Water resources management and Integrated Water Resources Management implementation in Malawi: Status and implications for lake basin management

Many countries, including Malawi, are implementing integrated approaches for the development, management and use of water and other natural resources. Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is, arguably, one approach considered helpful in addressing water issues effectively and sustainably. This study assesses the implementation of IWRM in Malawi to the present time, in relation to the five priority areas the country's Integrated Water Resources Management/Water Efficiency (IWRM/WE) Plan (2008–2012) sought to address, as well as the potential benefits of infusing Integrated Lake Basin Management (ILBM) in this approach. Document reviews, key informant interviews, questionnaire surveys and site visits were the employed methods in this analysis. Considering the significant importance of lakes in the country, this study, through application of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats framework, provides insight on how lake basin management issues can best be incorporated within the existing IWRM‐based framework to promote the management and utilization of lakes for sustainable use. While acknowledging the relevance of a holistic approach, the study highlights the importance for the country to ensure that its development agenda is not negatively affected in the course of implementing IWRM.     

Web Based Meta-database and its Role in Improving Water Resources Management in the Mediterranean Basin

Water is a very crucial natural resource in the world and because of its selective availability among different countries; it will be the most precious commodity in the future. In the Mediterranean basin one can find a mosaic of countries rich in water and others poor. However, the common issue for all these countries is how to improve water resources management. NOSTRUM-DSS [Network on Governance, Science and Technology for Sustainable Water Resources Management in the Mediterranean. The role of DSS (Decision Support System) tools. Contract 509158. August 2004–August 2007], which is a co-ordination action funded by the European Commission under the Sixth Framework Program, aims to contribute to the achievement of improved governance and planning in the field of sustainable water management. In order to achieve this goal, DSS tools which can ease the problem of accessing information about an Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) for decision makers, scientific community, and other organizations must be created. An online database is one of these tools which can help in creating an IWRM. This tool can reduce information redundancy, eliminate unneeded expenses, and create regional cooperation in the area of water resources management. In this paper a new Web based meta-database about climate, remote sensing, and Geographic Information System (GIS) related to water resources management is introduced, and its role in improving water resources management is discussed.     

Management Implications to Water Resources Constraint Force on Socio-economic System in Rapid Urbanization: A Case Study of the Hexi Corridor,NW China

As water has become the shortest resources in arid, semi-arid and rapid urbanization areas when the water resources utilization has approached or exceeded its threshold, water resources system slows down the socio-economic growth rate and destroys the projected targets to eradicate poverty and realize sustainable development. We put forward the concept of Water Resources Constraint Force (WRCF) and constructed a conceptual framework on it. Conceptual models on the interactions and feedbacks between water resources and socio-economic systems in water scarce regions or river basins indicate that, if the socio-economic system always aims at sustainable development, WRCF will vary with a normal distribution curve. Rational water resources management plays an important role on this optimistic variation law. Specifically, Water Demand Management (WDM) and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) are considered as an important perspective and approach to alleviate WRCF. A case study in the Hexi Corridor of NW China indicates that, water resources management has great impact on WRCF both in Zhangye and Wuwei Region, and also the river basins where they are located. The drastic transformation of water resources management pattern and the experimental project – Building Water-saving Society in Zhangye Region alleviated the WRCF to some extent. However, from a water resources management view, WRCF in Zhangye Region still belongs to the severe constraint type. It will soon step into the very severe constraint type. In order to shorten the periods from the very severe constraint type finally to the slight constraint type, WDM and IWRM in the Hei River Basin should be improved as soon as possible. However, in the Shiyang River Basin, WRCF belongs to the very severe constraint type at present due to poor water resources management in the past. Though the socio-economic system adapted itself and alleviated the WRCF to some extent, the Shiyang River Basin had to transform the water supply management pattern to WDM, and seek IWRM in recent years. It is concluded that WDM and IWRM is a natural selection to alleviate the WRCF on the socio-economic system and realize sustainable development.     

Mathematical Modelling for the Integrated Management of Water Resources in Hydrological Basins

Mathematical models are tools that can facilitate the instrumentation of the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). The first basin models to be developed were completely hydrological; today, due to the urgent need to plan the sustainable use of water resources, new models are needed that in addition to hydrology also incorporate social, economic, legal, environmental and other aspects. The objective of this work was to identify the characteristics that mathematical basin models must have in order to satisfy the requirements of IWRM. To achieve this, the conclusions of the main international conferences on water and the environment were analyzed; these were conferences in which IWRM was promoted as a strategy to face the challenges of both sectors. IWRM considers social participation as a key element in the decision-making process; consequently, the models must be accepted and applied, and their results interpreted, by those who participate in the process even if they are not modelling experts. This requires a change of perspective in the scientific community for the development of new IWRM models, in government institutions regarding their role as water administrators, and in water stakeholders regarding their role as decision-makers. The results of the analysis indicate that models for IWRM must be accessible to non-expert users, integrate different viewpoints, representing adequately the problem to be solved, in addition be flexible and have a structure focused on practical solutions.     

