El Colegio de la Frontera Norte

Water management and water infrastructure are preconditions for civilization. As the 21st century approaches, demands on our water resources are increasing. In some regions these demands are exceeding capacities to supply water. Our old water institutions, laws, regulations, treaties and agreements are straining to meet the new demographic realities. Throughout the world there is a growing need to build a capacity for integrated water management in order to create new opportunities for cooperation, community and peace building; to respond to scarcities; and to manage local, national and trans-boundary conflicts. Building this capacity for integrated water management calls for a new dialogue between many different private and public communities - policy making, diplomatic, administrative, financial, legal and technical/scientific. This dialogue must also include the traditional water communities - industrial, urban, agricultural and transportation. Water Policy provides a forum for this dialogue. It invites these communities into this forum both to shape and to be shaped by thinking and debate on water policy worldwide. The journal will publish analyses, reviews and debates on all policy aspects of water resources. Examples of such topics are: Ecosystems, engineering, management and restoration Engineering and design River-basin and watershed management Multiple uses of water Pollution monitoring and control Management, use and sharing of trans-boundary waters, treaties and allocation agreements Capacity building Flood control and disaster management Groundwater remediation and the conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water Public participation, consensus building and confidence building Conflict management and negotiations of water resources Demand management Commercialization of water Integrated water resources management Allocation of risks among stakeholdersWater Policy will publish reviews, research papers and progress reports in, among others, the following areas: financial, diplomatic, organizational, legal, administrative and research; organized by country, region or river basin.

Water Policy

We analyze the performance of two water utilities located at the USA Mexico border with a focus on public accountability. We evaluate selected performance indicators and explain how public accountability mechanisms can be associated with those outcomes. We find strong hierarchical accountability relationships between policymakers and water services providers but weak feedback mechanisms from customers to policymakers; moreover, structural barriers to political accountability resulting in weak accountability mechanisms may explain different facets of the relatively poor performance of both water utilities. Our findings suggest the need for these water utilities to build a closer relationship with their customers and to implement customer service indicators to track their performance.

Public accountability and performance of two border water utilities

Institutional perspectives on water services

IWA Publishing

It stresses how the lack of accountability and transparency leads to various types of dysfunctions and difficulties. Weak political accountability and weak feedback mechanisms from customers to policymakers are regularly invoked to explain the poor performance of water utilities (Aguilar-Benitez, Saphores, 2010). Conversely, many authors emphasize that strengthening accountability through extensive public participation allows water service providers to improve their performance in terms of pricing and investment (Lobina, Hall, 2007). 

Ismael's scientific contributions

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