Integrated Water

Resources
Management
(IWRM)
Integrated Water Resources
Management
 Integrated water resources management is the practice of making
decisions and taking actions while considering multiple viewpoints of
how water should be managed.
 These decisions and actions relate to situations such as:
 river basin planning,
 organization of task forces,
 planning of new capital facilities,
 controlling reservoir releases,
 regulating floodplains,
 and developing new laws and regulations.
 The need for multiple viewpoints is caused by competition for
water and by complex institutional constraints.
 The decision-making process is often lengthy and involves many
participants.
 Between the water resources and water needs (demands) often occur some tensions
and conflicts.
 These problems may be spatial, areal and temporal, endemic or general either.
 These problems drew attention to the importance of water resource management.
 We have to define the concept of water resources management.
 The water resources management is the sum of the activities aimed the coordination
of the naturally occurring water resources and of social water needs (demands).
 With coordination we can create a well- functioning balance between water
resources and water needs.
 Water management is a scientific, technological, economical,
administrative and executive activity, which aims at optimal phasing of
the nature water cycle and the water needs of the society
 Water resources management is the part of the water management
system, which contents all activities of quantitative and qualitative,
temporal and spatial phasing of the water resources and water needs
of the water users
Objectives

 To provide an introduction on key principles and themes of

Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM).
 To show IWRM‟s key linkages to development and to addressing
poverty reduction, water and health, and water and food .
 To enable application of IWRM principles for awareness raising and
capacity building in advising decision makers.
Principles
 IWRM is based on the three principles:
 social equity,
 economic efficiency
 and environmental sustainability.
 Considering these principles means answering the following questions:
- How will my decision/ action affect access for other users to water or
the benefits from its use?
- Will my decision/ action result in the „most efficient use of the
available financial & water resources?
- How will my decision/ action affect the functioning of natural
systems?
 Social Equity
 Social equity means ensuring equal access for all users (particularly
marginalised and poorer user groups) to an adequate quantity and
quality of water necessary to sustain human well being.
 The right of all users to the benefits gained from the use of water also
needs to be considered when making water allocations.
 Benefits may include enjoyment of resources through recreational use
or the financial benefits generated from the use of water for
economic purposes
Economic Efficiency
 Economic Efficiency means bringing the greatest benefit to the
greatest number of users possible with the available financial
and water resources. This requires that the most economically
efficient option is selected. The economic value is not only about
price – it should consider current and future social and
environmental costs and benefits.
Ecological Sustainability
 Ecological Sustainability requires that aquatic ecosystems are
acknowledged as users and that adequate allocation is made to
sustain their natural functioning. Achieving this criterion also requires
that land uses and developments that negatively impact these
systems are avoided or limited
 Implementation
 IWRM aims to create sustainable water security within the present constraints and to
improve the conditions in the catchment basin. Some important conditions for
implementing IWRM are presented below.
1. Political Will and Commitment
2. Basin Management Plan and clear vision
3. Participation and coordination mechanisms, fostering information-sharing and exchange
4. Capacity Development
5. Well-defined flexible and enforceable legal frameworks and regulation
6. Water allocation Plans
7. Adequate investment, financial stability and sustainable cost recovery
8. Good knowledge of the natural resources present in the basin
9. Comprehensive monitoring and evaluation
1.Political will and commitment
 Political will at all levels can help unite all stakeholders and move the process forward.
 It is especially needed if the resulting plan or arrangement would create or require
changes in legal and institutional structures, or if controversies and conflicts among
stakeholders exist.
 Access to actors outside the water box is essential to move political will, gain sectoral
support and ease public pressure for IWRM implementation.
2.Basin management plan and
clear vision
 Water resources development coordinated among various sectors and users is
facilitated by the preparation of a master plan that reflects the individual sector
plans and offers the most effective and efficient utilization of the resource.
 3.Participation and coordination mechanisms,
fostering information-sharing and exchange

 The identification of key stakeholders can be facilitated through

interviews and meetings.
 Stakeholder involvement can be defined appropriately for local
conditions and improved gradually.
 Initial sharing of general basin-wide data and information, and
further sharing of more specific information, will assist the self-
sustaining system.
4.Capacity development
 Capacity development and training priorities should be expressed
at all levels, including that of decentralized local government.
Participants who may be adversely impacted and/or socially
marginalized may be stimulated to participate within a consensus-
building strategy
5. Well-defined flexible and enforceable
legal frameworks and regulation
 It is necessary to assemble and review the full range of existing laws
and regulations that
apply to water-related activities and determine how existing
legislation adapts or can be better adapted to
accommodate sustainability and integration with regard towater
resources management.
6. Water allocation plans

 As water is a shared resource, water rights should be flexible in terms

of allocation in order to accommodate changes.
 Preparing a master plan that reflects individual sector plans
facilitates the coordination among various sectors and advocates
the most appropriate utilization of a basin‟s resource.
7.Adequate investment, financial stability
and sustainable cost recovery
 Coordination for IWRM implementation needs
financial sustainability – such as the promotion of cost recovery –
and must consider long-term management.
 Various combinations and roles of international financing and
donors such as government grants, public resources, user charges
and taxes, donor funds, basin environmental trust funds can be
considered as funding options.
8.Good knowledge of the natural
resources present in the basin
 Adequate knowledge and information on the water
resources inventory and human resources of the basin is desirable.
Including scientists as water resource managers can help maintain
and accrue sound knowledge of the natural resources.
9. Comprehensive monitoring and
evaluation
 Monitoring and evaluation are essential for ensuring that the
current management of water resources is properly implemented,
and to identify the needs for adjusting management strategies.
 Upgrading new technologies is vital for effective performance both
of local and central water management.
Components and Viewpoints

