength of the foundations from which it was developed. An understanding of the historical roots of governance structures and a system that encourages environmental sensitivity is crucial. Cultures and economies develop relative to a society’s geography and physical surrounding. A relevant sense of value, particularly as it relates to water, is crucial to developing institutions that encourage behavior consistent with a society’s long-term goals.

Chapter 6: Conclusion

As we continue to search for solutions to the problem of water scarcity, we often look to novel solutions. The past half century has shown that the process is often flawed. The years since WWII supported large scale water projects led by technology that required significant investment. They were based on narrowly defined supply/demand economic models that failed to incorporate social, legal, political environmental factors that would undermine their success. Today, communities around the globe living in the shadows of grand dam projects continue to face issues of water scarcity. As a result there has been a renewed emphasis on the adoption of Integrated Water Resources Management strategies.

IWRM is not a new concept. Elinor Ostrom had proposed the model in the 1960’s, but increasing pressures to deal with water scarcity has inspired greater commitment to incorporating alternative strategies.(Ostrom, 1992) While it is accepted by the international water community as the most effective means of dealing with problems of water, adoption is slow and success is varied. To support IWRM, we have included good governance in our resource management strategy to provide for decentralized, institutional development within a framework of cooperation and trust among varying levels of government, civil society, and institutional supports. While a water resources strategy that incorporates these principles will encourage successful development, success requires long-term planning, often significant change, and time. Rarely, today, do we look back to appreciate the importance of time past, history, and tradition, and the important foundations these elements have established to support effective systems development into the future.

Despite the damaging effects of past water policies a desperate effort to solve immediate water problems has encouraged hasty decision-making that continues to include technological solutions, including costly dam projects. A modern fix is not necessarily a sustainable solution. Sustainability requires an interdisciplinary approach to policy making that incorporates knowledge of the past in planning. As we look to water resources management strategy, we need a new framework to incorporate water into our broader goals.

As the modern era poses new problems to an advanced society and polity we tend to focus our attention on new solutions. Governance reform often suggests radical change. Consequently, we turn our attention to change, whereby, new processes and institutions are developed. As many cases suggest, however, a reliance on development to support change, is perhaps what accounts for the many policy failures today. Moreover, development policies tend to be focused on the economy and ignore the relevance of multi-dimensional, social, political, and legal systems that support broad based “development”.

A look at systems that have proved sustainable over centuries provides valuable insight into the components of a successful system. The case of sustained water systems in Spain is often cited, and is lauded as an example of a successful water resources management system.(Maass, Anderson, 1978) Its ability to sustain a community for centuries with powerful supporting institutions, such as the Water Council, has supported an apparently simple, but carefully planned water allocation system. Similarly, the water resources management system in Figuig, an Oasis in the midst of the Sahara Desert, that has been sustained for more than a millennium offers valuable insight into what makes a system effective over the long-run.

The case of Figuig is unique, and perhaps more poignant as a longitudinal study of a water resources management system and its social, political, and legal institutions during a period of significant change. A system that proved sustainable for centuries has recently met with an uncertain future. Marked changes in the national social, political and economic system since Morocco’s Independence from its French Protectorate in 1956, and corresponding changes to important institutions in Figuig that offset the governance system provides valuable insight into the foundations of good governance and effective integrated resources management systems. An evaluation of the system before and after Independence reveals how a society that historically had effective and sustainable institutions has been thrown into an unsustainable situation by a narrowly defined policy agenda and administrative controls imposed on the community.

A system that evolved over centuries and enhanced by experience was able to engage change for centuries was supported by a base of strong community foundations and corresponding institutions established relative to social values and traditions steeped in history, that incorporated experience, both success and dilemma. Most importantly, the value of water, that supported the long-term goals of the community, including the survival of the Oasis, was perpetuated by a robust system of institutions and a balanced system of governance that internalized value. Central to the governance system was water. As a result, an integrative water resources management system was established and sustained for a millennium.

While Figuig, prior to independence, was illustrative of a good governance system. The system was established on a foundation of history, tradition and sense of water value that supported community and consequently the momentum to maintain itself. The system was not introduced to deal with a short-term problem, but to develop a long-term solution. A community established on principles of self-dependence relied on social interdependency and the natural environment to support its long-term goals. Development was not shunned, but incorporated into the community as a means of maintaining its independence, strong social value system, and community. Water and its value remained central to community in institutional development. The value of water was so great that it resonated throughout the social, political, and legal system. Consequently, resource sustainability was a central component of all policy decisions.

The case of Figuig is important in understanding water resource management. As I discuss in Chapter 5, simple supply and demand economic models do not adequately represent demand as it relates to water, or support the use of neo-classical development theory in determining policy. The assumption that demand is driven by individuals who are motivated by profit can be misleading, if not inaccurate in understanding water demand. As my research suggests, the price of water in Figuig had a minimal impact on consumption. In fact, the unique properties of water have created such a high value for the resource that, in the context of current theoretical modeling, an assigned value would prove extremely difficult to devise, and an arbitrary value assignment would most likely produce inaccurate results.

