Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM): How does groundwater fit in?

Abstract

Over the last decade, the world has been confronted with several concurrent challenges—fuel price shocks, escalating food prices, accelerating carbon emissions and declining ecosystem services. Their seriousness has questioned our optimistic vision of continuing progress under the ‘conventional model’ of economic development—with realisation that natural resources cannot indefinitely go on meeting the demands of growing global population. There is a great risk of negative feedback from climate change on water resources, economic activity and political stability. Water-resource security is an issue that is common to these global threats—a gossamer that links one to another—and it is under severe pressure from escalating population, rapid urbanisation, dietary changes as countries develop, excessive abstraction and increasing pollution. Today, water concerns remain high on many national agendas especially in developing nations—since past ‘compartmentalised approaches’ to water management have generally failed to achieve sustainable outcomes. In particular, the links between groundwater management, economic development and land-use planning have rarely been recognised. There is now a clear need for taking a more holistic approach, by integrating groundwater into development planning in order to strive for improved economic efficiency, social equity and environmental sustainability—the pillars of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). IWRM is the process of managing water resources holistically and of promoting coordinated consideration of water, land and related natural resources during developmental activity. It recognises that freshwater is a finite and vulnerable resource, essential to sustain human livelihoods and the natural environment, and a public good that has social and economic value in competing uses. Waterresource management should be based on a participatory approach, involving users, planners and policy makers at all levels. Such conceptual and practical changes in water management take time to implement and many countries are still having to grapple with: