Chapter 7: How Public Relations Can Provide a Socially Responsible Lens for Collective Management of Water Risks

Although water resources globally are projected to meet current and future demands, issues will emerge regarding freshwater displacement and availability in specific geographic regions over time. Such issues relate to water availability and water ‘rights’, for example. This chapter affords a conceptual perspective drawing from literatures on public relations, the collective management of risk, issues management, and public diplomacy. Particularly, because water is a finite resource, a community resource, and perhaps, a taken-for-granted resource in water-abundant regions, its (risk) management is complex and consequential. Many citizens in developed countries assume when they turn on their tap that water will flow out – that it is healthy and ‘good’ and that someone in authority is working to make sure the resource is managed effectively in terms of water quality and water quantity; however, this may not always be the case. Similarly, because there are many interests involved in the collective management of water resources, who is responsible for ensuring socially responsible management of water that considers all interests equitably? This chapter argues for the (in)formal role that public relations can play in providing a social responsibility lens for collective management of water resources, and environmental risk more broadly. Areas for future research and practical implications are discussed.