Water Reforms in Ecuador: Re-building cathedrals in the bazaar?

Recent water reforms in Ecuador are analyzed with the ‘cathedral and bazaar’ metaphor used by Lankford and Hepworth (2010). The institutional and policy shifts that swept through Ecuadorian water management in the last two decades are presented, showing how almost twenty years of neoliberal policies broke down the centralistic ‘cathedral model’ that had reigned over water governance from the 1960s to the mid- 1980s. It was replaced by a much debated polycentric institutional bazaar which after ten years of (dis) functioning, gave way to a socially much-desired transition towards ‘rebuilding a cathedral’. The article shows that re-building a cathedral from the bazaar is fraught with stumble blocks as established institutions, just as merchants, fight for their place and perpetuation. It argues that an expedient hybrid approach based on clearly established responsibilities, subsidiarity, transparency, coordination and democratic deliberation might be best suited to tackle the Ecuadorian water governance challenges.