Assessing sustainability through the Institutional Grammar of urban water systems

• Published in: Policy studies journal 2022-05, Vol.50 (2), p.387-406
• Main Authors: Deslatte, Aaron, Helmke‐Long, Laura, Anderies, John M., Garcia, Margaret, Hornberger, George M., Ann Koebele, Elizabeth
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Climate change; Flexibility; Grammar; gramática institucional; Hydrology; Immunoglobulins; Infrastructure; Institutional Grammar; Language; política del agua; robustez del marco de sistemas de infraestructura acoplada; Robustness; Robustness of Coupled Infrastructure Systems Framework; Stress; Sustainability; Sustainability management; Sustainable practices; Water conveyance; water policy; Water supply; Water supply systems; Waterworks; 制度语法; 水政策; 耦合基础设施系统框架稳健性
• ISSN: 0190-292X; 1541-0072
• DOI: 10.1111/psj.12444

Urban water supply systems in the United States are designed to be robust to a wide range of historical hydrological conditions in both their physical infrastructure and in the institutional arrangements that govern their use. However, these systems vary greatly in their capacity to respond to new and evolving stressors on water supplies, such as those associated with climate change. Developing a more precise understanding of the complexity of interactions between the environmental and human components of urban water systems, specifically via their institutions, has the potential to help identify institutional design choices that can foster proactive transitions to more sustainable operating states. This article adapts the Institutional Grammar (IG) within the Robustness of Coupled Infrastructure Systems Framework to assess how a heavily engineered system's institutional configuration may impact its ability to transition to more sustainable management practices. While use of the IG has historically been limited in larger‐N studies, our application demonstrates its flexibility in revealing variation in specific components across cases. The analysis finds the structure of formal institutions shape the interactions between actors differently, and that institutional diversity exists across environmental contexts. The extent to which this institutional diversity drives transitions remains an open question. The results highlight both the importance of and challenges involved with developing longitudinal data on social and natural system interactions. 摘要 美国的城市水供应系统在一系列历史水文条件下都具有稳健性，这种稳健性不仅体现在物理基础设施，还体现在用于管理其使用的制度安排。不过，这些水供应系统对新的、不断发展的水供应压力源（例如和气候变化相关的压力源）的响应能力差异巨大。通过制度来更准确地理解城市水系统的环境成分和人类成分的相互作用的复杂性，有助于识别那些能培养积极转型到更可持续的操作状态的相关制度设计选项。本文将制度语法（IG）适应于耦合基础设施系统框架稳健性（Robustness of Coupled Infrastructure Systems Framework），以期评估一个严重依赖工程的系统的制度配置如何能影响其在转型到更可持续的管理实践方面的能力。分析发现，正式制度的结构会差异化地影响行动者之间的相互作用，并且制度多样性存在于不同环境情境。这种制度多样性能在多大程度上驱动转型，这还是个开放式问题。研究结果阐明了收集关于社会和自然系统相互作用的纵向数据一事所面临的困难。 Resumen Los sistemas de suministro de agua urbana en los Estados Unidos están diseñados para ser robustos a una amplia gama de condiciones hidrológicas históricas tanto en su infraestructura física como en los arreglos institucionales que gobiernan su uso. Sin embargo, estos sistemas varían mucho en su capacidad para responder a factores estresantes nuevos y en evolución en los suministros de agua, como los asociados con el cambio climático. Desarrollar una comprensión más precisa de la complejida