Evolution of water policy and institutional variables in eastern Pima County, Arizona : a case study

Abstract

Water policy is typically in continual flux. This research provides a case study of water policy evolution and interaction among institutional variables in eastern Pima County, Arizona. An analytical model, linking significant variables -- namely, demand pattern and decision process -- is developed to predict water policy outcomes. Characteristic policy types used in the model are distributive, redistributive and regulative. Within this policy typology, the model clearly demonstrates that water policy is evolving from distributive policy toward regulative policy. Perceptions held by elite political actors are examined to measure this policy evolution, as well as, define interactions among institutional variables. These perceptions, analyzed through interview survey of seventeen respondents, note that planning, as a distinct variable, and other institutional arrangements are interdependent variables, which adjust concurrently during water policy evolution. This case study concludes that actor-held perceptions, which were related to model predictions, are useful in analyzing principal variables of water policy.