Integrated Water Resources Management in the Cross River Basin,Nigeria

This paper examines the implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in the Cross river basin, Nigeria. The Cross River Basin Development Authority (CRBDA) was established in 1976 with a mandate for integrated development, using the abundant water resources available in the region. Thirty years after the creation of the CRBDA, there is still a large gap between the original objectives and the actual delivery of services to meet the needs of the people. A wide range of study methods, including stakeholder meetings, focus group sessions, interviews and observations at village meetings of selected communities was used to examine the implementation of IWRM against the expectations and needs of the people. The paper concludes that IWRM in the Cross river basin (CRB) has not been very successful. This is attributed to a number of institutional factors, including legal, political, administrative and financial obstacles. This paper recommends that IWRM policies in the CRB should be reformed to reflect local circumstances and conditions.     

Multi-criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in the Lake Poopo Basin, Bolivia

Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is a relatively new approach in Bolivia. However, it is now generally accepted that this approach needs to be established in order to find sustainable solutions for development and is actively promoted by the Water Ministry, especially in environmentally fragile regions, such as the Lake Poopo basin. The Lake Poopo basin is one of the poorest regions in the Bolivian Altiplano. It is confronted with severe water scarcity during the dry season, leading to low water quality, a high water-poverty index and low values of the watershed sustainability index. Furthermore, salinization and environmental degradation of soil and water are forcing people to migrate to urban areas. These are some of the factors underlying an ever-increasing complexity in integrated water resources management in the region. This paper proposes and develops a Multi-criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) in the Lake Poopo basin, based on economic, social and environmental criteria in an uncertain decision environment in order to support stakeholders in managing their water resources. Saaty’s analytical hierarchy process (AHP) theory is applied here to solve the MCDA and to identify the alternatives using the highest expected utility value. The paper identifies the best solutions for existing conflicts, while promoting interaction with stakeholders and instruments in order to reach a sustainable strategy for water resources management in this water-scarce region.     

对流域综合管理和水资源综合管理概念的探讨

流域综合管理是系统解决流域性问题的重要手段．但是目前国内外对流域综合管理的概念和内涵尚未达成共识。流域综合管理和水资源综合管理是两个容易让人混淆的概念,通过这两个术语的提出背景和国内外学者对其认识的分析,可以得出它们之间既有区别,又有联系,都为解决流域问题提供了有效的方法和手段。当前,应结合我国流域实际,探索适合我国国情的流域综合管理模式,推进我国流域综合管理的进程,促进流域的可持续发展。     

Water governance, resilience and global environmental change - a reassessment of integrated water resources management (IWRM).

Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) is gaining increased acceptance among water policy makers and researchers as a way to create more effective governance institutions, leading towards integrated water development solutions for poverty alleviation, while addressing social, economic and environmental aspects of water challenges. However, global environmental change poses fundamental challenges to water policy makers as it implies vast scientific, and hence, policy uncertainty; its implications for international water governance initiatives remain unspecified, effectively hindering dialogue on how current IWRM initiatives should be modified. This paper addresses the lag between our growing understanding of resilient interconnected freshwater resources (and their governance) and the reforms being promoted by policy makers. In particular, there is a need to rethink some of IWRM's key components to better tackle the challenges posed by the complex behaviour of interconnected social-ecological systems and global environmental change.     

Firming up the Conceptual Basis of Integrated Water Resources Management

This paper focuses on defining the concept and process of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), and in particular what is being 'integrated'. In the 'natural system' integration traditionally involves land and water; surface water and groundwater; water quantity and quality; and upstream and downstream water-related interests, including the upstream freshwater catchments and the downstream coastal zone. However, equally important, but less traditional, is the integration in the 'human system' involving a holistic institutional approach; mainstreaming water in the national economy; cross-sectoral integration in national policy development; linkages to national security and trade regimes; and involvement of all stakeholders across different management levels.     

