Chapter 11 - Workflow oriented participatory decision support for integrated river basin planning

Abstract

The integrated water-resource management (IWRM) approach considers water as an integral part of ecosystems, a natural resource, and a social and economic good. The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) specifies guidelines for integrated river-basin management that are implementing this holistic view by means of a coherent water policy within all member states of the European Union. Multicriteria methods allow water-resource managers to search for efficient measures, which take into account ecological and socioeconomic criteria according to the preferences of decision makers including stakeholders. Learning-based interactive methods provide a suitable solution for collaborative participatory decision making in a dynamic decision environment such as the implementation of a new directive. The planning cycle of implementation is based on the general scheme of driving forces, pressure, state, impact, and responses (DPSIR) adopted by EEA. A relatively large numbers of criteria have to be considered for assessing the complex interactions between water and society. Decision support systems (DSS) are appropriate tools for this purpose. Considering the variety of stakeholders (with regard to water, everybody is a stakeholder), balancing the interests of various groups could be very difficult. That's why DSS that are designed to support the implementation of the WFD should be open and interactive usable systems, capable to provide a platform for public discussions of measures among stakeholders.