ABSTRACT
This chapter questions the relevance of easily identifiable causal conditions to explain and understand boundary-crossing water problems. In many water problems – where variables, processes, actors, and institutions are interacting at different scales – cause–effect relationships can’t be ascertained using the traditional notion of necessary and sufficient conditions. Instead, one needs to explore the presence (or absence) of enabling, not causal, conditions that emerge from contingent processes and interactions and, hence, are sensitive to the capacity and constraints imposed by the problem context. It expands on earlier work by examining the roles and relevance of enabling conditions to explain and understand the evolution of water problems at three different scales: transnational, subnational, and community scales. From an operational perspective, a key takeaway lesson is to recognize the evolving nature of coupled natural-societal-political system dynamics and the changes in the system phase – from simple to complicated to complex – at any intervention step. Additionally, it is important not to view these enabling conditions as prescriptions but as heuristics that need to be evaluated within the capacity and constraints imposed by the given water management context. The notion of enabling conditions and the contingent nature of enablement goes beyond the argument that each water dispute is unique and context-dependent, and it considers water problems as contingent outcomes of complex patterns. Through a closer examination of three cases at different scales, despite their contextual differences, it is suggested that the presence of these enabling conditions is actionable across scales and contexts to initiate and sustain any resilient water agreements with competing and conflicting needs.