What does Integrated Water Resources Management from Local to Global Perspective Mean? Qatar as a Case Study,the Very Rich Country with No Water

Management of water resources is a very challenging issue, particularly in regions of the world where water is almost absent. In the Gulf Region, this issue is especially complex due to harsh-arid environments and increasing anthropogenic input of pollutants from the energy industry. The emergence of nations rich in oil and gas, such as Qatar, but poor in water resources requires new and dynamic systems and plans for managing limited water resources in times of extreme growth, such plans are discussed in this paper. The State of Qatar’s average annual evaporation rate is 30 times more than precipitation and the country depends on desalinated water to meet 99 % of its municipal water needs. Additionally, increasing population growth coupled with tremendous urbanization and industrialization add more stress to the existing renewable water resources, and newly produced water, namely desalted seawater and treated wastewater. Absence of water tariff and a water pricing system along with a lack of conservation awareness places Qatar as one of the highest water consuming countries in the world. Municipal water consumption per capita per day reached 500 L/ca.d for the year 2013. Dumping of sea to build new cities and construct towers makes the area very susceptible to salt water instruction, a phenomenon that does not only affect the groundwater aquifer system but also the construction materials and building deformations. Currently, Qatar uses the most advanced technologies for treating wastewater; however, the pure treated wastewater is not considered a viable water resource and is not used in areas of critical water demand such as agriculture and landscaping. Social, religious, and local marketing views limit the current use of treated wastewater. Integrated water and wastewater management strategies are absent and the national players of the two sectors -water and wastewater-are different. Current plans for integrated water resources management (IWRM) cannot answer the basic questions, what to manage and in which scale; is it the brackish and unused groundwater or the desalinated water from the existing technologies, the supply or the demand or all? This paper tries to highlight some facts related to Qatar’s water situation as an arid Gulf State and introduces potential ideas for IWRM. The critical aspects of IWRM discussed herein are relevant to a number of nations in the global community dealing with issues of extreme water insecurity.     

Analytical Support for Integrated Water Resources Management: A New Method for Addressing Spatial and Temporal Variability

This paper discusses the development of an analytical support system for implementation of the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) process. The system integrates four analytical tools: (i) geographic information system; (ii) system dynamics simulation; (iii) agent-based model; and (iv) hydrologic simulation. The choice of tools is driven by their ability to (a) respond to the main requirements of the IWRM and (b) explicitly describe system behaviour as function of time and location in space. The system dynamics simulation captures temporal dynamics in an integrated feedback model that includes sectors representing physical and socioeconomic system components. Management policies established in the participatory decision making environment are easily investigated through the simulation of system behaviour. Agent-based model is used to analyze spatial dynamics of complex physical-social-economic-biologic system. The IWRM support system is tested using data from the Upper Thames River Watershed, Ontario, Canada, in collaboration with the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority.     

Integrated Water Resources Management: A Reassessment

Abstract

The concept of integrated water resources management (IWRM) has been around for some 60 years. It was rediscovered by some in the 1990s. While at a first glance, the concept of IWRM looks attractive, a deeper analysis brings out many problems, both in concept and implementation, especially for meso- to macro-scale projects. The definition of IWRM continues to be amorphous, and there is no agreement on fundamental issues like what aspects should be integrated, how, by whom, or even if such integration in a wider sense is possible. The reasons for the current popularity of the concept are analyzed, and it is argued that in the real world, the concept will be exceedingly difficult to be made operational.     

Multicriteria Decision Support System for Regionalization of Integrated Water Resources Management

Successful implementation of integrated water resources planning and management (IWRM) requires delineation of regions that are relatively homogeneous with respect to multiple criteria, including hydrographic, physical-environmental, socioeconomic, and political-administrative aspects. The water resources planning and management (WARPLAM) DSS is presented as tool for regionalization in support of IWRM through: (1) GIS processing of spatial data related to multiple criteria for defining the homogeneity of clustered base units (e.g., catchments) with respect to multiple criteria; (2) application of fuzzy set theory to development of composite measures of homogeneity over all criteria for alternative clustering of adjacent base units; and (3) development of a modified dynamic programming clustering algorithm that guarantees consistent optimal solutions based on user preferences on the relative importance of the suite of criteria considered for regionalization. The viability of WARPLAM DSS as a tool for regional delineation in support of IWRM is demonstrated through a case study application to the Tocantins-Araguaia River Basin, the second largest in Brazil.     

