Water Ethics During Drought: An Ethical Preamble to the Dutch Water Priority Regime

Abstract

Due to climate change, the Netherlands will experience more frequent and prolonged periods of water scarcity. The Dutch government relies on a water priority regime to allocate limited water resources for various societal uses. This thesis serves as an ethical preamble for this priority regime. It addresses the question: What ethical concepts and values should be generally embedded in water policy, and what does this mean for the value trade-offs within the Dutch water priority regime? The theorizing in this thesis is embedded in the field of water ethics using the philosophical tools of Jonathan Wolff’s engaged philosophy and a comprehensive normative audit. It characterizes the unique attributes of water: cyclicality, solubility, multifunctionality, and its status as a common-pool resource. These properties were used to analyze the water priority regime as a guide to action, demonstrating that it was not consistently sensitive to the water attributes. However, the function of the regime can also be understood to communicate societal values. The values can be perceived as two forms of governance values: stakeholder participation and transparency, which ensure good water governance. Water governance aims to accommodate four additional values: economic, social, cultural, and environmental value that cover the broadest range of water valuation. The final part of this thesis dissects two ethical value trade-offs of the priority regime regarding drinking water security. It concludes that the Dutch state should consider prioritizing drinking water security above all else within the regime.