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.     

Institutional Aspects of Water Management in Central Asia Water Users Associations

Abstract

The way water resources in the former Soviet Union (FSU) were managed in the second half of the past century had both positive and negative effects and contributed to the existing situation. On the one hand, extensive development of water resources led to the transformation of millions of hectares of virgin lands into agricultural production, providing millions of people with food and livelihoods. On the other hand, the over-exploitation of water resources led to drastic changes of the environment: many water bodies, such as lakes, small rivers, and delta wetlands dried up. The Aral Sea basin is one of the dramatic examples of the negative impacts of large-scale irrigation interventions. The state-controlled era of development in the Soviet period has a legacy of standardized procedures and rules formulated at the top. The shortcomings of such a water management included fragmentation, duplication, and a highly administrative approach without considering the needs of the environment and input of water users into planning, allocating, and managing of water resources. This paper presents an analytical view of the role and importance of water users organizations/associations (WUOs/WUAs) in the irrigated agriculture and under irrigation management transfer (IMT) in Central Asia region. International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the Scientific Information Center of Interstate Coordination Water Commission (SIC ICWC) conducted the “Best Practices.” Projects including activities covered Syr Darya and Amu Darya basins of Central Asia. During the first stage of the project (01.04.1002-31.03.2002), the monitoring objects were: 30 district water management organizations (DWMO), eight WUAs, 58 collective farms (CCF), and 61 private farms (PPF) from eight provinces Central Asia) project for conserving water resources by involving water users into water savings. The primary strategy was to propagate application of inexpensive technical and managerial methods and measures to save water by users themselves. The project is a joint project of IWMI and SIC ICWC aimed to monitor and disseminate the best practices of water conservation initiated by water users. The first year of the “Best Practices” project accomplished a broader involvement of water users into the water conserving methods, therefore continuing the beneficial good water management practices. It also continued to involve the water supplying organizations and various groups of water users (collective farms, farmers, and water users' associations). The major interest was to analyze the impacts of the different water conservation and management practices on productivity of water use.     

Principles of Transboundary Water Resources Management and Water-related Agreements in Central Asia: An Analysis

This paper analyzes the use of transboundary water resources management principles in two key regional water-related agreements in Central Asia: the Agreement on Cooperation in Joint Management, Use and Protection of Interstate Sources of Water Resources (1992) and the Statute of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination of Central Asia (2008). These agreements incorporate several internationally recognized transboundary water resources management principles, though there are also some weaknesses. The presence of such principles in these regional agreements offers plenty of hope for the promotion of sustainable water resources management in Central Asia.     

Some Foci of Integrated Water Resources Management in the“South” which are oft- forgotten by the “North”: A perspective from southern Africa

Following some definitions of IWRM within a context of integrated catchment management, and a summary of the major goals and strategies as well as scale considerations in IWRM, this paper highlights some differences between IWRM in Lesser Developed Countries (LDCs), i.e. the so-called “South”, and Developed Countries (DCs), i.e. the so-called “North”, by outlining characteristics of DCs and LDCs which shape their respective needs in IWRM. Thereafter inherent problems in regard to IWRM in LDCs are identified. This is followed by examples from four case studies in southern African catchments which focus on some of the uniquenesses of IWRM issues in LDCs which, in the author's experiences, are often forgotten by theorists and practitioners from the “North”,viz.that

Facing Water Scarcity in Jordan

Abstract

Jordan is extremely water-scarce with just 167 m³ per capita per year to meet domestic, industrial, agricultural, tourism, and environmental demands. The heavy exploitation of water resources has contributed to declines in the levels of aquifers and the Dead Sea. Rapid growth in demand, particularly for higher quality water for domestic, industrial, and tourism uses, is significantly increasing pressure on agricultural and environmental uses of water, both of which must continue to adapt to reduced volumes and lower quality water. The agricultural sector has begun to respond by improving irrigation efficiency and increasing the use of recycled water. Total demand for water still exceeds renewable supplies while inadequate treatment of sewage used for irrigation creates potential environmental and health risks and presents agricultural marketing challenges that undermine the competitiveness of exports. The adaptive capability of the natural environment may already be past sustainable limits with oasis wetlands having been most seriously affected. Development of new water resources is extremely expensive in Jordan with an average investment cost of US$4 to $5 per cubic meter. This paper examines four integrated water resources management (IWRM) approaches of relevance to Jordan: water reuse, demand management, energy-water linkages, and transboundary water management. While progress in Jordan has been made, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation continues to be concerned about the acute water scarcity the country faces as well as the need to continue working with concerned stakeholders to assure future water supplies.     

