Integrated Water Resources Management
Integrated Water Resources Management
Integrated Water Resources Management
http://ejournal.nbii.org
ARTICLE
Water Resources Laboratory, Helsinki University of Technology, PO Box 5200 Espoo, 02015 Finland
(e-mail: mizanur.rahaman@hut.fi; olli.varis@hut.fi )
This paper analyzes the evolution of the concept of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) at
international conferences over the past three decades and addresses the prospects of IWRM in resolving
the current water crisis. It also identifies seven crucial challenges to implementing IWRM. Our rivers and
aquifers are the life-blood of the planet. To achieve sustainable development, we must manage our most
vital natural resource, water, in an integrated manner, or precisely through Integrated Water Resources
Management. Since water is fundamental to many aspects of life, and to the surrounding natural
environment, there is a need not only to review IWRM’s evolution in the last three decades, but also to
identify future challenges to its implementation.
KEYWORDS: water resources, water management, sustainable development, conferences, international agreements, rivers, world
problems, developing countries, water conservation
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Second World Water Forum & Ministerial International Conference on Freshwater - Bonn
Conference (The Hague 2000) 2001
On 17-22 March 2000, the Second World Water In close co-operation with the United Nations,
Forum was held in The Hague, the Netherlands, with more Germany hosted, in December 2001, the International
than 5,700 participants from all over the world. Unlike Mar Conference on Freshwater in Bonn. The aim of the
del Plata and Dublin, this Forum did not just gather conference was to contribute to solutions for global water
intergovernmental participants and experts, but included a problems, and to support preparations for the World Summit
range of stakeholders related to water management from the on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg,
developing and developed world. This would become key to 2002, and the Third World Water Forum in Kyoto, 2003.
the Forum’s success, and to its participants’ satisfaction. The conference reviewed all previous water
With its theme, From Vision to Action, the Forum resources development principles and recognized that there
brought together a wide array of documents addressing was often a gap between policy development and practice. In
visions produced and structured by the World Water Council a novel way, the Bonn Conference focused on practical
and invaluable views in reforming the water sector, better implementation, not only identifying challenges and key
addressing the need to integrate water management. Unlike targets, but also recommending action programs to
Dublin, The Hague Forum carefully considered the outcomes implement policies in the field (ICFW, 2001).
of previous water initiatives and acknowledged water’s The Bonn Keys, which summarized the conference
social, environmental, and cultural values. discussions, highlighted the key steps toward sustainable
The participants of The Hague forum suggested development through meeting water security needs of the
applying equity criteria, along with appropriate subsidies to poor, and promoting decentralization and new partnerships.
the poor, when systematically adopting full-cost water To achieve these steps, it suggested IWRM as the most
pricing. The Forum acknowledged that food security, capable tool.
ecosystem protection, empowerment of people, risk The Bonn Conference recommended prioritizing
management from water related hazards, peaceful boundary actions in the fields of governance, mobilizing financial
and transboundary river basin management, basic water resources, building capacity, and sharing knowledge. The
demands, and wise water management are achievable Bonn Recommendations for Action addressed, at the lowest
through IWRM. appropriate level, issues such as poverty, gender equity,
To meet the challenges related to IWRM, the corruption mitigation, and water management. The
Ministerial Declaration (WWC, 2000) called for Conference identified a set of actions necessary to mobilize
institutional, technological, and financial innovations; financial resources: strengthening public funding
collaboration and partnership at all levels; meaningful capabilities, improving economic efficiency, and increasing
participation of all stakeholders; establishment of targets and official assistance to developing countries. In the field of
strategies; transparent water governance; and cooperation capacity building, it prioritized the need for education and
with international organizations and the UN system. training regarding water wisdom, research, effective water
“Making Water Everybody’s Business” was institutions, knowledge sharing, and innovative technologies.
another theme. Water privatization and public-private The Conference also recommended that WSSD harmonize
partnerships were widely promulgated as means to achieve water issues with overall sustainable development objectives
the vision objectives. However, many water professionals and integrate water into national poverty reduction strategies.
opposed privatization, arguing that the water sector is The Bonn Conference should be commended by
interrelated to many functions that demand government the water world for connecting the views of the developing
presence, i.e. flood control, drought alleviation, water and developed world and impartially divulging practical
supply, and ecosystem conservation (Shen & Varis, 2000). implementation problems. It also provided action programs,
The Forum also acknowledged that the right to a historical milestone for making IWRM truly effective in
land and access to water is key to breaking out of the poverty the field. The key success of the Bonn Conference was the
trap. Moreover, it was pointed out that water could empower adoption of the Bonn Recommendations in the WSSD Plan of
people, and women in particular, through a participatory Implementation (WSSD, 2002).
management process.
