The water–man eristic dialectics for sustainable hydro-governance

Eristic and dialectics are used in their original meaning in Greek to describe conflicting relations between man and water (eristic) and their logical reconciliation (dialectics). A historic peregrination shows a dysfunctional relationship between humans and water. It became human-dominated, creating huge externalities in the state-of-the-art integrated water resources management (IWRM) model as well. The eristic–dialectical symbiosis of humans with water unifies harmoniously their contradictory relationship of conflict and cooperation. It has been used to develop a new policy model of water resources management that is illustrated here with two real case studies and can lead to a sustainable hydro-governance.