Abstract

Water is one of the most demanded resources in rural areas of developing countries. Its management and governance need knowledge transfers and interactions among several actors at different administrative levels, starting with local social actors? participation. In this article, we analyze the water governance in Chile using (i) a governance instrument matrix, (ii) institutional networks, and (iii) a multi-level water governance conceptual cascade model. We applied it to two watersheds (Ancud and Quell?on) of Chiloe? Island (southern Chile). We describe and discuss (a) political and institutional water governance structures and (b) the role of local rural drinking water committees (APR) as multi-actor collective organizations. The results show that despite several institutional governance shortcomings, most people (?80%) living in rural-connected areas of Chiloe? Island get water through APRs. In comparison, 68% of people from isolated areas get it from rivers without interacting with their neighbors. Based on our results, we discuss the need for a multi-level contextual approach to rural water governance.