Integrated water resources management begins with the term "water resources
management" itself, which uses structural measures and nonstructural measures to
control natural and human-made water resources systems for beneficial uses.
Water-control facilities and environmental elements work together in water
resources systems to achieve water management purposes
 Integrated water resources management considers viewpoints of:
 human groups,
 factors of the human environment,
 aspects of natural water systems.
 Structural components used in human-made systems control water
flow and quality and include conveyance systems (channels, canals,
and pipes), diversion structures, dams and storage facilities,
treatment plants, pumping stations and hydroelectric plants, wells,
and appurtenances.
 Elements of natural water resources systems include the:
 atmosphere,
 watersheds (drainage basins),
 stream channels,
 wetlands,
 floodplains,
 aquifers,
 lakes,
 estuaries,
 seas,
 and the ocean.
 Examples of nonstructural measures, which do not require
constructed facilities, are :
 pricing schedules,
 zoning,
 incentives,
 public relations,
 regulatory programs,
 and insurance
Multiple Purposes Integrated Water
Resource Management
 Integrated water resources management considers the viewpoints
of :
 water management agencies with specific purposes,
 governmental
 and stakeholder groups,
 geographic regions,
 and disciplines of knowledge
 These viewpoints have been described in a variety of ways. For
example, Mitchell (1990) wrote that integrated water management
considers three aspects:
 dimensions of water (surface water and groundwater, and
quantity and quality);
 interactions with land and environment;
 and interrelationships with social and economic development.
 White (1969) wrote about the "multiple purposes" and "multiple
means" of water management, and predicted that integration
would create some confusion because it defies neat
administrative organization.
 In general, water agencies deal with water supply, wastewater and
water quality services, stormwater and flood control, hydropower,
navigation, recreation, and water for the environment, fish, and wildlife.
 As the practice of water resources management evolved, the term
"multipurpose" (or "multiobjective") water resources development (or
management) came to refer to projects with more than one purpose.
 Later, the term "comprehensive" water planning and management
came into use to describe management practice that considers
different viewpoints.
Challenges to Water Management
Integration
 The term "functional integration" means to join purposes of water
management such as to manage water supply and wastewater
within a single unit.
 Protecting aquatic habitat for natural and ecological systems while
managing for flood control is another example.
 Still another term is "conjunctive use," which usually refers to the joint
management of surface water and groundwater.
 The challenges are:
 Governmental and Interest Groups
 Geographic Regions
 Interdisciplinary Perspectives
 Coordination and Cooperation
 Total Water Management
Governmental and Interest Groups
 Accommodating the views of governments and special interest groups
is a challenge in integration because they have different perspectives.
Intergovernmental relationships between government agencies at the
same level include :
 regional,
 state-to-state,
 and interagency issues.
 Relationships between different levels of government include, for
example,
 state– federal
 and local–state interactions.
 Special interest groups range from those favoring development of
resources to those favoring preservation.
 In many cases, conflicts arise between the same types of interest
groups, as, for example, between fly fishers and rafters on a stream
Geographic Regions
 The views of stakeholders in different locations must be balanced,
introducing a geographic dimension of integration.
 Examples include issues between
 upstream and downstream stakeholders,
 stakeholders in the same region,
 and views of stakeholders in a basin of origin versus those in a
receiving basin.
 Another aspect of geographic integration is the scale of water-
accounting units, such as:
 small watershed,
 major river basin,
 region,
 or state,
 even up to global scale
Interdisciplinary Perspectives
 The complexity of integrated water resources management requires
knowledge and wisdom from different areas of knowledge, or
disciplines.
 Blending knowledge from engineering, law, finance, economics,
politics, history, sociology, psychology, life science, mathematics, and
other fields can bring valuable knowledge about the possibilities and
consequences of decisions and actions.
 For example, engineering knowledge might focus on physical
infrastructure systems, whereas sociology or psychology might focus on
human impacts
Coordination and Cooperation
 Coordination is an important tool of integration because the arena
of water management sometimes involves conflicting objectives.
 Coordinating mechanisms can be formal, such as
intergovernmental agreements, or informal, such as local watershed
groups meeting voluntarily.
Cooperation
 Cooperation is also a key element in integration, whether by formal
or by informal means.
 Cooperation can be any form of working together to manage
water, such as in cooperative water management actions on a
regional scale, often known as "regionalization.“
 Examples of regionalization include a regional management
authority, consolidation of systems, a central system acting as water
wholesaler, joint financing of facilities, coordination of service areas,
interconnections for emergencies, and sharing of personnel,
equipment, or services.
 Total Water Management
 Integrated water resources management can take different forms and
is examined best in specific situations.
 In the water-supply field, the term "integrated resource planning" has
come into use to express concepts of integration in supply
development. Perhaps the most comprehensive concept for water
supply is "Total Water Management.”
 According to a 1996 report of the American Water Works Research
Foundation, Total Water Management is the exercise of stewardship of
water resources for the greatest good of society and the environment.
 A basic principle of Total Water Management is that the supply is
renewable, but limited, and should be managed on a sustainable-use
basis.
 Taking into consideration local and regional variations, Total Water
Management:
 Encourages planning and management on a natural water systems
basis through a dynamic process that adapts to changing conditions;
 Balances competing uses of water through efficient allocation that
addresses social values, cost effectiveness, and environmental benefits
and costs