A Systematic Review of Water Vulnerability Assessment Tools

The important relationship between health and water necessitates consideration of water vulnerability. Water vulnerability is contingent upon biophysical and social drivers operating at multiple scales, and is difficult to assess. This paper offers a systematic review of 50 water vulnerability assessment tools. We identify and synthesise the contents of these assessment tools (710 indicators) into five dimensions and 22 sub-dimensions and consider the extent to which they reflect environmental and social aspects. The findings are discussed in light of a holistic approach to water resources management, and specifically Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). Significant opportunities exist to enhance the efficacy of water vulnerability assessment tools by incorporating indicators and operational measures for social considerations (e.g., adaptation, institutions, governance) that are developed outside the context of water.     

基于管理系统原理的水资源统一管理探讨

基于管理的系统原理内涵：整体性、动态性、开放性、环境适应性和综合性原理,对水资源统一管理多样化方法、目的进行了分析,指出不同水资源统一管理视角下的管理子系统,都要根据管理的系统原理,满足系统集合性、层次性、相关性要求,整合水资源统一管理的5个要素：主体、客体、目的、环境条件、方法,高效满足人类对水资源的要求。     

加强城乡水资源统一管理保证经济可持续发展

如何深化水务管理体制改革,改变水资源处于分散管理的状态,将直接影响到社会经济可持续发展。水务一体化管理体制的建立,适应水资源可持续利用战略要求,营造了人水和谐的良好环境,是社会可持续发展的必经之路。     

Integrated Urban Water Resources Management: A Challenge into the 21st Century

The concept of integrated water resources management (IWRM) was introduced in the realm of the International Water Resources Association some 30 years ago. In the context of the urban environment, IWRM requires that management should encompass not only other sectors such as transportation, housing, etc. but also the concurrence of professionals of different disciplines. This paper presents the challenges faced by two metropolitan regions, one in the developed world and one in the developing world. In both cases it is shown that demand management can play a definite role in achieving integrated water management. The complexity of managing the mega-cities of the 21st century will require the creation of a new professional who will be able to coordinate multidisciplinary team work in the water sector.     

EU Water Framework Directive vs. Integrated Water Resources Management: The Seven Mismatches

The aim of this paper is to analyze how the EU Water Framework Directive complies with the international principles concerning Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) agreed in major conferences. The outcomes of the International Conference on Water and Environment (Dublin, 1992), the Second World Water Forum (The Hague, 2000), the International Conference on Freshwater (Bonn, 2001), and the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) (Johannesburg, 2002) were compared with the EU Water Framework Directive. Seven notable mismatches were found, even though several EU countries have played a leading role in those conferences. The question arises whether the outcome of these conferences is not efficient enough to influence EU policies—do the conferences just produce collections of idealistic buzzwords or is there a requirement for different principles regarding IWRM for developing countries and developed countries?     

Integrated water resources management in Nepal: key stakeholders' perceptions and lessons learned

Integrated water resources management (IWRM) has been prescribed in the global water policy literature for decades. This article looks at how the concept has been applied in Nepal. It highlights the normative approach in IWRM policy formulation, the existing institutional barriers to apply it and how these resulted in the framing of IWRM ‘implementation’ as merely a compilation of donor-funded projects. Current discourse on IWRM highlights the need to shift the emphasis from national policy formulation to local adaptive, pragmatic approaches to IWRM. This article brings to light the need to identify potential entry points to scale up locally rooted water management approaches towards the development of nested institutional set-ups in water resources management.     

Sustainability Issues in Water Management

In the 1992 Rio World Summit on Environment and Development/UNCED), water resources are indicated to remain at the core of sustainable development and, thus, they are to be managed and developed on a sustainable basis. Sustainability is a philosophical concept and thus difficult to measure. Yet, we need to describe it on rather precise terms to assess whether our water management practices are sustainable and to ensure sustainability in decision making for management. To this end, a number of sustainability criteria have been defined, based on quantifiable measures, without overlooking immeasurable aspects of sustainable development. This paper considers economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability as the basic criteria to be pursued in evaluating how effective our water management plans are in achieving sustainability. On the other hand, actual case studies are needed to test the usefulness of selected criteria by using computer-based interactive optimization and simulation models with associated databases embedded into a decision support system (DSS). The study herein intends to present such a case study based on economic, social and environmental criteria to assess sustainability in management of the Gediz River Basin in Turkey. Various management scenarios developed for the basin are evaluated within a DSS while ensuring multi-stakeholder involvement in defining the three sustainability criteria. The case study is a result of the analyses carried out in SMART (Sustainable Management of Scarce Resources in the Coastal Zone) and OPTIMA (Optimization for Sustainable Water Resources Management) projects funded respectively by the 5^th and 6^th Framework Programmes of the European Union.