Concepts ofIntegrated Water

Resources Management(IWRM)

By

Dr. Hassan Abbas

July 3, 2016

The views expressed in this presentation are the

views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views

or policies of LEAD Pakistan, or the funding agencies

associated with LEAD. The author does not guarantee the

accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no

responsibility for any consequences of their use.

Terminology used may not necessarily be consistent with

LEAD official terms.

Disclaimer

This talk covers…

Some facts and issues about water

What is IWRM?

Principles of IWRM

Conclusion

FACTS

Millions* have lived without love, no one has ever lived without water**

(a Turkish businessman)

* Homosapiens**Fresh water

We use fresh water for:• Rain-fed agriculture• Irrigation• Domestic use in urban centers and in rural areas• Livestock• Industrial and commercial use• Institutions• Waste and wastewater disposal• Cooling (e.g. for thermal power generation)• Hydropower• Navigation• Recreation• Fisheries• The environment (wildlife, nature conservation etc.)

Why need management of water?

• Fresh water resources are limited

• Limited fresh water resources are becoming more and more polluted

• Becoming unfit for human consumption and unfit to sustain the ecosystems;

• Limited fresh water resources have to be divided amongst the competing needs of the society and the environment

Why need management of water?

• Many citizens do not as yet have access to sufficient and safe fresh water

• Techniques used to control water (such as dams and dikes) may often have undesirable consequences on the environment

• There are inter-system and intra-system relationships between up-stream and down-stream; groundwater and surface water; coastal waters and fresh water; etc. Regulating one or two systems in isolation may not achieve the desired results.

What must be considered?

• Engineering, economic, social, ecological and legal aspects

• Quantitative and qualitative aspects - supply and demand

• Management cycle - planning, monitoring, operation & maintenance, etc.

(van derZaag, 2000; 2001)

Integrated Water Resources Management

IWRM

IWEM definitionsGWP Definition

Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is 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 (GWP-TAC4, 2001)

CAPNET Definition

IWRM is a process which aims to ensure the coordinateddevelopment of water resources with a view to optimizing social and economic welfare without compromising their sustainability (CAPNET, 1999)

In short, IWRM:

• Seeks to manage the water resources in a comprehensive and holistic way

• Considers the water resources from a number of different perspectives or dimensions

• Makes appropriate decisions and arrangements after all possible considerations

• Aims to strike a balance between the use of the resource as a basis for the livelihood and the protection and conservation of the resource to sustain its functions and characteristics

Dimension considered in IWRM

• the water resources, the entire hydrological cycle

• the water users, all sectoral interests and stakeholders

• the spatial scale, including:– the spatial distribution of water resources and uses

– the various spatial scales at which water is being managed, i.e. individual user, user groups, watershed, catchment, (international) basin; and the institutional arrangements that exist at these various scales

• the temporal scale, including:– temporal variation in availability/demand for water resources

– the physical structures built to even out fluctuations and to better match the supply with demand

(van der Zaag 2001)

The IWRM “Comb”

Enabling environmental policies/laws

Institutional framework

Management instruments

Political economy

Cross-sectoral Integration - IWRM

Water for

people

Water for

food

Water for

economy

Water for

nature

Water for

other uses

Principles of IWRM

Dublin Principles

Dublin Principles were formulated during the International Conference on Water and the Environment in Dublin, 1992, and accepted in the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro the same year.

IWRM Principles

• Fresh water is a finite, vulnerable and essential resource which should be managed in an integrated manner

• Water resources development and management should be based on a participatory approach, involving all relevant stakeholders

• Women play a central role in the provision, management and safeguarding of water

• Water has an economic value and should be recognized as an economic good, taking into account affordability and equity criteria.

Associated key Concepts• Integrated water resources management imply:

– An inter-sectoral approach

– Representation of all stakeholders

– Consideration of all physical aspects of the water resources

– Considerations of sustainability and the environment

• Socio-economic development that safeguards the resource base for future generations

• Emphasis on demand driven and demand oriented approaches

• Highest and lowest levels of decision-making – think global act local

Consensus over several issues

Consensus

• Basic human needs have priority; other uses should be prioritized according to societal needs and socio-economic criteria

• The river basin is the logical unit for water resources management

• Participatory approaches in decision-making, and the crucial role of women.

Debate

• Privatization, and more generally the role of the private sector in water management

• The value of water (the social, economic and ecological value)

• The pricing of water

There is no universal blueprint as to how such principles can be put into practice

Principle I:

Water as a finite and vulnerable resource

• Resource yield has natural limits – only part of a resource is annually recycled

• Humans have no control over Hydrological cycle

• The freshwater resource may be regarded as a natural capital asset, which needs to be maintained to ensure that the desired services it provides are sustained

• holistic approach

– recognizing all the characteristics of the hydrological cycle and its interaction with other natural resources and ecosystems.

– Water is required for many purposes, functions and services;

• Consideration of the demands placed on the resource and the threats to it

Principle I:

Water as a finite and vulnerable resource

• Directly or indirectly, precipitation is the ultimate source of fresh water

• Glaciers, rivers/lakes and aquifers are the natural repositories of fresh water

• This water is the water that:– We tend to harness through infrastructure

development (e.g. dams, wells)

– We use

– We pollute

Principle I:

Water as a finite and vulnerable resource

Principle II:

Participatory approach

• Real participation - stakeholders are part of the decision-making process.