流域水资源一体化管理及其理论框架

概述了水资源一体化管理的发展历程,在综合国内外机构和学者对水资源统一管理看法的基础上,对流域水资源一体化管理的定义进行了探讨,分析了流域水资源一体化管理与传统水资源管理的区别,提出了流域水资源一体化管理的理论框架。最后,应用理论框架,对国外2个典型流域的水资源一体化管理实践与经验进行了分析与评述。     

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.     

Roles and perspectives of the policy‐maker,affected water sector and scientist in integrated water resources management: a case study from South Africa

Following a definition of integrated water resources management (IWRM) and who the various stakeholders are in IWRM, the roles and views of three different stakeholders are discussed from a South African perspective. The role of national policy‐maker is that of enabling/facilitating IWRM in light of principles and provisions enshrined in South Africa's National Water Act of 1998. Commercial agriculture is selected as one sector markedly affected by new legislation related to IWRM. Positives of the legislation are first outlined, but perceived ‘threats’ by the commercial agriculture sector of legislation then come under the spotlight. These are categorized into questions on water allocation, water conservation and water management. The role of the scientist, more specifically the hydrologist, in enabling/facilitating IWRM is viewed from perspectives of the scientist's being the ‘objective broker’ between stakeholders with their own agendas, to information provider, of being model developer, of pre‐empting future questions on IWRM, as communicator and as a capacity builder.     

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。     

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.     

An alternative framework for analysing and managing conflicts in integrated water resources management (IWRM): linking theory and practice

Research on water resource conflicts needs to be better aligned with practitioner approaches to water resources development, chiefly integrated water resources management (IWRM). This paper bridges the gap between research and practice through a novel application of the social–ecological systems framework to a set of 10 conflict cases from an IWRM initiative in rural Central America. The conflicts in the empirical cases are found to be primarily the result of socio-political variables, particularly low levels of trust and social capital, and peacebuilding is suggested as a promising approach to address this suite of conflicts. The paper concludes with a proposed course of research designed to further both theoretical and applied knowledge of water resource conflicts.     

Editorial Comments on the World Commission on Water for the 21stCentury

Abstract

In this study, in order to create a decision-making model on water resources projects, a hierarchy of criteria has been developed by public participation. The Value Management methodology has been used for extraction of the effective criteria and attributes in the scope of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). The hierarchy is generic for water resources management in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Since the evaluations of alternatives with respect to some attributes are uncertain and vague, fuzzy set theory has been used. By merging fuzzy set theory and multi-attribute decision-making a new Decision Support System (DSS), namely FDM, has been developed to compare different alternatives. As an innovation, FDM accepts evaluations of alternatives with respect to the attributes as crisp variables, fuzzy variables, and linguistic variables. FDM embodies an expert system whose duty is to choose an appropriate method among the SAW, Fuzzy SAW, TOPSIS or Fuzzy TOPSIS based on the characteristics of the problem.

The central and Southeastern regions of Iran are considered arid regions, suffering from water shortages. In this paper, water transfers to the Zayanderud basin in Iran have been modeled by FDM. Successful application of this DSS in this study allows for its application by water authorities in other case studies.     

Flavia Rocha Loures and Alistair Rieu-Clarke (eds), The UN Watercourses Convention in force: strengthening international law for transboundary water management

Abstract

The MODSIM 8.0 decision support system (DSS) for integrated river basin management (IRBM) has been adapted from a prior appropriation rights-based system to one found in Korea and in much of Asia where water deficits are shared among water use sectors, taking into account priorities established by water policy and institutional frameworks. The Korean version called KModSim is applied to the Geum River basin for evaluation of long-term sustainability of existing and new water infrastructure and facilities under integrated, basin-wide water resources management. KModSim is calibrated to the physical and hydrologic characteristics of the basin, as well as to operational and administrative water allocation policies for municipal and industrial water supply, irrigation, hydropower, transbasin diversions, and low-flow augmentation for environmental purposes. Conditional reservoir operational rules that adapt to changing river basin hydrologic conditions are developed from an implicit stochastic optimization algorithm and incorporated using the extensive user-customization capabilities of KModSim. Results demonstrate that decision guidance under KModSim enhances beneficial water uses in the Geum River system through fully integrated, basin-wide management.     

