According
to John & Singh, (2003), Integrated Water Resource Management is best accomplished within a spatial unit called
basin or watershed. Integrated water resource management (IWRM) is the process
which promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land and
related resources in order to minimize economic and social welfare in an
equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystem.
Integrated Water Resources Management is also defined as the practice of making decision
and taking actions while considering multiple viewpoints of how water should be
managed. These decisions and actions relate to the situations such as river
basin planning, organization of task forces, planning of new capital
facilities, controlling reservoir releases, regulating flood plains, and
developing new laws and regulations. The need for multiple viewpoints is caused
by competition for water and by complex institutional constraints (Grigg &
Neil, 1996).
Components of Integrated Water Resources Management
Integrated waterresource management (IWRM) is composed of five components namely, Water Resource Management, Purposes and services, Discipline of knowledge, Government and Interested
group and stakeholders groups.
Managing
water at the basin or watershed includes integrating land and water, upstream
and down streams, ground water, surface water and costal resources. Management
instruments will assist institutions in the discharge of their functions. Such
instruments are to be used in integrating, in the assessment of the resources
and developing allocation tools. According to Steusloff, (2010:383), the
pressure on the world’s water resources is steadily increasing and therefore,
the competition for the limited water resources is rising as well. To meet
these challenges, a water management approach is required that is, putting it
simply, balancing the human needs and the ecological requirements that means
that the prevailing sectoral approach to water management has to be shifted
towards a more interdisciplinary and therefore a holistic one.
2. Purposes and Services
Integrated water resources management considers the viewpoints of water management
agencies with specific purposes. Water management considers three aspects:
dimensions of water, surface water and ground water, and quantity and quality
of water.
Water
agencies deal with water supply, waste water and water quality services, storm
water and floods control, Hydro-electric power, navigation, recreation and
water for the environment, fish and wildlife. Optimizing supply involves
conducting assessment of surface water and ground water supplies, analysing water
balances, adopting waste water reuse and evaluating the environmental impacts of
distribution and use options (Mitchel 1990).
3. Disciplines of Knowledge
The
Integrated Water Resources Management requires knowledge of disciplines.
Blending knowledge from different disciplines such as engineering, law,
finance, economics, politics, history, sociology, psychology, life science,
mathematics and other fields can bring about the possibilities, decisions and
actions. For instance, engineering knowledge may focus on physical
infrastructures system whereas sociology may focus on human. According to
Timmerman and Langaas, (2004) as cited by Timmerman, et al, (2008:113), over
the last two decades, water management has changed from a focus on distinct
sectors, to a more integrated perspective. To construct and select the most
suitable alternatives for water management, a holistic approach needs to be
adopted. In the water resources management domain, there is increasing interest
in integrated assessment that is emerging as a new discipline that integrate
different kinds of knowledge to be used in all phases of the decision process.
Water management is the complex process involving many actors, with different
knowledge and at different levels. The success of management initiatives in
such a context depends on their ability to facilitate co-operation between the
actors and integration between different sources of knowledge. Thus, the flow
of information between the actors, and an analysis of the ways in which
networks of actors and institutions communicate internally and externally is
vital.
4. Government and Interest Groups
Intergovernmental
relationships between government agencies of the same level, include regional,
state to state, and interagency issues. Relationships between different levels
of government included, for example, state-federal and local state
interactions. On the other hand, interest groups range from those favouring development
of resources to those favouring preservation. According to UNESCO (2013:139), Interest
groups have been tasked to support and facilitate IWRM, but they do not have
the required training or guidance. The working group have an understanding of
their problems and needs, and of their current water systems, but not of
management options, impacts or decision making frameworks. By empowering local
technical people with tools and structured collaborative planning process,
Shared Vision Planning (SVP) can help interest groups learn about their system
and options and jointly move toward sustainable solutions.
5. Stakeholders Group
Basin
management requires a clear understanding of stakeholders who are involved in
making decisions on water and resources management in a basin and who will be
affected by those decisions. Once this is understood, ways of getting the sight
mixed stakeholders involved at appropriate levels of basin management can be
organized (GWP & INBO, 2009).
In
order to ensure the sustainable use of water resources, IWRM stresses the
importance of involving stakeholders within one hydrographic basin: the
authorities, institutions, the public and private sectors, and civil society,
with a special focus on women and marginalized groups.
Decentralized
and the subsidiarity principle play key role in
this process. The lowest possible unit of management should be fostered
(Bruschweiler, 2003).
To
identify who is involved and who is affected is useful to draw up a matrix of
stakeholders and their roles and responsibilities. This can be useful first
step in understanding decision making at adjacent levels in basin management.
Generally, Integrated Water Resources Management is an important approach to ensure water sustainability. It
helps to protect the world’s environment, foster development, promote
democratic participation in governance and improve human health. Also it is an
approach that seeks to achieve balance among the three pillars of sustainable
development, namely economic efficiency, social equity and environmental
sustainability. However,
components of integrated water resources management is a complex issues when
these components comes into diversity perspectives.
REFFERENCES
Bruschweiler, S. (2003). Integrated Water Resource Management: A Way
to Sustainability. Info Resource Focus.
Grigg &
Neil S. (1996). Water Resources Management Principles, Regulations and Cases. New York: McGraw Hill.
GWP & INBO, (2009). A Handbook for Integrated Water Resources Management in Basins. Sweden: GWP & INBO.
Jain, S. K. & Singh, V. P.
(2003). Water Resources Systems Planning
and Management. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.
Mitchel, B. (1990). Integrated Water Management. London:
Bel-haven Press.
UNESCO (2013). Free flow: Reaching Water Security through Cooperation. De
Fontenoy, France: UNESCO.
Timmerman, J. G. et al. (2008). The Adaptiveness of IWRM: Analyzing European
IWRM Research. London: IWA Publishing, Alliance House, 12 Caxon Street.
Steusloff, H. (2010). Integrated Water Resources Management
Karlsruhe 2010. Karlsruhe Amazon: Scientific Publishing.
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