Values Connecting Societies and Water Systems

Introduction

Water systems such as rivers and lakes have many important values for ecosystems and human societies. Both economical, social-ecological, cultural and political values are met by the water systems, connecting different activities in human society and ecosystems. Water systems with low water quality serve different values than healthy water systems and have huge impact on the society. For example, for drinking water, biodiversity or recreational open space, a healthy water system is crucial.

The values of the water systems are interlinked. The interlinking and overlapping values of the water systems at the spatial and temporal scales have determined a connective capacity in the water governance, be it the coordination between the values or the competition between the values and its linked governance approach. The challenge is values of water systems change with the change in the societal development and consequently influence the water governance approach. A reverse process is also evident. Unfortunately, today water systems in many cities have slowly reduced in their total value for society. The revival of the water systems such as river and lakes is thus seem to be urgent in order to enhance the values generated by these systems for the society.