Rolston Alec, Jennings Eleanor, Linnane Suzanne
Centre for Freshwater and Environmental Studies, Dundalk Institute of Technology, Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland.
PLoS One. 2017 Apr 3;12(4):e0174957. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0174957. eCollection 2017.
Internationally, water management is moving from the traditional top-down approach to more integrated initiatives focussing on community-led action. With inadequacies in previous engagement initiatives undertaken through the first cycle of River Basin Management Planning for the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), the Republic of Ireland has only recently embraced this bottom-up approach. The attempted introduction of national charging for domestic water use in 2015 has resulted in significant public disquiet and protest movements against the national government. In April 2015 we undertook a survey of current opinion on water management and community engagement initiatives in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. A total of 520 survey responses identified that although freshwater bodies are important in peoples' lives, respondents were typically unaware of global initiatives such as Integrated Water Resources Management and Integrated Catchment Management. Overall, 81% of respondents did not feel included in decisions about their water environment despite an overwhelming 95% believing that local communities should have a say in how the water environment is managed. However, only 35.1% of respondents stated that they would be willing to attend local water management engagement initiatives. Rather than supporting individual gain, respondents identified social gains for the local community as avenues for increasing local involvement in water initiatives. In the Republic of Ireland, a water engagement initiative that implements the national framework local delivery model should be developed and implemented. This would 1) contribute to the second round of WFD River Basin Management Planning; 2) facilitate stronger connections between local communities and their water environment; and 3) foster bottom-up initiatives that empower communities regarding local water management issues.
在国际上，水资源管理正从传统的自上而下的方法转向更注重社区主导行动的综合举措。由于欧盟水框架指令（WFD）流域管理规划第一轮实施的先前参与举措存在不足，爱尔兰共和国直到最近才采用这种自下而上的方法。2015年试图引入家庭用水国家收费，导致公众对国家政府产生了极大的不满和抗议活动。2015年4月，我们对爱尔兰共和国和英国目前关于水资源管理和社区参与举措的意见进行了调查。总共520份调查回复表明，尽管淡水体在人们的生活中很重要，但受访者通常不了解诸如综合水资源管理和综合集水区管理等全球举措。总体而言，81%的受访者觉得自己没有被纳入有关其水环境的决策中，尽管压倒性的95%的受访者认为当地社区应该对水环境的管理方式有发言权。然而，只有35.1%的受访者表示他们愿意参加当地的水资源管理参与举措。受访者认为，增加当地对水资源举措参与度的途径是为当地社区带来社会收益，而不是个人利益。在爱尔兰共和国，应制定并实施一项实施国家框架地方交付模式的水资源参与举措。这将：1）为WFD流域管理规划的第二轮做出贡献；2）促进当地社区与其水环境之间建立更紧密的联系；3）培育自下而上的举措，使社区在当地水资源管理问题上拥有权力。
