Previous analysis of transboundary water governance has been focused primarily on state-centred approaches. The articles in this special section move us forward from this focus in three ways. First, they highlight the crucial role played by non-state actors in shaping water governance outcomes....

Poor performance of government-managed irrigation systems persists in developing countries despite numerous policy interventions over the last four decades. We argue that many of these interventions have failed, because they did not recognize irrigation bureaucracies as prime actors in policy...

Hydropower development is occurring at a rapid, though controversial, pace in the Mekong. We highlight the role of scientific assessment in shaping the Mekong hydropower debate, taking the strategic environmental assessment of the twelve planned mainstream dams as a case study. While...