Defining the components of fairness in the allocation of water to environmental and human uses
In many countries, water allocation has become increasingly controversial as competition has increased. This paper summarizes a research program of seven studies over 10 years that has developed social psychological theories of justice, equity and fairness for application to the implementation and evaluation of water allocation decisions. Much of the research has been conducted in the context of the development of government sponsored water reform in Australia. this reform has emphasized the need for integrated approaches to water management which encourage efficiency of use through markets, and environmental sustainability through the introduction of environmental (in-stream) flows. The initial study tested the adequacy of equity and procedural justice theories to provide explanations about people's evaluation of decision making in the context of water allocation. They were found to provide insufficient scope for the evaluations. Therefore, the second and third studies developed alternative universal fairness principles and adopted the fairness heuristic as a concept for judging the justice of individual water allocation decisions.
- Research Organization:
- Australian Research Centre for Water in Society, Wembley (AU)
- OSTI ID:
- 20006190
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Environmental Management, Vol. 57, Issue 1; Other Information: PBD: Sep 1999; ISSN 0301-4797
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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