The goal of the study is to strengthen the analytical purchase of the term water governance and improve the utility of the concept for describing and analyzing actual water distribution processes. We argue this is necessary as most writing on water governance is more concerned with promoting particular politically inspired agendas of what water governance should be than with understanding what it actually is. We believe that water governance at heart is about political choices as to where water should flow; about the norms, rules and laws on which such choices should be based; about who is best able or qualified to decide about this; and about the kind of societal future such choices support. We identify distributions-of water, voice and authority, and expertise-as the empirical anchor and entry-point of our conceptualization of water governance. This usefully allows foregrounding questions of equity in water governance discussions and provides the empirical foundation for a meaningful engagement with the politics of water governance.

Seeing is one of the main sensory experiences for knowing water and for generating meanings of it. To acknowledge this, visual research methods are increasingly popular in social sciences. In this paper, research using Photovoice or similar participatory visual methods is reviewed in order to assess their potential contribution to the study of water governance. A total of 23 articles related to 20 projects on (1) water, health, and sanitation; (2) participation in water management; (3) landscapes and water spaces; and (4) domestic urban waters, were identified. They are assessed on the basis of the research's purpose, participants, visual outputs, and outcomes. Results are discussed against the three main goals stated by Photovoice's advocates: to record and reflect on communities’ strengths and concerns, to facilitate critical dialogue, and to reach policymakers. We find some evidence about participatory visual methods contribute to the first two goals. However, while most articles assert that Photovoice proved an effective tool for communicating participants’ views to a wider audience and for reaching policy makers, data and analysis on these processes are generally lacking. Documenting and reflecting on these processes are crucial issues that future visual research on water governance should address, particularly in a time when science is increasingly asked to outreach and impact on societal issues. WIREs Water 2017, 4:e1226. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1226For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.

In spite of its official recognition by the United Nations in 2010, the human right to water remains a contested notion as illustrated by three main debates: (a) the definition of its scope, content, and indicators to monitor its implementation; (b) the conceptual appropriateness and effectiveness of the human rights approach in countering water services privatization; (c) the call for decolonizing or decentering the western, liberal, individualistic, and anthropocentric approach of the human right to water. The article introduces the main themes and insights within these debates and concludes by pointing at potential future research at their intersection, in relation to (a) other species' rights, (b) culture and religion, and (c) technology and infrastructure. This article is categorized under: Human Water > Rights to Water Water and Life > Conservation, Management, and Awareness Human Water > Water Governance