Institutions and Transboundary Governance Capacity in the Great Lakes Basin

The Case of Irrigation Water-Takings

Abstract

This article examines the institutions governing irrigation water-takings in the Great Lakes
Basin in an effort to get some idea of the transboundary governance capacity in this area.
Examining the capacity of the institutions governing irrigation water-takings is especially interesting
given that most water-taking institutions in the basin were created without irrigation specifically
in mind. Accordingly, one might reasonably expect there to be limited governance capacity with
respect to irrigation, but this is not the case. The introduction of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence
River Basin Water Resources Compact in 2008 has resulted in an impressive level of transboundary
governance capacity, scoring well on the four institutional indicators of capacity used in this
special issue.