Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is a process that promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources in order to maximize economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems.
IWRM is a cross-sectoral policy approach designed to replace the traditional, fragmented sectoral approach to water resources and management that has led to poor services and unsustainable resource use. Integrated Water Resources Management is based on the understanding that water resources are an integral component of the ecosystem, a natural resource, and a social and economic good.
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The basis of IWRM is that the many different uses of finite water resources are interdependent. High irrigation demands and polluted drainage flows from agriculture, for example, mean less freshwater for drinking or industrial use; contaminated municipal and industrial wastewater pollutes rivers and threatens ecosystems; if water has to be left in a river to protect fisheries and ecosystems (environmental flows), less can be diverted to grow crops. There are plenty of other examples of the basic theme that unregulated use of scarce water resources is wasteful and inherently unsustainable.
In Sudan, UNEP is supporting the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources by helping it manage its water resources and implement IWRM approaches. This includes:
- Integrating domestic, agricultural, industrial, and environmental needs into water catchment management.
- Encouraging participatory processes that include all groups of water users.
- Emphasizing the role of women in water management.
- Balancing economic efficiency, ecosystem sustainability, and social equity.
This ranges from supporting research into surface and groundwater resource sustainable use, to encouraging donors and the international aid community to perform environmental impact assessments of water infrastructure projects and to prepare contingency and prevention plans for flood and drought.
Read more about UNEP's IWRM work in Sudan.
