Social participation in water management and governance recently became a reality in many economies and societies. Yet the dimensions in which power regulation, social equity and democracy-building are connected with participation have been only tangentially analyzed for the water sector. Understanding the growing interest in social participation involves appreciating the specificity of the contemporary period within its historic and geographic contexts as well as uncovering larger political, economic and cultural trends of recent decades which frame participatory actions.Within a wide variety of cases presented from around the world, the reader will find critical analyses of participation and an array of political ecological processes that influence water governance. Sixteen chapters from a diverse group of scholars and practitioners examine water rights definition, hydropower dam construction, urban river renewal, irrigation organizations, water development NGOs, river basin management, water policy implementation and judicial decision-making in water conflicts. Yet there are commonalities in participatory experiences across this spectrum of water issues. The book's five sections highlight key dimensions of contemporary water management that influence, and in turn are influenced by, social participation. These sections are: participation and indigenous water governance; participation and the dynamics of gender in water management; participation and river basin governance; participation and implementation of water management and participation and the politics of water governance.

Introduction: Social Participation in Water Management and GovernancePart I: Participation and Indigenous Water Governance1. Participation of the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe in Land and Water Management Decisions in Death Valley National Park, California and Nevada, U.S.2. For Whom the Turbines Turn: Indigenous Citizens as Legitimate Stakeholders in the Brazilian AmazonPart II: Participation and the Dynamics of Gender in Water Management3. Gender and Participation in a Rural Water-Supply Organization in Rajasthan, India4. Gendered Dynamics of Participation in Water Management in Nepal and Peru: Revisiting the Linkages between Membership and PowerPart III: Participation and River Basin Governance5. Social Participation in French Water Management: Contributions to River Basin Governance and New Challenges6. Social Participation in Mexican River Basin Organizations: The Resilience of Coalitions7. From a Participative Framework to Communities' Realities: The Challenges of Implementing Stakeholder Involvement in Quebec Watershed Management, CanadaPart IV: Participation and Implementation of Water Management8. Social Participation in the Irrigation Sector in Yunnan, China: Roles of the State, User Associations, and Communities9. Participation in Water Resource and Service Governance in South Africa: Caught in the Acts10. The Role of Locally-Managed Water Aid: Effective Partnerships in Sri Lanka11. The Public's Role as Stakeholder in the Yarqon River Authority, IsraelPart V: Participation and the Politics of Governance12. Water Rights and Rule-Making Justice as Fruits of Social Struggle in the Ecuadorian Andes13. Water Management Practices on Trial: The Tribunal Latinoameicano del Agua and the Creation of Public Space for Social Participation in Water Politics14. The Local Application of Global Sustainable and Participatory Development Norms in Turkish Dams15. Conclusions