Unlike Mar del Plata and Dublin, at the Hague World Summit on Sustainable Development -
Forum the main challenges to implementation were
Johannesburg 2002
discussed extensively and, afterwards, the Forum’s visions
The World Summit on Sustainable Development
were converted into action programs for the participating
(WSSD), held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2002,
countries. This led to the birth of the Global Water
should be recognized as a success because it put IWRM at
Partnership, which now plays a central role in coordinating
the top of the international agenda.
the Framework for Action.
The WSSD’s Plan of Implementation includes
The Second World Water Forum was successful
IWRM as one of the key components for achieving
not only for putting IWRM on the political agenda, but also
sustainable development. It provides specific targets and
for endorsing the active participation of the developing
guidelines for implementing IWRM worldwide, including
world’s water stakeholders, and for gathering world water
developing an IWRM and water efficiency plan by 2005 for
leaders and communities together.
all major river basins of the world; developing and
implementing national/regional strategies, plans, and
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Rahaman & Varis: Integrated Water Resource Management
programs with regard to IWRM; improving water-use promote cooperation between countries and international
efficiency; facilitating public-private partnerships; organizations.
developing gender-sensitive policies and programs; A range of organizations and countries-including
involving all concerned stakeholders in a variety of the World Water Council, Global Water Partnership,
decisionmaking, management, and implementation UNESCO, UN-HABITAT, FAO, UNEP, IUCN, UNICEF,
processes; enhancing education; and combating corruption. Australia, the Netherlands, the EU, and Japan - made
For the most part, it seems that the Bonn commitments to develop the water sector. Over 100 such
Conference recommendations were adopted within WSSD, commitments have been confirmed, and this number could
and IWRM has now become the most internationally double (TWWF, 2003a).
accepted water policy tool. The WSSD outcomes also
encouraged major donors to commit themselves to
IWRM: Overly General Maxims Must Be
implementing IWRM in the developing world. A number of
broad strategic partnerships were declared at Johannesburg; Avoided
the EU, in particular, launched a series of partnerships on
Water for Sustainable Development with Africa, Eastern Seven Factors Towards a Successful IWRM
Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. Implementation
The international political recognition, at WSSD, The last three decades of summits and mega-
of IWRM as the mechanism to achieve sustainable water conferences were essential in raising the international
management will dramatically and positively change the community’s awareness of the urgency of integrated water
water world for the years to come. It is probable that IWRM management. Over time, wise water management has been
will become the most integral part of all water initiatives, as recognized as an effective way to improve quality of life.
was observed at the third World Water Forum in Kyoto, Three decades of conferences have resulted in many
2003. commitments to IWRM that, unfortunately, were often not
implemented.
Although IWRM is the current buzzword of
The Third World Water Forum - Kyoto 2003
water resources development, future challenges remain in
Over 24,000 people from around the world
reducing the gap between theoretically agreed policies and
attended the third World Water Forum, held in March 2003
implementation.
in Kyoto, Japan. The key issues were safe, clean water for
The integration of different sectors related to
all, good governance, capacity building, financing, public
water management is very challenging. Moreover, the
participation, and various regional topics (TWWF, 2003a).
problems and solutions associated with IWRM
A two-day Ministerial conference resulted in the release of
implementation in different regions may not be universal.
a ministerial declaration on a range of water issues,
Overly general or universal policies and guidelines for
including water resource management, safe drinking water
implementing IWRM may become counterproductive.
and sanitation, water for food and rural development, water
Below, we highlight seven points and approaches
pollution prevention and ecosystem conservation, as well as
that need to be addressed by water professionals far more
disaster mitigation and risk management (TWWF, 2003b).
carefully than in the contemporary guidelines to
The forum again recommended IWRM as the
successfully implement IWRM.
way to achieve sustainability regarding water resources.
