Water resources must be governed before they can be managed, and the crafting of governance institutions is an ongoing challenge of the human condition. Institutional artisanship requires the availability of tools for institutional design and creation, and a reflective understanding of the use of those tools. Yet neither the tools nor the understanding exist in their entirety before institutional artisans attempt their craft: the tools at hand must be adapted to new purposes, and skill in their use must be learned along the way. Errors are inevitable, but successes are possible.

Blomquist, William. “Crafting water constitutions in California.” The practice of constitutional development: Vincent Ostrom’s quest to understand human affairs (2006): 99-134.