Developing a framework for supporting the implementation of integrated water resource management (IWRM) with a decoupling strategy

Water Policy ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 1317-1333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernest Nti Acheampong ◽  
Mark Swilling ◽  
Kevin Urama
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Policy ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Integrated Water Resources Management ◽  
United Nations Environment Programme ◽  
Sustainable Water Management ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Conceptual Clarity ◽  
Fundamental Shift ◽  
Nations Environment

The rise of integrated water resources management (IWRM) in the global water policy discourse marks a fundamental shift in water management from the techno-centric, top-down, supply-oriented and sectoral approach towards a holistic, participatory and demand-driven approach to sustainable water management. The IWRM concept has become dominant, permeating national, regional and international water policies, backed by heavy investments and advocacy by key global actors such as the World Bank and European Union. However, its implementation success remains unimpressive, amidst strong criticisms about its conceptual clarity. More recently, the decoupling concept spearheaded by the United Nations Environment Programme and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is gaining momentum as an alternative approach for sustainable water management. This paper reviews the two concepts both acclaimed for organizing knowledge production for sustainability. The paper examines the underlying factors that limit IWRM implementation and assesses the potentials of addressing the inadequacies of IWRM with the decoupling concept. IWRM as a process lacks a clearly defined strategy, standard measures to track the success of IWRM plans and guidance for planning and project development, while decoupling offers a viable strategy that feeds into the implementation of IWRM plan, providing strategic and operational direction towards achieving sustainability goals.

Stakeholder involvement in water management: the role of the stakeholder analysis within participatory processes

Water Policy ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 675-694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Sabina Lupo Stanghellini
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Stakeholder Participation ◽  
Stakeholder Analysis ◽  
Stakeholder Involvement ◽  
Integrated Water Resources Management ◽  
Catchment Management ◽  
Analysis Methodology ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Future Challenges

Water is a central resource supporting human activities and ecosystems and it is required for different purposes and uses that are often conflicting. Existing water-related problems are expected to increase and conventional water resource management systems are not likely to be able to face future challenges. There is the need for an integrated water resources management, which should be participatory, technically and scientific informed and which should be based on bottom-up approach. The Directive 2000/60/EC is based on principles of integrated planning and calls for stakeholder involvement in water management. Involving stakeholders is an important step to ensure that catchment management plans take into consideration local needs, experiences and interests. This paper presents a stakeholder analysis methodology that was developed to support stakeholder participation in water management. The methodology was implemented as a preliminary step in a stakeholder participation project in an alpine sub-catchment in Northern Italy.

WATER POLICY STRATEGY OF UKRAINE: PROSPECTS FOR IMPLEMENTATION

2021 ◽  
pp. 6-15
Author(s):  
Mykhailo Khvesyk ◽  
Lyudmila Levkovska ◽  
Valeriy Mandzyk
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Policy ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
Management Policy ◽  
Economic Regulation ◽  
Sustainable Water Management ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Water Strategy ◽  
Territorial Water

The article is devoted to the development of theoretical approaches to the formation and implementation of the strategy of water policy of Ukraine in the context of climate change. As a result of the conducted research, it is proved that because of influence of various external factors there are changes of basic imperatives of functioning of modern systems of management of water resources. The need to consider these changes by improving the strategic documents that define the priorities and principles of national water management policy is substantiated. It is established that one of the main reasons for the lack of water of good quality is its low value compared to other natural resources. This leads to a lack of legal, organizational, and financial and economic grounds for ensuring the payback of water and water-dependent ecosystem services, which is the reason for lack of funds and relevant work to improve and restore environmental and hydro morphological characteristics of reservoirs and repair and modernization of existing hydraulic structures. In this regard, emphasis is placed on the need to improve methods of economic regulation and the development of mechanisms and tools for financial support of sustainable water management. In the context of the above, it is proposed to include in the list of main tasks of the draft Water Strategy of Ukraine two groups of economic levers to increase the financial base of investment support for sustainable water management. The first group is aimed at improving the rent regulation of special use of water resources and provides for raising standards for unauthorized groundwater production, for companies that produce beverages and sell bottled drinking water, as well as limiting various benefits and preferences when paying special water use fees. The second - to change the system of water resources management, the development of institutional and legal support for their use in a globalized market environment, the implementation of modern instruments of financial and economic support for the formation of territorial water resources on a corporate basis.

scholarly journals Developing a dynamic framework to examine the interplay between environmental stress, stakeholder participation processes and hydrological systems

2014 ◽  
Vol 364 ◽  
pp. 326-332
Author(s):  
G. Carr ◽  
G. Blöschl ◽  
D. P. Loucks
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Resource Management ◽  
Environmental Stress ◽  
Water Policy ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Stakeholder Participation ◽  
Institutional Conditions ◽  
Dynamic Framework ◽  
Environmental Events

