Are we cloning water reforms for different problems? Institutional change in the water sector under the IWRM paradigm

Since the late 20th century, freshwater resources have been threatened by overuse, pollution, and mismanagement. Growing economies and populations, alongside pressures from climate change, have exacerbated local water crises, necessitating policy reforms to promote sustainability and conservation. Facing this common challenge, many countries initiated sweeping restructuring of the water sector, affecting water policies and institutions. Tse reforms were guided by international sustainable water management paradigms, notably the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) concept. However, the extent and consequences of implementing global problem-solving ideas on national water institutions require more cross-country assessments. Drawing on a comparison of 38 countries from Latin America and the Middle East and North Africa, this paper analyzes institutional change in the water sector. The two regions are hydrologically dissimilar, but they both exhibit the same water reforms and homogeneous institutions. This paper also investigates explanatory factors for the proliferation of the IWRM idea. It uses the world polity theory to explain how global expectations about the right way to solve water problems have created similar water organizations despite the heterogeneity of water issues and institutional contexts governing them. This notion of the homogenization of water institutions can constrain national water organizations from innovating with technical solutions to the increasingly complex, locally specific water challenges.