Practicality of integrated water resources management (IWRM) in different contexts

Abstract

The significance of integrated water resources management (IWRM) is broadly recognized, but practical implementation methods are little known. This paper proposes a Practical IWRM approach that has the potential to accelerate consensus-building and problem-solving relating to water resources based on the formation of an aligned perception of natural and human-made water resource systems among stakeholders, and the establishment of a properly functioning multi-stakeholder partnership (MSP). This approach was applied in four countries–Sudan, Bolivia, Indonesia and Iran–where it has worked well in different contexts, and can be an effective methodology usable elsewhere in the field.