Cooperate or coerce? Intergovernmental approaches to mainstreaming Water Sensitive Urban Design

Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) is still largely in its infancy, and many governments, organisations, and communities are still reinforcing the traditional urban water management approach of highly engineered, mutually exclusive water supply, wastewater, and drainage systems. Many agree that institutionalising WSUD to establish widespread practice can only be achieved through a cooperative partnership approach that includes state and local governments. However, there is no consolidated assessment of the necessary ingredients and key factors that produce successful intergovernmental arrangements for WSUD.

This paper contributes to this important knowledge gap by reporting on: a critical analysis of intergovernmental urban water policy and program design; and a comparative analysis of two case studies (Urban Stormwater Program and Flood Prone Land Policy) in New South Wales that apply 'coercive' and 'cooperative' intergovernmental policy mandates to institutionalise improved water management practices. Important conclusions drawn from the analyses are: blanket coercive or cooperative policy mandates do not influence the policy commitment of local governments; and that pre-existing local government commitment to urban water policy goals are a better determinant of intergovernmental program success. Consequently, program designers need to consider a blend of policy instruments that address the variable capacity and commitment of local governments.