8.6 Conclusions and Recommendations for Salland:
Seeking More Horizontal Integration and Awareness
Our overall conclusion is that the Salland Region is characterized by a vivid
governance context. The emphasis of national and EU policies on river basin
management encourages the regional water authorities to coordinate their actions.
One of the regional initiatives has been the development and implementation of a
common irrigation policy, which aims to balance the use of water by farmers close
to natural areas. The investigation on the governance context revealed that all
stakeholders involved discuss the issue of irrigation in terms of (a lack of) water
supply, an approach culturally and historically firmly rooted in this region. As such,
the focus of the policy shifted towards zoning, a solution that aims to reserve scarce
water for nature, during periods of drought. However, the governance assessment
also revealed some evidence that stakeholders on the regional level learn to treat the
issue of drought as a phenomenon in itself through participating in a regional
initiative, which aims to preserve and increase the freshwater reserves in the region,
whereby stakeholders are willing to address drought as an issue in itself that
influences the vulnerability and adaptability of their activities.
8.6.1 Influence of the Governance Context on Actor
Characteristics
Looking from the actor characteristics perspective of the Contextual Interaction
Theory, the relatively neutral governance context of the Salland region does not
have significant positive or negative influences on the motivation, cognitions and
resources of the actors that are involved in the implementation of drought adaptation. Water authorities have a thorough understanding of the drought problem as
well as adaptation requirements. They support this by allocating resources and
trying to mobilize all the actors. Furthermore, high degree of flexibility and intensity
in terms of levels and scales enables the rescaling of the irrigation issue. However,
the low degree of intensity regarding the problem perception leads to a situation that
most of the actors, particularly the farmers, put much higher priority on flood
protection than on drought adaptation.
Three major recommendations can be made towards improving drought resilience in the Salland Region.
176
G. Özerol et al.
Seeking More Horizontal Integration and Awareness
Our overall conclusion is that the Salland Region is characterized by a vivid
governance context. The emphasis of national and EU policies on river basin
management encourages the regional water authorities to coordinate their actions.
One of the regional initiatives has been the development and implementation of a
common irrigation policy, which aims to balance the use of water by farmers close
to natural areas. The investigation on the governance context revealed that all
stakeholders involved discuss the issue of irrigation in terms of (a lack of) water
supply, an approach culturally and historically firmly rooted in this region. As such,
the focus of the policy shifted towards zoning, a solution that aims to reserve scarce
water for nature, during periods of drought. However, the governance assessment
also revealed some evidence that stakeholders on the regional level learn to treat the
issue of drought as a phenomenon in itself through participating in a regional
initiative, which aims to preserve and increase the freshwater reserves in the region,
whereby stakeholders are willing to address drought as an issue in itself that
influences the vulnerability and adaptability of their activities.
8.6.1 Influence of the Governance Context on Actor
Characteristics
Looking from the actor characteristics perspective of the Contextual Interaction
Theory, the relatively neutral governance context of the Salland region does not
have significant positive or negative influences on the motivation, cognitions and
resources of the actors that are involved in the implementation of drought adaptation. Water authorities have a thorough understanding of the drought problem as
well as adaptation requirements. They support this by allocating resources and
trying to mobilize all the actors. Furthermore, high degree of flexibility and intensity
in terms of levels and scales enables the rescaling of the irrigation issue. However,
the low degree of intensity regarding the problem perception leads to a situation that
most of the actors, particularly the farmers, put much higher priority on flood
protection than on drought adaptation.
Three major recommendations can be made towards improving drought resilience in the Salland Region.
176
G. Özerol et al.