IWRM Flashcards
What is UN SDG 6.5
By 2030 implement integrated water resources management at all levels including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate
6.5.1 Degree of IWRM implementation (0-100)
6.5.2 Proportion of transboundary basin area with an operational arrangement for water cooperation
What are the Dublin Principles
Dublin Principles- these were developed at the international Conference on Water and the Environment 1992
- Freshwater is a finite and vulnerable resource, essential to sustain life, development and the environment.
- Water development and management should be based on a participatory approach involving users, planners and policymakers at all levels.
- Women play a central part in the provision, management and safeguarding of water.
- Water has an economic value in all its competing uses and should be recognised as an economic good.
Define IWRM
“A process which promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources, in order to maximize the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems.”
What 3 principles is IWRM based on
- Social Equity
- Economic Efficiency
- Environmental Sustainability
Social Equity in terms of IWRM
-Equal access for all users- especially poorer more marginalised
-Right of all users to the benefits gained from the use of water needs to be considered when making water allocations
-Benefits may include enjoyment of resources through recreational use or financial benefits generated from the use of water for economic purposes
Economic Efficiency in terms of IWRM
-Greatest benefits to the greatest number of users, with the available financial and water resources
-Most economically efficient option is selected
-Economic value is not just about price. Needs to consider current and future social and environmental costs and benefits
-But economic value of environmental benefits is hard to assess
Environmental Sustainability in terms of IWRM
- Requires aquatic ecosystems are acknowledged as users, and that adequate allocation it made to sustain their natural functioning
- Also requires land users and developments that negatively impact these systems are avoided or limited
- Requires significant investment in monitoring in order to understand the ecological status
What does the implementation of IWRM depend on
-Political Commitment
-Basin management plan and clear vision
-Participation and coordination
-Capacity development
-Well defined regulations
-Water allocation plans
-Investment and financial stability
-Knowledge of the natural resources of the basin
-Comprehensive monitoring and evaluation
Common reasons WFD standard is failed
- Phosphate
- Physical Modifications
- Dissolved Oxygen
- Abstraction and Flow
- Fine Sediment
- Ammonia
- Chemicals
- Invasive species
- Organic Pollution
- BOD
- Temperature
- pH
Why is the WFD not as good as IWRM
-Gender awareness is omitted
-There is no guideline to encourage and regulate the private sector
-The important role that water plays in economic development is not properly understood in the directive
-It does not set out clear guidelines for the active participation of local people
-There is no focus on poverty
-It promotes technology-orientated mangement for drinking water and sanitation, no integration with human-orientated management
-There is no standard guideline to develop responsibilities at the lowest appropriate level
-However some argue this is because the WFD is based in the EU, where relative poverty is very different