Simple logic, as supported by my proposed model, suggests that economics must incorporate an important value factor, beyond price, to provide a more comprehensive representation of supply and demand as it relates to water, and perhaps many other limited, necessary resources. In keeping with this theoretical model my research suggests that the water value, that price could not adequately represent, in Figuig provided the foundations from which a sustainable water resource management system developed, and subsequently how the erosion of its value has led to crisis today.

Value, in Figuig, was established and strengthened through a long history of struggle for survival, along with social, technological and environmental challenges. Individual and community responsibility to society and the Oasis resulted in an effective water resources management system supported by good governance.

In combination with a need to reestablish power, the post-independence, national government, focused its attention on narrowly defined macro-economic goals that did not consider micro-level consequences and social change. The result was economic stagnation, environmental degradation, and social change that left communities throughout Morocco in crisis. Urban communities that continue to experience population growth are being strained by an increase in demand for scarce water resources. Rural communities, have been subject to the imposition of administration from the central government, and important institutions that supported sustainable social, political, and legal systems that allowed them to be self-sustaining have been dissolved as the government sought to extend its reach to local communities.

The case of Figuig allows us to look at a water resources management system and corresponding governance system before and after Independence and appreciate the underlying feature that supported sustainability in the past and subsequently the factors that undermined the system during the most recent wave of changes.

Through a study of Figuig I have compared the success of the community over time and within the context of its unique social, political, economic and legal institutions and that of the corresponding national system over time. By further assessing other systems in various stages of time and space but with comparable changes or developments I believe my observations provide important evidence to support the criteria for establishing an effective system.

A study of the history of particular community is critical to solving the water crisis, as it sheds light on how a society values water. History also reveals how the community aligns itself with other communities, and national and international systems. Over time these communities create institutions that reflect the community’s interests and identity. The governing institutions are then true expressions of a society’s identity and, consequently, engender trust from its respective communities. Concomitantly, the community entrusts its valuable resources to the institutions, providing an environment where rules and regulations are self enforced and followed in text and spirit.

This research shows that the important elements of IWRM, namely property rights, stakeholder involvement and good governance, were continually reinforced by the strength of community institutions that supported society’s long-term goals. An understanding of Figuig suggests that while IWRM is necessary, maintaining a careful balance of fundamental supporting elements, i.e. value, historical supports and tradition, is critical in achieving sustainability

From my observation of Figuig, through multiple visits and interviews, two important factors supported the community’s ability to establish and maintain an effective water resources management system over the long-run: value and governance. Figuig’s water management system was sustained by maintaining a balance between the value of water and the governance structure. Central to the governance system was the Water Council that administered the allocation of water resources and supported policy development and legal reform to support the needs of the community. The survival of the Oasis was dependent on the institutions to which it entrusted its most valuable resource.

Government imposed policy and administration from the State, in the case of Figuig was unable to integrate the stakeholders and local institutions rendering the new system ineffective. Without the support and knowledge of the community the governance system and the water resources management system could not incorporate the knowledge and experience conveyed through history, of the community. Consequently, the external government apparatus was unable to integrate or support community value, particularly as it relates to water. Societies will generally not embrace imposed control without a clear understanding of their benefits and tacit support.

After Morocco’s independence from its French Protectorate in 1956, three key events occurred that undermined the balance of Figuig’s established system: 1.) The local governance system that was intimately tied to the value of water was dismantled and remote government control introduced; 2.) the value of water eroded as society changed and institutions were dissolved and immigrants returned to the Oasis with disproportional buying power, new attitudes, a disconnect with tradition, and knowledge of technology; 3.) The political isolation of Figuig through the closure of the Algerian border and a new redistricting policy imposed by the State severed important historical relationships with similarly situated communities along the along the Ziz and Drâa valleys. Water resources management, consequently, moved from an integrative management system to a supply management system. Administrators were not sensitive to the balance of nature and society. Individuals who spent many years outside of the Oasis, lost an appreciation for history and tradition that supported community values of conservation and sustainability

My research supports a shift in emphasis in developing effective solutions for water resources management from the process to the enabling environment for establishing effective foundations from which effective institutions can develop to support a sustainable water resources management system. A system is dependant on pillars of support to develop and change. In the case of Figuig, a strong foundation of history and value, supported by culture and traditions supported institutional development and consequently balanced influence to support a system of good governance. As community supports, i.e. representative institutions, were dissolved during a period of social change the community dissipated and the system foundered.

The establishment of any resources management system must be supported by important sustaining mechanisms. Not only must it include knowledge of a specific location, the society, polity and legal system, and the underlying values that motivate a community to action or change, but put in place local ownership mechanisms to ensure that it has the appropriate base of social values that evolve with the community. The system must incorporate mechanisms that support continual change shaped by the community’s unique social, political, and legal and natural environment and its corresponding institutions to prove sustainable.