New Water Policy and Practice Volume 1, Number 1 - Fall 2014 | Page 39

New Water Policy and Practice

opinions e.g. there is a valid argument that
good water management is not only more integration but also the promotion of what can
be called a 3 C approach which means more
“Collaboration,” “Co-operation,” and “Coordination” (Biswas 2004). One of the main
hurdles to the implementation of IWRM
is a general lack of capacity of trans-disciplinary champions from least developed
countries and disconnected communities
lacking voices in decision-making processes. There is a greater need for focus on micro financing of community projects, community empowerment through long-term
water resource planning, purpose driven
engagement for pragmatically working
with all stakeholders through appropriate
economic instruments and targets (Heath
2010).

At this critical juncture of time when
the world is working on the post-2015 development agenda, IWRM should no longer be treated as a new paradigm but as an
interactive process for empowering communities to alleviate poverty and to achieve
basic minimum standards of water and sanitation for human dignity. IWRM should
not be treated as the only prescription for
sustainability, but as a practical framework
for addressing water management challenges through capacity building and community engagement.

In the process of facilitating the
implementation of IWRM at the river basin level, the aspirations of real stakeholders need to be aligned with priorities of the
international programs, efforts of research
and training institutions, networking of
river basin organizations. Policy makers
and decision takers need to be engaged in a
practical facilitating manner. The following
processes can lead to better water futures.

needs to be promoted through formal
system of learning which bring together
researchers, managers and policy makers. The establishment of IWRM centres under international initiatives, such
as the UNESCO Category 2 institutes/
centres could help to develop a network
across the world working on sectoral issues, but complementary for the success
of IWRM in solving keys water challenges of the future.
• Take advantage of trans-disciplinary initiatives: Programmes that are designed to
incorporate relevant policy and scientific
issues through cross-cutting approaches
on water management should be promoted for the implementation of IWRM. In
this regard UNESCO-IHP programmes
such as Hydrology for Environment,
Live and Policy (HELP) and Ecohydrology could play a significant role if implemented in collaboration with river basin
organisations.
• Establishment of IWRM for delivery
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
demonstrations sites: The IWRM demonstration sites/projects will play a significant role to convince critics that this
concept as a relevance to solve SDG-related problems in real river basin. Such
an approach is not only necessary for
testing and dissemination of the IWRM )