Meeting Human and environmental needs through IWRM Role

Meeting Human and environmental needs through IWRM Role of River Basin Organisations in implementing IWRM – keeping a step ahead. Paul Taylor

Structure Ø A look at river basin organisations. Ø IWRM activities at river basin level – challenges of integration Ø Basin planning and relevance to infrastructure development and climate change adaptation. Ø Monitoring IWRM progress at river basin level. Ø Key messages

The river basin. Looking for good water management practices Ø Case studies: Mexico, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Malaysia, Ø Legal limitations; Ø Financial limitations, and others

The river basin. Followed by: Ø Capacity building around major water management functions; Ø IWRM Indicator development and assessment in Africa and Asia. giving much greater insight into progress with IWRM at basin level.

The river basin is: Ø A logical unit by which to manage water resources. Ø Best place for integration between water uses, users and development. Ø Best place to plan for the future in a changing water world and very relevant to theme of this session.

Water Resources Management functions Stakeholder participation Water Allocation Basin Planning Information Management Pollution Control Monitoring Flood & Drought Management Financial Management

Measuring IWRM progress at river basin level. Ø Need transparency for human and environmental needs to be expressed and accountability to ensure they are being met. Ø Currently we lack means to measure progress with IWRM but also performance of water resource management. Ø Using indicators is an important step to improving access to information in a basin.

IWRM at basin scale – the challenges of integration. Ø Integration challenges ØWithin the organisation; ØBetween organisations managing water; ØAcross stakeholders.

Basin planning and relevance to climate change adaptation Basin plan is an essential development tool. Ø Basin plan engages with stakeholders and agencies; Ø Identify problems and priorities; Ø Support risk assessment for flood and droughts; Ø Infrastructure development: win-win on flood, drought mitigation plus development; Ø Sectoral collaboration e. g. in drought management.

Allocation systems. Ø Lack effective systems in many basins; Ø No criteria for allocation; Ø Enabling environment for re-allocation? Ø Good allocation systems ensure we are a step ahead and able to respond effectively to more, or less, water in the system.

Flood and drought management – keeping a step ahead. Ø Become more widespread affecting regions not previously affected. Ø We have experience, we have knowledge. Capture and share this. Ø Examine risks in the basin and take action: e. g. Ø Infrastructure; Ø Action plans; Ø Capacity development.

Key messages: IWRM can help us meet human needs and keep a step ahead but: Ø Give more attention on how to achieve ‘integration’. Ø Speed up IWRM implementation - benchmarking system by which to measure progress. Ø Information management is a weak point affecting transparency and the opportunity for stakeholder participation.

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