Water Unites

boundaries, introduce public participation in decision making and improve water allocation
mechanisms among the users. The programme also includes technical measures
for saving water and increasing agricultural productivity, as well as automated operational
systems along the canals, coupled with data transmission for improving water
flow stability and water allocation transparency. In its pilot areas, the program was able
to achieve up to 20% water saving – essentially with institutional reform and increased
awareness of water officials and capacity of users. 1
i
Integrated Water Resources Management
Since the early 1990s, Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) has evolved as
a major concept in the international discourse on sustainable water management. It now
represents the ideal type of sound water management.
In 1992, the Agenda 21 of the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro stated that «the widespread
scarcity, gradual destruction and aggravated pollution of freshwater resources in
many world regions, along with the progressive encroachment of incompatible activities,
demand integrated water resources planning and management. Such integration must cover
all types of interrelated freshwater bodies, including both surface water and groundwater,
and duly consider water quantity and quality aspects. The multisectoral nature of water
resources development in the context of socioeconomic development must be recognized,
as well as the multi-interest utilization of water resources for water supply and sanitation,
agriculture, industry, urban development, hydropower generation, inland fisheries, transportation,
recreation, low and flat lands management and other activities. (…)» (chapter
18.3 of the Agenda 21).
Along these lines, the core assumption of IWRM is that different uses of water (in
agriculture, industry, for drinking water, ecological services, etc.) are interdependent and
therefore should be managed holistically. This requires participatory processes in decisionmaking,
in planning and in implementation that involve all relevant stakeholders in order
to take their interests into account. The Global Water Partnership defined IWRM as a process
that aims «to ensure the coordinated development and management of water, land, and
related resources by maximizing economic and social welfare without compromising the
sustainability of vital environmental systems.» However, there is no universal definition of
IWRM.
The core components of IWRM are the following:
– Hydrographic management of water resources at the basin or watershed level and not
according to administrative boundaries;
– Integrated management covering all sources of water (groundwater, surface water, precipitation,
coastal resources, etc.) and quantity as well as quality aspects;
1 See http://www.swiss-cooperation.admin.ch/centralasia/en/Home/Regional_Activities/Integrated_Water_
Resources_Management.
58 Supporting local transboundary management