1. Evolving the Integrated Water
Resources Management (IWRM)
Paradigm:
To reassess the underline policy assumptions
Mukhtar Hahsemi  Scientific Advisor, Office of Applied Researches , IWRMC, Ministry of Energy, Iran

2.  Evolving the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Paradigm:
policy shift towards integrated and sustainable
management of water resources in the region.
Evolving the Towards implementing IWRM
Integrated Water The concept of IWRM was envisaged by the
International Water Resources in 1960s (Braga, 2001)
but these principles were updated in 1992 in Dublin
Resources and later were adopted at the UN conference on
Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de
Management Janeiro, 1992. They provide the basis for an
integrated approach to water management. Global
(IWRM) Water Partnership (GWP) has been a driving force
behind the internationalisation of the concept. GWP
(2000) defines IWRM as:
Paradigm: IWRM is the art & science of blending the right
proportions of regular interaction and interdependent
To reassess the underline policy
groups of items into a whole. The concept of integrated
assumptions
water resources management in contrast to traditional
fragmented management is concerned with the
management of water demand as with its supply. (GWP,
A Regional Outlook 2000)
WANA countries are characterised by scarce
IWRM is a holistic and integrated approach
water resources and its availability is declining
based on the sustainability criteria: equity,
to a crisis level. Accordingly, water is the most
economic efficiency and environmental
important and binding constraint for any future
sustainability. GWP (2000) elaborates that the
development in the region. Freshwater shortages in
word ‘management’ refers to both management and
the whole region is accelerating due to many factors
development and indicates that the decision is made
including wasteful use of the resources, poor
at the lowest possible level. There are certain
management and lack of investment in developing
anomalies in the IWRM definition and approach. For
water sector for different uses such as agriculture,
example, there are ambiguities about the meaning of
domestic or industrial. In WANA countries, most of
the lowest possible level of decision making. A water
water is used for agriculture in an unsustainable way.
resources system consists of three interacting
Without proper demand management policies
components:
together with the reduction in water use by this
sector, a disastrous economic and social consequence Physical (infrastructure and technology) and natural
will follow (e.g. Mubarak, 1998; Wang et al 2006). environment;
Population growth and urbanisation are two Institutional; and
phenomena in which put a great deal of
Socio-economic.
pressure on water and land resources. In the
last decades, a tremendous rate of urbanisation Neglecting a particular aspect of the system poses
coupled with a great deal of industrialisation have great challenges to the sustainable management of
endangered the biodiversity in the WANA region and this precious resource. Hence, the water resource
caused environmental degradation. In addition, this system is not only about the natural system and the
has brought a higher standard of living and expansion infrastructure and technology, but it is inter-related
of modern technology. Hence, there has been a with institutional and socio-economic subsystems as
well.
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3.  Evolving the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Paradigm:
There has been a lack in implementing IWRM integration may have four characteristics or
worldwide despite its adoption by national dimensions as shown in Table 1.
governments around the globe (Biswas, 2004).
The 2006 World Water Forum (WWF) report Also, There is a need for an integrated
outlines major problems with implementing the research policy. The sectoral approach to research
IWRM Paradigm; including institutional barriers and is non-integrated approach to deal with water
lack of capacity building measures (WWF, 2006). In resources issues. There are 26 different UN agencies
2009, the Fourth world water Forum was held in dealing with water and water related issues. More
Istanbul, Turkey. According to the World Water recently, they have come under the banner of UN
Assessment Programme report, the institutional Water. The main issues in reassessing the IWRM
aspect is still an important limiting factor in the paradigm within a strategic research framework are
implementation Process (WWAP, 2009). Many framed.
scholars have called for reassessment of the IWRM
concept (e.g. Biswas, 2004; Falkenmark and The criteria for a sustainable water policy
Rockstörm, 2006; Falkenmark et al, 2004; and In the 1970s, the concept of sustainable
Llamas and Martinez-Santos, 2005). For example, development (SD) came into the domain of
Biswas (2004) asks whether IWRM is a universal academia and since then it has been promoted
concept applicable to diverse cultural and religious by different United Nation agencies and has
settings. Hence how to implement IWRM in diverse become a policy worldwide. The 1987 World
cultures and settings is an important question. Commission on Environment and Development
(WCED) report, also known as the Brundtland
Many countries have clear policy towards Report (named after the former Norwegian Prime
implementing IWRM backed up by legislative Minister, Gro Harlem Brundtland), brought the
measures. Numerous researchers are involved in a concept of sustainable development into prominence.
variety of IWRM research themes but their efforts The report defines sustainable development as:
are dispersed and there is lack of communications
between different research groups as well as between
policymakers and the research communities. The
impact of non-water polices are greater on the
status of water resources (World Bank, 2007). For
example, the agricultural self sufficiency policy has a
great impact on the way water resources are
managed. Water is a multidisciplinary, multi-sectoral
issue and it forms the basis of the human existence: it
relates to eradication of poverty and hunger.
