Introduction: why the politics of scale matter in the governance of water / Emma S. Norman, Christina Cook, and Alice Cohen -- Examining scalar assumptions: unpacking the watershed--introduction to part I / François Molle -- Nature's scales?: watersheds as a link between water governance and the politics of scale / Alice Cohen -- A genealogy of the basin: scalar politics and identity in the Mekong River Basin / Chris Sneddon and Coleen Fox -- River basins versus politics?: interaction, patterns, and consequences / Eve Vogel -- The politics of scale framing--ambiguity and uncertainty: flood interventions and the Netherlands / Jeroen Warner, Philippus Wester, Martinus Wink, and Art Dewulf -- Dynamics toward domestic territorialization of water governance in the EU: the case of southern Spain / Andreas Thiel -- Beyond the watershed: rescaling decision-making--introduction to part II / Tom Perreault-- Getting to multi-scalar: an historical review of water governance in Ontario, Canada / Christina Cook -- Beyond the local state as "container": scale, positionality, and water supply reform / Kathryn Furlong -- Techno-nature and scaling water governance in south Texas / Wendy Gepson and Christian Brannstrom -- The creation of scaled water rights in New Mexico, USA / Eric P. Perramond -- Politics, scale, and the EU Water Framework Directive / Corey Johnson -- Scalar politics, networks, and power in water governance: introduction to part III / Leila M. Harris -- The expansion of mining and changing waterscapes in the southern Peruvian Andes / Jessica Budds -- Community led total sanitation and the politics of scaling up / Lyla Mehta -- Hydrosocial governance and agricultural development in semi-arid Northwest China / Afton Clarke-Sather -- Performing modernity: the scalar politics of irrigation development in Nepal / Margreet Zwarteveen and Janwillem Liebrand-- Indigenous space, scalar politics, and water governance in the Salish Sea Basin / Emma S. Norman -- Conclusion: negotiating water governance / Christina Cook, Alice Cohen, and Emma S. Norman.