The development and intersection of highland-coastal scale frames: a case study of water governance in central Peru

Scale framing makes an important difference to how complex environmental policy issues are defined and understood by different groups of actors. Increasing urban water demand and uncertain future climatic conditions in the Andes present major water governance challenges for the coastal regions of Peru. An understudied dimension of Peruvian water governance is how scale framing shapes the way problems are defined, and solutions are pursued. Here, we aim to strengthen the understanding of scale framing as it relates to highland-coastal interactions in central Peru between 2004 and 2015. By analysing this period of significant water governance reforms, we identify five prominent water-related frame dimensions and three differently scaled policy storylines and reveal how they developed and intersected over time. The storylines, supported by particular visualisations, either foreground ‘urbanshed’-level investment in water supply infrastructure, community-level cultural restoration for improved local agricultural production, or nationwide watershed-level financial mechanisms for highland ecosystem conservation. Our study shows how the intersection of these storylines at different moments during the policy process often had a strengthening effect, creating a coalition of actors who were then able to generate sufficient momentum and support within the Peruvian government for the implementation of conservation-based watershed investments.

尺度框架（scale framing）对不同行动主体界定与理解复杂环境政策议题的方式有着重要影响。安第斯山脉（Andes）地区日益增长的城市用水需求与未来气候条件的不确定性，给秘鲁沿海区域带来了严峻的水治理挑战。秘鲁水治理中一个尚未得到充分研究的维度，便是尺度框架如何塑造问题界定与解决方案探索的路径。本研究旨在深化对2004年至2015年间秘鲁中部高地与沿海地区互动相关的尺度框架的理解。通过分析这一经历重大水治理改革的时期，我们识别出五个核心的水相关框架维度，以及三类不同尺度的政策叙事，并揭示了它们随时间演变与交叉的过程。这些叙事依托特定的可视化手段，分别聚焦于城市流域（urbanshed）级别的供水基础设施投资、以提升本地农业生产为目标的社区级文化修复，或是用于高地生态系统保护的全国性流域级财政机制。本研究揭示了这些叙事在政策进程不同节点的交叉往往能够产生强化效应，促成行动主体联盟的形成，进而得以在秘鲁政府内部获取足够的推行动力与支持，以实施基于生态保护的流域投资项目。