Integrated water resources management
Content Table
- Integrated water resources management
- 1. Fresh water is a finite and vulnerable resource, essential to sustain life, development and the environment.
- 2. Water development and management should be based on a participatory approach, involving users, planners and policy makers at all levels.
- 3. Women play a central part in the provision, management and safeguarding of water.
- 4. Water has an economic value in all its competing uses and should be recognized as an economic good, taking into account of affordability and equity criteria.
- Related Articles
- References
- Links
Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) has been defined by the Technical Committee of the Global Water Partnership (GWP) as "a process which promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources, in order to maximize the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems." Operationally, IWRM approaches involve applying knowledge from various disciplines as well as the insights from diverse stakeholders to devise and implement efficient, equitable and sustainable solutions to water and development problems. As such, IWRM is a comprehensive, participatory planning and implementation tool for managing and developing water resources in a way that balances social and economic needs, and that ensures the protection of ecosystems for future generations. Water’s many different uses—for agriculture, for healthy ecosystems, for people and livelihoods—demands coordinated action. An IWRM approach is an open, flexible process, bringing together decision-makers across the various sectors that impact water resources, and bringing all stakeholders to the table to set policy and make sound, balanced decisions in response to specific water challenges faced.
It has been agreed to consider water as an 'finite and economic commodity taking into account of affordability and equity criteria', in order to emphasize on its scarcity in the Dublin Statement:
1. Fresh water is a finite and vulnerable resource, essential to sustain life, development and the environment.
The notion that freshwater is a finite resource arises as the hydrological cycle on average yields a fixed quantity of water per time period. This overall quantity cannot yet be altered significantly by human actions, though it can be, and frequently is, depleted by man-made pollution. The freshwater resource is a natural asset that needs to be maintained to ensure that the desired services it provides are sustained. This principle recognises that water is required for many different purposes, functions and services; management therefore, has to be holistic (integrated) and involve consideration of the demands placed on the resource and the threats to it.
The integrated approach to management of water resources necessitates co-ordination of the range of human activities which create the demands for water, determine land uses and generate waterborne waste products. The principle also recognises the catchment area or river basin as the logical unit for water resources management.
2. Water development and management should be based on a participatory approach, involving users, planners and policy makers at all levels.
Water is a subject in which everyone is a stakeholder. Real participation only takes place when stakeholders are part of the decision-making process. The type of participation will depend upon the spatial scale relevant to particular water management and investment decisions. It will be affected too by the nature of the political environment in which such decisions take place.
A participatory approach is the best means for achieving long-lasting consensus and common agreement. Participation is about taking responsibility, recognizing the effect of sectoral actions on other water users and aquatic ecosystems and accepting the need for change to improve the efficiency of water use and allow the sustainable development of the resource. Participation does not always achieve consensus, arbitration processes or other conflict resolution mechanisms also need to be put in place.Governments have to help create the opportunity and capacity to participate, particularly among women and other marginalised social groups. It has to be recognised that simply creating participatory opportunities will do nothing for currently disadvantaged groups unless their capacity to participate is enhanced.
3. Women play a central part in the provision, management and safeguarding of water.
It is widely acknowledged that women play a key role in the collection and safeguarding of water for domestic and – in many cases – agricultural use, but that they have a much less influential role than men in management, problem analysis and the decision-making processes related to water resources. The fact that social and cultural circumstances vary between societies suggests that the need exists to explore different mechanisms for increasing women’s access to decision-making and widening the spectrum of activities through which women can participate in IWRM.
IWRM requires gender awareness. In developing the full and effective participation of women at all levels of decision-making, consideration has to be given to the way different societies assign particular social, economic and cultural roles to men and women. There is an important synergy between gender equity and sustainable water management. Involving men and women in influential roles at all levels of water management can speed up the achievement of sustainability; and managing water in an integrated and sustainable way contributes significantly to gender equity by improving the access of women and men to water and water-related services to meet their essential needs.
4. Water has an economic value in all its competing uses and should be recognized as an economic good, taking into account of affordability and equity criteria.
Water has a value as an economic good as well as a social good. Many past failures in water resources management are attributable to the fact that the full value of water has not been recognised. In order to extract maximum benefits from available water resources, there is a need to change perceptions about the value of water.
Value and charges are two different things and we have to distinguish clearly between valuing and charging for water.
The value of water in alternative uses is important for the rational allocation of water as a scarce resource, whether by regulatory or economic means.
Charging (or not charging) for water is applying an economic instrument to support disadvantaged groups, affect behaviour towards conservation and efficient water usage, provide incentives for demand management, ensure cost recovery and signal consumers’ willingness to pay for additional investments in water services.
Treating water as an economic good is an important means for decision making on the allocation of water between different water use sectors and between different uses within a sector. This is particularly important when extending supply is no longer a feasible option.
In IWRM, economic valuation of alternative water uses gives decision makers important guides to investment priorities. It should not though be the only consideration. Social goals are important too. In a water-scarce environment, would it be right, for example, that the next water resource developed should be assigned to a steel-manufacturing plant because the manufacturer can afford to pay more for the water than the thousands of poor people who have no access to safe water? Social, economic and environmental goals all play a part in IWRM decision-making.
One of the major fields of focus has been to increase women's involvement in drinking water and sanitation projects, especially in the developing countries. International Water Management Institute (IWMI), UNESCO and International Water and Sanitation Centre are some of the institutes that have undertaken research in this area.
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References
Links
IWA 2nd World Water Congress Proceedings on Integrated Water Resources Management - IWA WWC 2001
Research paper from Water Science and Technology
The integrated approach to management of water resources necessitates co-ordination of the range of human activities which create the demands for water, determine land uses and generate waterborne waste products. The principle also recognises the catchment area or river basin as the logical unit for water resources management.
IWRM requires gender awareness. In developing the full and effective participation of women at all levels of decision-making, consideration has to be given to the way different societies assign particular social, economic and cultural roles to men and women. There is an important synergy between gender equity and sustainable water management. Involving men and women in influential roles at all levels of water management can speed up the achievement of sustainability; and managing water in an integrated and sustainable way contributes significantly to gender equity by improving the access of women and men to water and water-related services to meet their essential needs.