Multidimensional aspects of water policy
integration
Hence, Policy integration has been proven to
be useful in environmental and water
resources management as sectoral polices have
proven to be ineffective. IWRM provides an interface
for policy integration which is challenging and has
been beset with both technical and conceptual
problems. But integration is a multidimensional
phenomenon including strategic, structural,
procedural, facilitative, functional and methodological
integrations (Morrison et al, 2004). Water policy
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4.  Evolving the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Paradigm:
Four Dimensions Five Criteria for sustainability
of integration (sustainable development Principles of IWRM In terms of policymaking
(Morrison et al, (Gasparatos et al, 2008)
2004))
1- a multi- 1- integration of social, Holistic approach An integrated and inter-sectoral policy-
jurisdictional economic, environmental and making Framework that can assess the
spatial institutional issues and their impact of non-water policies on water
organization interactions and policy and display their inter-linkage
interdependencies;
2-participatory 2- creating a participatory a participatory
coordination of environment; empowerment approach Creating enabling environments for
different policies; participatory decision-making
stakeholders,
civil societies
and actors
3- collaborative 3- predictions of future trends Using a systems
decision- making and the impact of policies and analysis approach Institutional design criteria to evaluate and
from the development plans on (policies, scenarios, monitor planning and implementation of the
participatory sustainability; management options strategies adopted through the policy-
approach 4- dealing with uncertainties by (measures) and making process
taking conservative and strategies). See Box 1.
precautionary measures
4- agreement 5- to foster ecocentric ethics supporting the socio-
based on and equity (intergenerational economic welfare of Policy appraisal mechanisms to indicate the
rationality and intergenerational); people i.e. performance and the impact of water
eradicating poverty; policy
empowering women;
sustaining the
environment
Table 1. Governing principles in water resources management and their policy implications (adopted form Hashemi and
O'Connell (2011)
as if they are in ‘infinite supply’ which is a linear
approach or “the one- way society” approach (Braga,
”development that meets the needs of the present 2001).
without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their Box1: basic definitions (Source: Hashemi and O'Connell, 2011) In
own needs” (WCED, 1987: 43). the
• Policy: a political (governmental) statement outlining the last
The word “needs” is used twice vision. Goals and objectives of IWRM plans
in the above sentence and some • Scenario: a futuristic outlook of development such as
critics have argued that the
assumptions under which development occurs; these are
anthropocentric nature of the
exogenous to the water system such as population growth
Brundtland report is a paradox
or climate change that cannot be controlled or
and accused her of taking a
determined by the water system
political stance in her approach
• Management option: a measure or an action taken to
by putting human needs at the
centre of sustainable improve the performance of the water system, these
development (Barr, 2008). Braga measures can be legal, institutional, technical, social,
(2001) points out that the economics, ecological.
explanation of the meaning of • Strategy: a collection of management options to be
the term given by WCED (1987) considered under different anthropogenic and natural
is rather ambiguous and argues climatic scenarios.
that the sustainability of natural
systems is a measure of how they come into decades there have been many contributions to the
equilibrium during naturally occurring changes. sustainable development debate(e.g. Barr, 2008; Khan,
However, humans have used these natural resources 1995; Hediger, 2000; Pearce 1988; Pearce et al, 1989
among others), notably Khan’s (1995) triangular
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5.  Evolving the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Paradigm:
model of sustainable development (social, economic land and water management (Amezaga, 2006 and
and environmental sustainability) and Giddings et al’s Calder, 2005). Calder (2005) argues that many
(2002) nested sustainability model based on tradeoffs land and water policies failed because of the
among social, ecological and economic objectives. “mismatch between the public and scientific
Gasparatos et al’s (2008) review on the SD debate perceptions of the biophysical impacts of
came up with a consensus on five criteria for changing land-use, that policies were more often
sustainability which forms the basis of a holistic based on ‘land and water myths’ than modern
sustainability assessment (Table 1.) science.” (Calder, 2005; p.309). Calder (2005)
proposes an Integrated Water and Land
The missing policy links Resources Management (IWLRM).
