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Chireh, Vincent Kuuteryiri

University of British Columbia

Sustainable management of and equitable access to water have become pressing and shared global concerns requiring innovative approaches. The stress on water resources and untenable supply-side management have compelled local governments and utilities to employ measures and practices to promote conservation and reduce usage—including bundles of policies often referred to as Water Demand Management (WDM). Among other things, these policies can reduce wasteful water use/losses, ensure fair distribution and billing, and promote efficient use. However, the ways that policymakers formulate and implement these policies have equity implications – often including increased costs, supply disconnections, and the exclusion of some groups from the implementation process. This dissertation employs a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative surveys and semi-structured interviews, to examine the equity implications of WDM. In doing so, the dissertation synthesizes how equity is conceptualized and impacted by WDM policies in the scholarly literature. From water policymakers’ perspective, the thesis then examines the progress regarding how jurisdictions prioritize, plan, and implement various WDM policies in British Columbia. Analyzing semi-structured interviews with mayors, chief administrative officers, and public works officers in metered jurisdictions helps to understand how they conceptualize equity and seek to address inequities in their local contexts. The dissertation finds that equity is mainly perceived as equality, where the cost and benefits of WDM are shared among water users in line with the cost-of-service principle. While the province is increasingly adopting these measures to conserve water and reduce usage, the analysis also suggests that efforts are needed to address potential associated access and affordability challenges. This dissertation contributes to the ongoing discourse on sustainable water management and equity, shedding light on the potential negative impacts of WDM policies, and considerations going forward.

Text

2024-02-22

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/87472

Resources, Environment and Sustainability

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/