The ministerial declaration addressed the necessity of
sharing benefits equitably, engaging with pro-poor and Privatization
gender perspectives in water policies, facilitating Privatization and public-private partnership were
stakeholder participation, ensuring good water governance extensively disseminated at the Hague forum, the Bonn
and transparency, building human and institutional conference, and the WSSD summit. Although the
capacity, developing new mechanisms of public-private privatization concept presently discourages subsidies, it
partnership, promoting river basin management initiatives, overlooks the fact that, in Europe, initial water infrastructure
cooperating between riparian countries on transboundary development was based on massive subsidies. Some critics
water issues, and encouraging scientific research. fear that privatization may encourage fragmentation, which
The ministerial declaration also vowed support to IWRM seems to overcome. Privatization of the marketable
enable developing countries to achieve the UN Millennium aspects of water may result in single-purpose planning and
Development Goals, and for developing IWRM and water management, which raises a question of open information
efficiency plans in all river basins worldwide by 2005, the channels and transparency. Moreover, for the developing
target set at the World Summit on Sustainable world where basic infrastructure is not yet complete, a
Development (TWWF, 2003b). Putting stakeholders and question remains of whether applying full cost recovery is
water ministers from around the world together in a Multi- ethical or practical.
Stakeholder Dialogue (MSD) table for the first time in Water resource management by public or
water history was another key achievement. In addition, a government organizations also has many success stories, e.g.
proposal to establish a network of websites to follow the in Finland and other European countries (Shen & Varis,
Portfolio of Water Actions received the fullest support of 2000). It is important that IWRM not only deals with water
all participants. This will result in information sharing and supply and wastewater treatment, but combines many other
functions, including flood control, poverty alleviation, food
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Rahaman & Varis: Integrated Water Resource Management
production, ecosystem conservation, drought management, this reason, water should be managed based on river basins,
and sustainability, and that the government’s presence is not only on administrative boundaries.
vital in the effective implementation of IWRM. The necessity of river basin management received
Therefore, privatization of the water sector needs positive attention at the Hague Forum, the Bonn Conference,
to be approached with caution, and the issue’s many facets and the WSSD summit; however, no clear mechanism for
must be considered far more than is happening in today’s implementing the river basin management concept into
ideological debate. practice has been suggested. Existing river basin
commissions all over the world face difficulties enforcing
Water as an Economic Good basin plan provisions in other sectors, as well as regarding
Water is recognized as an economic good in many riparian governments. Other challenges include the lack of
international declarations, such as those reviewed above, as effective local participation, the absence of formal
well as in the policies of major lenders and donors. However, agreements on international water allocations, the limits on
there is a risk in fostering the notion of water as a pollution, and the economic and military power imbalance
commodity, because it shifts the public perception away between upstream and downstream countries.
from a sense of water as a common good, and from a shared An increasing number of countries are
duty and responsibility. A simple and straightforward experiencing water stress;1 nevertheless, in most river basins,
solution, designed on the basis of pure economic efficiency, mechanisms and institutions to manage water resource
has the potential of ending up unsustainable. disputes are either absent or unsatisfactory (UNESCO &
For the improvement of water infrastructure in the Green Cross International, 2003). Not only should plans and
developing world, subsidies are vital. The principle of full goals be developed, but so should practical frameworks for
cost recovery sometimes handicaps developing nations that implementing joint river basin management through efficient
are striving to provide basic needs by subsidizing their basic institutions and productive participation of all riparian states.
water infrastructure (Rahaman & Varis, 2003). In addition, a greater focus on legal institutional
However, water is a basic human need and access arrangements is necessary, as it is practically absurd to
to minimum quantities of safe water (20 liters per person per implement integrated policy without some legal bindings. A
day) should be everyone’s right. Lack of access to safe common policy, including a supporting legal framework, is
drinking water, sanitation, and irrigation is directly related to vital for implementing integrated transboundary river basin
poverty and poor health. For example, in South Asia 300 management.