Falkenmark et al (2004) call for the 5. A fifth omission is the idea of ‘virtual water’
redefinition of ‘water science’ intersecting which is not usually considered in the traditional
established applied and pure sciences such as IWRM concept. The idea of virtual water trade
agricultural, medical, social, economic, ecology postulated by Allan (2003) is already being used
and environmental, water law and geophysical and many countries depend on imports of
sciences. Public health (sanitation and water supply), agricultural produce and virtual water. Virtual
equity issues (poverty elimination) and environmental water “ is a measure of the total water used in
sustainability (conservation of aquatic resources) are producing a good or service (Frontier
the main drivers for some of the UN policies such as Economics, 2008)”. The embedded water in food
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and and other products is considered to be virtual
hence water is seen as part of larger societal and water
ecological issues. Traditionally, renewable water
6. The fisheries sector has been overlooked in river
resources (Blue Water) have been considered in
basin management policies.
traditional water management. Some other important
aspects have been omitted which can be considered 7. The role of belief (culture, religion) has been
as missing policy links which are neglected in IWRM neglected which has a direct bearing on policy
plans. decision-making process.
There are seven omissions:
Evolving IWRM: A reassessment of policy
1. Soil moisture and water consumed by plants assumptions
(Green Water) normally disregarded in water Considering the above conceptual constraints, the
balance of the system. IWRM concept needs to be reshaped if to provide a
valid interface for sustainable policymaking processes:
2. Wastewater (gray) and return water is
overlooked in estimating water resources 1. Redefinition of the scope or focus of IWRM
potential. - this means that an equitable allocation strategy
3. Environmental services (ecological functions) of should not only consider blue water (as at
water. Many researchers agree that a share of present) but consider the whole water balance
water resources should be allocated to the (Blue and Green Water or so called the ‘ever-
environment for the purpose of maintaining the green’ revolution: Falkenmark and Rockstörm,
health and viability of water-dependent 2006). This means that we need to understand
ecosystems (including estuaries) at catchment the physical processes affecting green water (e.g.
level (Robins et al, 2005). vapour flow and green soil flow) and be able to
include these concepts in the water balance
4. The impact of land-use change on Blue Water components of the water resources models.
resources is an important factor not only for Hence, there are many technical challenges to
water resources but for the land resource as initiate the new green revolution. Technology
well. There is an explicit inter-linkage between will have an important role to play. It has to
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6.  Evolving the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Paradigm:
adjust to new paradigms and take an adaptive and proposes an Integrated Water and Land water
innovative technical strategy. On the social side, Resources Management, IWLRM. Falkenmark et
the green revolution is a difficult proposition to al (2004) call for redefinition of ‘water science’
lead and control and depends on decision making intersecting established applied and pure sciences
at both micro (e.g. farmers) and macro (e.g. such as agricultural, medical, social, economic,
market forces) levels. The first green revolution ecology & Environmental, water law and
lifted hunger from many parts of Asia and the geophysical sciences. Public health (sanitation and
new green revolution is required (shift of water supply), equity issues (poverty elimination)
agricultural policy towards rain-fed or dryland and environmental sustainability (conservation of
agriculture) to solve the work hunger problem. aquatic resources) are the main drivers for some
Expanding blue water consumption (that is of the UN polices such the Millennium
irrigation) is not a sustainable option. Development Goals (MDGs) and hence water is
seen as part of larger societal and ecological
2. Redefinition of the scale of IWRM - at
issues. The concept of ecohydrology might be a
present the river basin is considered to be the
useful basis for a sustainable land use
ideal unit for IWRM. ”. A depoliticized river
management programme. Application of this
basin concept approach has been postulated by
concept entails three steps as described by
IWRM and the need for establishing
Gouder de Beauregard et al (2002):
interconnections within an ecological unit has
been taken into consideration. Nevertheless, • A comprehensive ecological study of the
decisions on natural resources such as water are catchment (climate, soil science, vegetation,
ultimately political and have political, financial and human occupation)
ecological costs. Some parts of the basin have to
• Implementation of a water quality catchment
pay the price of the decisions. It is argued that
modelling system to assess the fluxes of
the environment has endured the cost due to
pollutants. The outputs of the model will
unsustainable practices. Since most of the blue
contribute to a land use management policy and
renewable resources are used in agriculture (this
long term management strategies
is true in the developing world), and since
agriculture is an important economic sector with • Implementation of technologies to restore the
a vital social role, a smaller physical unit (at ecosystem
catchment or watershed level) can be used to
4. Virtual water as part of water security
reflect what happens at the farming level.
policy. The concept of ‘virtual water’ should be
3. Ecohydrology concept as an interface for included in formal water policy assessments to
Land and Water linkage. The impact of land- appreciate the real potential of water resources.