• Local communities come together to make water supply management and use choices

• Participation also occurs if accountable agencies or spokespersons can represent stakeholder groups

• Additionally participation in decision-making can take place through market processes

• The type of participation will depend upon the spatial and temporal scales relevant to particular water management and investment decisions

Principle II:

Participatory approach

• pursue an appropriate balance between a top-down and a bottom-up approach

• participation depends on the provision of mechanisms and information to individuals and communities on water sensitive choices

• Levels of participation

– Local communities (municipalities and villages)

– Multi-national (international shared river basins)

Principe III:

The important role of women

• Women play a key role in the collection and safeguarding of water for domestic purposes and, in many instances, agricultural use

• Women play a less powerful role than men in the management, problem analysis and decision making related to water

• IWRM demands the role of women to be acknowledged. In order to ensure full and effective participation of women at all levels of decision making

• There is an important link between gender equality and sustainable water management.

Principle IV:

Water as an economic good

• Water has a value as an economic good; water has been - and is still - viewed as a free good, or at least that the full value of water has not been recognized

• Not recognizing value of water may lead to water being allocated to low-value uses and provides no incentives to treat water as a limited asset

• In order to extract the maximum benefits from the available water resources there is a need to change perceptions about water values

• The full value of water consists of its use value -or economic value - and the intrinsic value

• The economic value which depends on the user and the way it is used, include: – value to (direct) users of water, net benefits from

water that is lost through sinks (e.g. return flows),

– the contribution of water towards the attainment of social objectives.

• The intrinsic value includes non-use values such as bequest or existence values

Principle IV:

Water as an economic good

• The full cost of providing water may include:

• the environmental externalities associated with public health and ecosystem maintenance

• the economic externalities arising from changes in economic activities of indirectly affected sectors

• economic cost due to resource management, operation/maintenance and capital charges

• opportunity costs from alternative water uses

Principle IV:

Water as an economic good

Conclusion

Three key policy principles

• Equity: Water is a basic need.

– No human being can live without a basic volume of fresh water of sufficient quality.

– This policy principle is related to the fact that water is often considered a public good.

– Water is such a basic requirement for human life and survival that society has to defend the uses of the water resources in the public interest

Postel (1992)

Three key policy principles

• Ecological integrity: Water resources can only persist in a natural environment

– Natural environment capable of regenerating (fresh) water of sufficient quality.

– Only sustainable water use can be allowed such that future generations will be able to use it in similar ways as the present generation.

Postel (1992)

Three key policy principles

• Efficiency: Water is a scarce resource. It should be used efficiently;

– Institutional arrangements should be such that cost recovery of the water services should be attained

– Ensure sustainability of infrastructure and institutions, but should not jeopardize the equity principle.

– Here comes in the issue of water pricing, and whether or not water should be priced according to its economic value.

Postel (1992)

IWRM –Process, not Product. Tool, not

Blueprint

• Is a coordinated process to bring together all stakeholders.

• Emphasizes on economic, social welfare and equity, and protecting ecosystems

• Is based on scientific data /tools for judgment /decisions

• Promotes good governance, with democratic participation.

We treat water as good health - when we have it, we never think about it, and when don’t

have it, it’s the only thing we think about

(NGM 2010)

Thanks!

Questions?

Biblio

• CAPNET, (1999), International Network for Capacity Building in Integrated Water Resources Management. Proposal prepared for GWP-TAC. UNDP, New York

• GWP-TAC4, (2000), Integrated Water Resources management, Global Water Partnership, Technical Advisory Committee Paper No.4, Stockholm, Sweden. Also on the web http://www.gwpforum.org/Tacno4.pdf

• Postel S., 1(992), Last oasis, facing water scarcity. W.W. Norton, New York• Savenije H.H.G., (2001), Why water is not an ordinary economic good, or why the girl is special,• paper to presented in the 2nd WARFSA/WaterNet Symposium: Integrated Water• Resources Management: Theory, Practice, Cases, Cape Town, 30-31 October 2001.• van der Zaag P., (2000), unpublished paper, Concepts and Definitions in Integrated Water• Resources Management, Integrated Water Resources Management Southern Africa• Region Workshop, Mazvikadei, Zimbabwe, 4-8 December, 2000.• van der Zaag P., (2001), Principles of Integrated Water Resources Management, WaterNet• module IWRM 0.1, 1st draft; June 2001, IHE Delft & Department of Civil Engineering,• University of Zimbabwe• Shiklomanov I.A., (1993), World fresh water resources, in Gleick P.H. (Ed) Water in Crisis: Guide to worlds fresh

water resources, Oxford University press, New York.• Falkenmark, M., (1995), Coping with water scarcity under rapid population growth. Paper presented at the

Conference of SADC Water Ministers. Pretoria, 23-24 November 1995• Engelman R., and LeRoy P., (1993), Sustaining water; Population and the future of renewable water supplies,

Population and environment Programme, Population Action international, Washington, USA.• B. Gumbo and P. van der Zaag (2001) Principles of IWRM Southern Africa Youth Forum, 24-25 September 2001,

Harare, Zimbabwe. Global Water Partnership South Africa