Taking place at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, this research by Dr Bettina Lange is a socio-legal contribution to MaRIUS, a large interdisciplinary research program funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council. The program examines the management of the risks, impacts and uncertainties of water scarcity and drought in the UK
The governance framework to deal with water scarcity and drought contains a clear commitment to evidence-based legal decision-making. However, we know little about whether and how key decision-makers actually make use of environmental science and economic knowledge, for example in order to decide how to write their drought plan or how to apply for a drought order. In this context the puzzle that I am interested to explore is the tension between the idea of the law as a powerful, interventionist tool for regulating the abstraction and use of water, and the idea of the law as a set of regulatory principles dependent on the conclusions of scientific reasoning.
The question then is how does the fact-value distinction play out in practice when it comes to legal decision-making in relation to water scarcity and drought? Second, there is rich socio-legal literature arguing that law has its own ways of reflecting the social world. That argument can be extended to ways of reflecting the natural world. This raises questions about whether environmental-scientific and economic thinking about water scarcity and drought are distinct from law's conceptualization of water scarcity and drought, and ultimatelty what the relationship between scientific and legal reasoning is.
Download the key reports here:
Governance of Drought and Water Scarcity
Water Efficiency in the Public Sector
Resilient Drought and Water Scarcity Management in England Wales Scenario Workshop Report
Related content
Introduction to ENDOWS Project
Presentation of ENDOWS work task results
MaRIUS Final Event Presentation - Bettina Lange
MaRIUS Final Event Presentation - Kevin Grecksch
MaRIUS Final Event Presentation - Chris Decker