Islamic Water Management

Abstract

Islam offers its followers extensive guidelines on all aspects of life including how they should use and manage the natural environment. This religion's teachings on matters related to, for example, family affairs and inheritance are well developed and widely applied in the Islamic World. However, the hydrological dimensions of Islam are underdeveloped. This paper is a small step towards the development of Islamically-inspired water management principles. It illustrates that the Koran and hadith have relatively elaborate strategies for water conservation and pollution-prevention. The rationale that water management policies need to fit the cultural norms of the affected people guided the approach to this paper. It hence argues that a carefully-calibrated, Islamically-grounded water management policy is likely to lead to wider acceptability and broader compliance by Muslims because it reflects their value system.     

Water Resources Management and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in Cameroon

Cameroon is blessed with abundant water resources. Rapid population increase, unplanned urbanisation, intensive industrial and socio-economic development have led to poor and unsustainable management of these resources. Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is a promising approach in ensuring sustainable management of Cameroon’s water resources. It entails management of water for various purposes and not for a single purpose which therefore involves different stake holders aiming at achieving sustainable water resources management. This paper seeks to evaluate recent efforts to implement in IWRM in Cameroon by examining the institutional framework for IWRM in Cameroon, conditions for the implementation of IWRM and proposes reforms for improving IWRM in Cameroon. The paper concludes that reforms such as public participation at local council levels, recognition of water as both an economic and a social good, putting IWRM within the larger context of Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM) and the exploitation of mathematical models within hydrological basins will improve IWRM in Cameroon.     

Probable water crisis in Thrace and Istanbul in the near future and a sustainable strategy to overcome it

Abstract

The Thrace Region of Turkey, a passageway from Asia to Europe, which includes the most populated city of Istanbul, is threatened by a water crisis in the very near future. The population of Istanbul alone is forecast to reach 30 millions by the year 2025, requiring 3 billion m³ of water, nearly equal to the total fresh water resources of the region, 3.4 billion m³. In this study, we consider not only the proportion of the available water resources to be allocated for each competing sector, civil, agriculture and industry, but also attempt to outline integrated water management strategies for each sector. The potential of small earth reservoirs, more than 1,500 in number, is emphasised as a way to develop fresh water resources. Water saving policies in the cities and ethics for water use are also briefly discussed.     

The EU Water Initiative at 15: origins,processes and assessment

This article examines the activities and achievements of the European Union Water Initiative, a transnational, multi-actor partnership established in 2002 by the European Commission to support water governance reforms around the world. Two regional components of the initiative – (a) Africa and (b) Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia – are studied with a focus on their organizational structures, activities, policies and achievements. The analysis provides evidence for improved regional dialogue and cooperation in the water sector, but also points to persistent weaknesses, in particular a lack of resources, ownership and mutual understanding as to the overall aims of the Initiative.     

Application of Islamic Legal Principles for Advanced Water Management

Abstract

Saudi Arabia experienced extensive and rapid developments in all sectors during the last two decades with a rapid and vast increase in water demand. The country follows the sacred principles of the Muslim law “Shari'a,” where water is considered the common entitlement of all Muslims. In the last decades, however, the traditional methods for satisfying the limited water needs have been modified in accordance with Islamic laws to meet the rise in water demand and organize water management issues. Legislation and institutions, new water pricing policies, demand reduction techniques, and regulations for well drilling have been introduced. Support of cultivation of some crops has been modified to minimize irrigation water use, and modern irrigation techniques have been practiced to reduce water losses and demand. The Council of Muslim Leading Scholars has given pioneering examples of the flexibility of Islam by issuing a special Fatwa to regulate the reuse of treated effluents for different purposes. This has promoted wastewater recycling by the public. The Islamic principles used in Saudi Arabia have helped to improve water demand management, and the gained experience can benefit other countries.     

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.     

“一带一路”中亚区水资源利用与经济社会发展匹配度分析

统计1997、2002、2007和2014年中亚区5国水资源利用(总用水量、农业用水量、工业用水量、生活用水量)和经济社会(人口、GDP)数据,采用基于数列的匹配度计算方法,分别计算了中亚各国水资源利用与经济社会发展在时间和空间上的匹配度。结果表明:1997—2014年中亚地区水资源利用与经济社会发展的时间匹配度呈先上升后下降的趋势;空间匹配度从大到小依次为:塔吉克斯坦、吉尔吉斯斯坦、土库曼斯坦、乌兹别克斯坦和哈萨克斯坦;水资源利用-GDP的匹配度略高于水资源利用-人口的匹配度,工业用水量与经济社会发展的匹配度略高于总用水量、农业用水量、生活用水量与经济社会发展的匹配度。