Evolution of Institutional Dynamics in Water Resource Governance in the Yellow River Basin

Abstract

Many large river basins, such as the Yellow River Basin (YRB) of China, have undergone water governance transformations to resolve long‐standing and emerging challenges. However, how newly introduced water‐related laws and regulations structurally transform internal institutional dynamics—the functions and interactions of institutional elements (e.g., governance rules and actors) within the governance system—and ultimately contribute to improved governance performance remains poorly understood. This knowledge gap limits our ability to explain why some water governance reforms succeed while others fail. Therefore, this paper examines how new water‐related legislation alters governance rules, redefines institutional roles and interactions among basin actors, and drives changes in water governance mode and performance, taking the YRB as a case. To analyze institutional dynamics, we propose an approach that integrates Sankey diagrams, institutional grammar, the rule typology of the institutional analysis and development framework, and a set of rule‐based governance indicators. This approach can decompose, connect, and trace institutional effects generated by legislative variation. Five national‐level legislative documents that have fundamentally transformed the YRB's water governance over recent decades are analyzed. The basin's governance mode evolved from fragmented (1987–1997) to centralized uncoordinated (1998–2001) and ultimately centralized coordinated (2006 onward). The interplay of legislative documents, institutionalized areas (e.g., water allocation and flow regulation), governance rule types (e.g., action‐specific and target‐specific rules), power distribution (e.g., centralization and decentralization), and coordination mechanisms (e.g., prior consultation and joint operation), drives the evolution of water governance modes. These findings offer insights for institutional designs in large river basins worldwide.