million people have no safe drinking water and 920 million
people have no adequate sanitation (WWC, 2000). Restoration and Ecology
In many developing countries, the very poor In the last three decades, the highly visible effects
actually pay a great deal for water relative to their income, of environmental degradation have sparked public outcry,
but these costs are often hidden. Water is priced by all urban particularly in the United States and Europe, resulting in
societies, and the poor often have no choice but to pay high river restoration initiatives. “Channelization” is the term
prices, spending between 5-10% of their income; however, used to embrace all processes of river channel engineering
in contrast in most industrialized countries, the lower-middle for the purposes of flood control, drainage improvement,
class spends 1-3% of their income on potable water and maintenance of navigation, reduction of bank erosion, and
sanitation (Selborne, 2000). For example, in OECD countries, relocation for highway construction.
households spend about 1% of their income on water; on the Channelization, together with a myriad of other
other hand, in Onitsha, Nigeria, the poor spend as much as activities, such as construction, land-use change,
18% of their income on water (Rogers et al., 2002). urbanization, and waste disposal, creates a wide range of
The application of economic principles to the biological impacts, principally on benthic invertebrates, fish,
allocation of water is acceptable, and provides a simple tool and aquatic vegetation. In addition, due to the lowering of
for the development of water services in a more efficient water tables in adjacent floodplains, natural vegetation and
direction. However, water should not be treated as a market- wildlife are also threatened (Brookes, 2002).
oriented commodity when it comes to domestic use for very In North America, Europe, and the former Soviet
basic needs (Gunatilake & Gopalakrishnan, 2002), Union, 71% of the large rivers (premanipulation mean
particularly for people in extreme poverty. More discussion, annual discharge >350 m3/s) are affected by dams and
analysis, study, and commitment are needed in deciding reservoirs, inter-basin diversion, and water abstraction
whether water is a common or an economic good. (Buijse et al., 2002). Headwaters are impacted by the
construction of dams, which cause the most damage,
Transboundary River Basin Management whereas lowland sections are mostly affected by floodplain
Water should be recognized as a tool for reclamation and channelization.
community development, peace building, and preventive As a consequence, riverine floodplains are among
diplomacy. Water can have an overreaching value capable of the most endangered landscapes worldwide (Olson &
coalescing conflicting interests and facilitating consensus Dinerstein, 1998). In Germany (Junk, 1999) and along the
building among societies. To incorporate all of the physical, Mississippi (Gore & Sheilds, 1995), for example, only about
political, and economic characteristics for a river basin, a
process for cooperative watershed management is vital. For 1
A country is said to experience "water stress" when annual water supplies
drop below 1,700 cubic meters per person.
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Rahaman & Varis: Integrated Water Resource Management
10% of the former floodplains are in a near natural state. In current plants in many countries that promote IWRM
most riverine systems after damming or channelization, worldwide. Unfortunately, the current IWRM mechanism
hydrological connectivity between the river and its does not focus on this kind of highly balanced experience in
floodplain is restricted to groundwater pathways in which integrated plans, which would facilitate more concrete
geo-morphological dynamics are mostly absent; migration of IWRM development.
permanent aquatic organisms, such as fish or aquatic
mollusks, has ceased, affecting overall biodiversity (Buijse et Spiritual and Cultural Aspects of Water
al., 2002). Water is the common symbol of humanity, social
IWRM principles do not clearly focus on or equity, and justice. It is one of our compelling links with the
address the mechanism of river restoration, which is sacred, with nature, and with our cultural heritage (Dooge,
necessary for the sustainable water resources management in 2003). A case in point is the Ganges River in South Asia,
areas that have undergone or are presently subjected to which has a very strong spiritual and cultural significance to
notable modifications. all Indians, Bangladeshis, and Nepalese. Regrettably, the
current IWRM mechanism does not acknowledge water’s
Fisheries and Aquaculture spiritual and cultural dimensions. Without recognizing these,
Fisheries and aquaculture are crucial for human it is possible that all efforts towards sustainable water
survival and poverty reduction; they provide an inexpensive resources management may be piecemeal and ephemeral.
source of protein to meet nutritional demands in many parts
of the world, and therefore should command special attention Conclusion
within IWRM.
