Water Reuse Governance Through the Lens of Environmental Justice: A Systematic Review

By Klaudia Szabelka^[1]

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20412064

Abstract: Water reuse is increasingly promoted as a response to global water scarcity and as a key component of sustainability and climate adaptation strategies. Yet, the extent to which water reuse practices advance environmental justice (EJ) remains insufficiently understood. Existing governance frameworks tend to prioritise technical standards, risk management and economic feasibility, often overlooking justice concerns such as equitable access, procedural fairness, recognition of diverse knowledges, and the protection of vulnerable groups. This systematic review analyses 41 case studies to evaluate how water reuse systems distribute benefits and risks, who is included or excluded in decision-making, and whose knowledge informs governance processes. Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, the findings reveal recurrent justice deficits: top-down governance structures that constrain participation and transparency; affordability barriers that disproportionately affect smallholder farmers and low-income communities; and epistemic injustices that marginalise local and informal knowledge systems, as illustrated in contexts such as Tanzania, Jordan, Spain and India. These patterns are a symptom of deeper structural and epistemological tensions embedded in water reuse governance. Rather than a neutral technological fix, the reviewed cases underscore that water reuse is a contested sociopolitical process, one that reflects and reshapes existing power relations over water, space and knowledge. These exclusions are not only material but epistemic, as the lived realities of affected communities are routinely absent from formal governance. Notably, many studies do not explicitly use the language of “justice,” yet adjacent concepts, equity, vulnerability, participation, social acceptance and governance gaps, consistently point to unequal outcomes. Overall, the review demonstrates that while water reuse contributes to sustainability objectives, it frequently reproduces or exacerbates existing social inequalities. These findings also carry implications for broader governance commitments, including the procedural guarantees of the Aarhus Convention, the equality targets of SDG 6, and emerging efforts to advance the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment (R2HE).

^[1] Klaudia Szabelka, the School of Law, University of Glasgow; School of Science and Engineering, Glasgow Caledonian University, United Kingdom. Email: klaudia.szabelka@gcu.ac.ukAuthors/Creators