use change on blue water resources is an National food security is a distinct agricultural
important factor not only to water resources but policy of many countries. The impact on this
to the land resource as well. There is an explicit policy on water resources systems is to allocate
inter-linkage between land and water more water for irrigation. UN and international
management (Amezaga, 2005 and Calder, 2005). agencies have other goals such as hunger
Therefore, this can be considered to be a fourth alleviation and eradication of poverty which
major omission in blue water resources means greater food productions and hence more
management. Calder (2005) argues that many water for irrigation. The idea of virtual water
land and water polices failed because of the trade is not new as many countries depend on
“mismatch between the public and scientific imports of agricultural produce. Allan (1997,
perceptions of the biophysical impacts of 2003) has postulated the idea of ‘virtual water’ as
changing land-use, that policies were more often a viable policy for most of the WANA region and
based on ‘land and water myths’ than modern need to be considered in agricultural policy and
science.” (Calder, 2005; p.309). Calder (2005) regional developments plans. There is a greater
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7.  Evolving the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Paradigm:
need for research into the usefulness of virtual 2000). In the 1990s a serious debate was
water by considering water security. Water initiated. These tended to be statement of
security is increasingly becoming an important policies by local authorities and were non
issue in WANA region as food security is statuary measures and did not include nationwide
essentially a water security. policies for implementation. However, this
voluntary approach initiated consensus between
5. Considerations for the role of belief and
different stakeholders. By year 2000, a full
culture. Biswas’s (2004) questioning of universal
document was produced by EU as ICZM Strategy
applicability of the IWRM paradigm and whether
followed by EU ICZM Recommendation in 2002.
is it applicable to cultures, religions and so on is
The ICZM may also be linked to other
vitally important as public and stakeholder
complementing concepts such as Integrated
participations is postulated to be a key to
Coastal Area and River-basin Management
implement of IWRM plans. Culture is a larger
(ICARM) which is not a new or alternative
medium than ethics or religious beliefs and as
management but focuses on the remaining issues
seen, in decision making, actors’ beliefs are very
or the gaps which exists due to sectoral and
important. Most religions have the same value-
institutional divisions of responsibility
laden perspectives with regard to the precious
(UNEP/MAP/PAP, 1999).
resource. Daniels & Endfield (2009) argue that
the action taken by the decision makers’ are
influenced by their perceptions. Policymaking is
more than just “a struggle over ideas” it is about
struggle over ideas and values within a cultural
context (Hashemi and O'Connell, 2011).
Legitimacy is an important issue for any public
policy debate. So the interplay between public
The Way forward: an integrated research
policy and legitimacy is a vital component in a
policy
policy analysis.
Many great civilisations have emerged from
6. Establishing Water-land-sea interface by WANA region which has a diverse and rich
linking IWRM and ICZM. There is a lag of culture and history. Most of the countries share
concern for coastal waters in river basin natural resources including water resources. War
legislation, policies and strategies and vice versa. over water has not materialised and these shared
In addition, there is a lack of public and political resources should provide an opportunity for greater
awareness of importance of coastal ecosystems cooperation and policy integration at regional level.
and their links to river basin and vice versa. Low
lying coastal area is vital for the development of The disparity and dynamic nature of water scarcity in
nature and society since they contain more than a changing world requires an integrated research
60 % of the human population, yielding 90% of policy into the IWRM concepts that can cater for the
the global fisheries and produce about 25% of mentioned paradigm shift and the change of
global biological productivity, (UNESCO-IHP- boundaries of research inquiries.
OIC, 2004). Integrated Coastal Zones
The role of research community is vital with two
Management (ICZM) have been promoted for
main objectives: (1) to draw the national research
more than 3 decades (Vallega, 1999) which
strategy and (2) to attain a sustainable and viable
provides a unique policy opportunity to elaborate
research portfolio with appropriate funding
the sea-land interface by providing an integration
mechanisms; achieving financial sustainability of
platform for other policy directives relative to
scientific endeavours.
the coast. The Council of Europe began
promoting integrated Coastal Zones A dialogue within the research communities is
Management (ICZM) back in 1973 (Jewell et al, essential to enhance communications and to
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8.  Evolving the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Paradigm:
remove institutional barriers. This will create a
platform for a wider dialogue among policy makers,
the scientific community and the public at large.
Researchers can become facilitators in difficult public
policy debates and create a foundation for
participatory decision making processes. It is
anticipated that this 'Policy Brief' will contribute to
the dialogue about the role of the scientific
community in bridging the gaps between science and
policy domains.
 Page 8