http://users.sisqtel.net/armstrng/opinion091812.html
Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM)
– Part 1
Column by Siskiyou County Supervisor Marcia Armstrong 9/18/12
IWRM was born out of The Dublin Statement on Water and
Sustainable Development created at the International Conference
on Water and the Environment held in Ireland in 1992. The
statement had two sections that promoted “integrated
management:” (1) “Protecting aquatic ecosystems -Integrated
management of river basins provides the opportunity to safeguard
aquatic ecosystems, and make their benefits available to society
on a sustainable basis”; and (2)”Resolving water conflicts -…A
high priority should therefore be given to the preparation and
implementation of integrated management plans, endorsed by all
affected governments and backed by international agreements.”
The Dublin Statement was prepared for the “Earth Summit” or
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development also
held in 1992. “Integrated Water Resources Management” was
featured in Chapter 18 of Agenda 21, an international document
signed for the United States by President George H.W.Bush.
http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/agenda21/
Agenda 21 recommended that all states “…adopt an
integrated approach to environmentally sustainable management of
water resources, including the protection of aquatic ecosystems
and freshwater living resources.” It gave a target of the year
2000 for all states “to have designed and initiated costed and
targeted national action programmes, and to have put in place
appropriate institutional structures and legal instruments.” In
1997, the U.N. General Assembly Adopted the Programme for the
Further Implementation of Agenda 21 stating that there is an
urgent need: (a) “To assign high priority… to the formulation
and implementation of policies and programmes for integrated
watershed management, including issues related to pollution and
waste, the interrelationship between water and land, including
mountains, forests, upstream and downstream users, estuarine
environments, biodiversity and the preservation of aquatic
ecosystems, wetlands, climate and land degradation and
desertification, recognizing that subnational, national and
regional approaches to fresh-water protection and consumption
following a watershed basin or river basin approach offer a
useful model for the protection of fresh-water supplies.”
According to the Global Water Partnership (GWP, ) “IWRM is
defined as a process that 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.” Under IWRM, water needed for ecosystem
functioning and to meet basic human needs has priority above all
other water uses. Only water resources in excess of these basic
needs is “available” for allocation to other uses.
http://www.gwptoolbox.org/
IWRM is implemented through a national water resources policy
which sets goals and objectives for the management of water
resources at the national and regional scales. Policies include
the integration of water and land use law and the holistic
management and allocation of resources across entire basins.
River Basin Organizations (RBOs) established by authorities
provide input for “basin-wide planning to balance all user needs
for water resources.” Shared Vision Planning is a process used
to engage broad stakeholder participation in water planning and
operating decisions.
http://www.sharedvisionplanning.us/resCase.cfm
IWRM was introduced in the United States on the federal level by
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in partnership with
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization,) the International Center for Integrated Water
Resources Management (ICIWaRM,) the International Hydrological
Programme (IHP,) the Global Water Partnership and The Nature
Conservancy.
http://www.iwr.usace.army.mil/
Early this year, the Council on Environmental Quality’s
Interagency Climate Change Adaption Task Force, with input from
USACE, released the final “National Action Plan (NAP):
Priorities for Managing Freshwater Resources in a Changing
Climate “ which was based on IWRM. The goal of the NAP is that
“Government agencies and citizens collaboratively manage
freshwater resources in response to a changing climate in order
to ensure adequate water supplies, to safeguard human life,
health and property, and to protect water quality and aquatic
ecosystems.” Action 17 of NAP is to: “Work with States and
interstate bodies (e.g., River Basin Commissions) to incorporate
IWRM into planning and programs, paying particular attention to
climate change adaptation issues.”
The CAWWG (Federal Climate Change and Water Working Group)
consists of USACE, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA,) the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS,) and
the Bureau of Reclamation.
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/ccawwg/ This is supported
by Landscape Conservation Cooperatives – “a network of
public-private partnerships that provide shared science to
ensure the sustainability of America's land, water, wildlife and
cultural resources.”
http://www.doi.gov/lcc/index.cfm and Climate Science
Centers.
http://www.doi.gov/csc/index.cfm The western states
also have the Western States Water Council (WSWC)
http://www.westgov.org/wswc/ supported by the Western
States Federal Agency Support Team (WestFAST)
http://www.westgov.org/wswc/WestFAST.htm
In the Klamath Basin, the federal Dept. of Interior - Bureau of
Reclamation is implementing IWRM through the Klamath Basin
Restoration Agreement and WaterSMART (Sustain and Manage
America’s Resources for Tomorrow)
http://www.usbr.gov/WaterSMART/docs/Basin%20Study%20Framework_022211.pdf
This scheme is being implemented under the Secure Water Act as
planning for the impact of Climate Change.
General information on IWRM can be found at
http://users.sisqtel.net/armstrng/IWRM%20global%20Part2.htm
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