Unfortunately, fisheries are generally undervalued IWRM has unquestionably become one of the
in terms of their contribution to food security, income mainstream initiatives discussed by governments. The major
generation, and ecosystem functioning (LARS2, 2004). FAO challenge remains its effective implementation in the field.
(2000) estimates that between 15 and 20% of animal protein The conviction that IWRM can provide sustainable water
consumed by humans is derived from aquatic animals, and security for every citizen into the twenty-first century has
that fish is eaten more than any other type of animal protein. forced water professionals and IWRM to become more
In 1999, the world average consumption of fish, crustaceans, responsible to world citizens, especially towards the poor.
and mollusks was 16.3 kg per person. Among the world’s The main hurdle lies in the practical
thirty countries with the highest proportion of fish implementation of the theoretically agreed-upon IWRM
consumption, twenty-six are developing nations. Fish is policies (Lahtela, 2001, Biswas, 2005). IWRM could be
particularly important for the nutrition of the poor. reduced to an idealistic buzzword if water professionals fail
Aquaculture is the most rapidly growing industry to overcome this hurdle. The seven points discussed in this
when looking at protein production for human consumption. paper should be incorporated within IWRM policies and
Although aquaculture and coastal and marine fisheries do not principles to overcome implementation challenges and to
directly rely on freshwater, the input of nutrient and ensure sustainable water resources management.
sediment from inland streams, particularly into estuaries and A practical challenge to the concept of IWRM is
coastal zones, results in an interplay between marine and found at two levels. First, water is related to development
inland water ecosystems that is not addressed sufficiently in and societies in countless ways. Its priorities and relative
the present IWRM debate. The same goes for fisheries. importance vary enormously from one place to another.
Second, water must be seen as one factor in a broader
Need to Focus on Past IWRM Experience - context (Varis, 2005).
Integrating Lessons Learned We have a feeling that, whereas summit meetings
Although IWRM has received increasing scrutinize and promote concepts such as Integrated Water
international attention in recent decades, historical Resources Management, Integrated Forestry Management,
precedents present lessons. The current IWRM mechanisms Integrated Pest Management, and so forth, the different
have not properly considered similar previous attempts. concepts and related policies are not integrated. This paper
Lessons from past initiatives are vital to the implementation has discussed only some of the shortcomings in meeting
of IWRM principles and policies. During the 1970s, many IWRM challenges. The palette examined was not
European countries implemented a considerable number of comprehensive since, as mentioned before, conditions vary
comprehensive watershed plans that resemble today’s enormously, but these issues are important in many
IWRM plans. One example is Finland, which produced localities, even though neglected in the concurrent IWRM
basin-wide plans,2 institutionalized the process by discourse. We leave the second level of challenge to future
establishing the National Board of Waters, and implemented analyses, since it, indeed, deserves a profound and focused
those plans. One of many implementations was the analysis. The water sector is sparse in integrating its
countrywide construction of municipal wastewater treatment integrated plans, compared to other tightly related sectors,
plants, which at that time were already more advanced than such as energy, agriculture, and forestry. This would be
comical if it were not true.
2
see, e.g., the plan for the Lower Kymi River; NBWF 1974, which served
as a guiding framework for water districts authorities in Finland after
Vakkilainen, 2003.
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Acknowledgement Shen, D. & Varis, O. 2000. World water vision: balancing thoughts after The
The authors wish to express their gratitude to Professor Pertti Hague. Ambio 29(8): 523-525.
Tortajada, C. 2004. Institutions for IWRM in Latin America. In Biswas, A.K.,
Vakkilainen for his critical and useful comments, guidance and Varis, O. & Tortajada, C. (Eds.) Integrated Water Resources Management
suggestions during the writing of this publication. The comments in South and Southeast Asia. pp. 303-324. New Delhi: Oxford University
and ideas of Tommi Kajander and Virpi Stucki are greatly Press.
appreciated. TWWF, The Third World Water Forum. 2003a. Summary Forum Statement,
http://www.world.water-forum3.com/en/statement.html. February 21,
2005.
TWWF, The Third World Water Forum. 2003b. Ministerial Declaration -
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