Abstract. Stakeholder participation is increasingly discussed as essential for sustainable water resource management. Yet detailed understanding of the factors driving its use, the processes by which it is employed, and the outcomes or achievements it can realise remains highly limited, and often contested. This understanding is essential to enable water policy to be shaped for efficient and effective water management. This research proposes and applies a dynamic framework that can explore in which circumstances environmental stress events, such as floods, droughts or pollution, drive changes in water governance towards a more participatory approach, and how this shapes the processes by which participation or stakeholder engagement takes place, and the subsequent water management outcomes that emerge. The framework is able to assess the extent to which environmental events in combination with favourable contextual factors (e.g. institutional support for participatory activities) lead to good participatory processes (e.g. well facilitated and representative) that then lead to good outcomes (e.g. improved ecological conditions). Through applying the framework to case studies from the literature it becomes clear that environmental stress events can stimulate participatory governance changes, when existing institutional conditions promote participatory approaches. The work also suggests that intermediary outcomes, which may be tangible (such as reaching an agreement) or non-tangible (such as developing shared knowledge and understanding among participants, or creating trust), may provide a crucial link between processes and resource management outcomes. If this relationship can be more strongly confirmed, the presence or absence of intermediary outcomes may even be used as a valuable proxy to predict future resource management outcomes.

Traditional qanat related jurisprudence in Algeria

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1142-1149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadjat Aroua
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Water Management ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Sustainable Water Management ◽  
Spatial Concept ◽  
Water Legislation ◽  
Current Water ◽  
Specific Culture ◽  
Management Issues

The purpose of this paper is to present an investigation on the relevance of the historical water legislation which would adapt to the modern sustainable water management. It is mainly based on the book by Ernest Feline related to the qanat system in the arid M'Zab valley in southern Algeria. It also refers to some related lectures on the traditional water legislation in the Sahara region and more generally on the Islamic water jurisprudence which does reveal a specific culture perpetuated through a relevant adaptation of al-hisba principles. Subsequently the present paper argues that if updated and adapted, the traditional knowledge can serve current water management issues within the framework of the water sensitive urbanism associated with the integrated water resource management. With this respect the spatial concept called ‘harim al-ma’ and the traditional community actions towards the qanat system can contribute to protecting water quality and improving public health.

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

2007 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Galaz
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Water Policy ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Global Environmental Change ◽  
Integrated Water Resources Management ◽  
Policy Uncertainty ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Complex Behaviour ◽  
Global Environmental

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.

scholarly journals Perspective: The challenge of ecologically sustainable water management

Water Policy ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 475-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Bernhardt ◽  
StuartE. Bunn ◽  
David D. Hart ◽  
Björn Malmqvist ◽  
Timo Muotka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Resource Management ◽  
Water Resource ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Environmental Water ◽  
Sustainable Water Management ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Water Demands ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Ecologically Sustainable

Sustainable water resource management is constrained by three pervasive myths; that societal and environmental water demands always compete with one another; that technological solutions can solve all water resource management problems; and that environmental solutions to protect and maintain freshwater resources are more expensive and less dependable than technological solutions. We argue that conservation and good stewardship of water resources can go a long way toward meeting societal demands and values. Furthermore, water requirements to sustain ecosystem health and biodiversity in rivers and their associated coastal systems can be well aligned with options for human use and deliver a suite of ecosystem goods and services to society. However, to achieve ecologically sustainable water management, we propose several key issues that must be addressed. The objective of this opinion paper is to stimulate discussion across traditional discipline boundaries with the aim of forging new partnerships and collaborations to meet this pressing challenge of ecologically sustainable water management.

Managing Water for Australia

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Hussey ◽  
Stephen Dovers
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Water Management ◽  
Water Policy ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Water Rights ◽  
Australian Water ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Policy Statements ◽  
Fundamental Shift ◽  
National Water

Australian water policy and management are undergoing rapid and immense change in response to drought, technological advances, climate change and demographic and economic shifts. The National Water Initiative and the 2007 Australian Government water policy statements propose a fundamental shift in how Australians will use and manage water in the future. The implementation of the national water policy presents many challenges – the creation of water rights and markets, comprehensive water planning, new legislative settings, community participation in water management, linking urban and rural water management, and more. Managing Water for Australia brings together leading social sciences researchers and practitioners to identify the major challenges in achieving sustainable water management, to consolidate current knowledge, and to explore knowledge gaps in and opportunities for furthering water reform.

Water Governance and Management in Indus Basin - Challenges & Threats

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marium Sara Minhas Bandeali
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Policy ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
The State ◽  
Indus Basin

Water governance and management are important challenges for the River Indus Basin in Pakistan. Water governance refers to social, political and economic factors that influence water management. The water scarcity and water security are a major concern for the state to control its water resources. The study aims to give Sindh water policy by exploring the challenges to Indus Basin in managing water resources and to identify opportunities Indus Basin can look to improve water management. Interviews were conducted from water experts and analysts having 5 years’ experience or more in the water sector of Pakistan through a semi-structured self-developed questionnaire using purposive sampling technique and transcripts were analyzed using thematic content analysis. The findings show that increasing population, climatic change and rising demand of water are major challenges Indus is facing and Indus with time is getting water-scarce therefore need strong institutions, civil society and legislatures to ensure equitable distribution of water and maintain the ecosystem. The study emphasizes that water governance and management are necessary for sustainable use of water. Pakistan, the water stress country needs to address ‘governance’ at a wider scale to solve problems in the Indus Basin for the livelihood of people. The research will benefit the state, water experts, institutions as well as civil society to promote efficient use of water in Indus Basin.

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