This study employs, for the first time, a science mapping approach for understanding how water governance science is socially, intellectually and conceptually structured. The research collaboration, co-citation and keyword co-occurrence networks were illustrated by these steps: data retrieval, preprocessing, network extraction, normalization, mapping, analysis and visualization. The Netherlands, the United States, Germany, the UK, Canada and Australia were found to be major countries collaborating on water governance. Three groups of water governance research were identified to be focused on governance, management and policy, respectively, and water governance research mainly studied issues such as poverty, privatization and institutions.
