Chapter I. Water Resources Management: Issues of Concern
1.2 Rationale of the research: Research gaps and questions 3
In recent years, there has been a great deal of interest in how to implement IWRM and in why it has not been implemented since its introduction some 40 years ago. Van der Zaag (2005) argues that IWRM is not just a buzzword but is a relevant, yet elusive and fuzzy concept. Wide-scale implementation has been limited. Many scholars and researchers (e.g Brown, 2005; Amjad, 2003) have concluded that there is a need for institutional change and reform underpinned by capacity building interventions targeted at enabling a learning culture that values integration and a participatory approach. Therefore, the question remains as to what intervention pathway is required to achieve the IWRM concept.
Iran Turkey
Pakistan Afghanistan
Saudi Arabia Iraq
Egypt Libya
Algeria Mo
roc co Mauritania
Sudan Yemen
Oman
Physical Environmental
ü the temporal and spatial variation of water availability; water scarcity; limited resources ü problems of droughts and floods and the impact of climatic variations on water resources ü inter-basin water transfer schemes
ü excessive and unbalanced agricultural use and consumption of surface and groundwater resources including irrigation supply
ü domination of traditional farming with low water use efficiency;
ü depletion /over-exploitation of groundwater resources
ü impact of pollution on freshwater resources/source pollution and river water quality issues
ü pollution of water resources and water quality issues; degradation of lakes and wetlands and natural habitats ü lack of precise information on the quality-quantity of the existing water resources; lack of accurate hydrological
data; incomparability of information and data at different levels of management; lack of adequate information and data for managerial decision making in many basins;
Socio-economic
ü population growth; accelerated urban population growth and lack of urban planning ü urbanisation, industrialisation and economic growth
ü illegal use of wells and abstraction from groundwater resources
ü inadequate social awareness about role of water for life and the environment;
ü lack of public concern and knowledge about limited water resources
ü lack of valuation of water as an economic good: in another word: no economic perspective on the value of water ü regional (development) challenges and political influence; lack of consideration for sustainable development ü limited financial resources for water projects
ü Gender issues: lack of representation of women at planning stage of water resources development ü Health related problems
Institutional
ü Lack of conflict resolution management for trans-boundary waters and provincial water allocation ü lack of administrative integration
ü Insufficient , inadequate and ambiguous laws, legislations and guidelines; lack of compliance with water laws;
weakness of legal guarantees to implement law;
ü lack of implementation mechanisms in water resources planning;
ü provincial management instead of river basin management ü duplication of decision centres
ü lack of system approach in water resources management
ü inadequate /unclear inter-provincial water allocation practices; no clear allocation strategy for inter-provincial water shares
ü lack of community capacity building; lack of stakeholder participation in decision making ü lack of consideration to demand management
ü Weakness of non-structural approaches (consumption management, demand management…)
ü Introduction of short term policies without consideration for technical principles in water uses by politicians ü No river basin authority
ü Sectoral approach
Based on analysis of 54 questionnaires collected during 2007-8 (Source: Appendix A1)
Table 1.1: Issues map for Iran's water sector.
A report by the fourth World Water Forum (WWF, 2006)3, entitled: Implementing Integrated Water Resources Management: the Inclusion of IWRM in National Plans, reviews the progress made by countries in some 6 regional categories. According to two different statistical surveys by the Japan Water Forum (JWF) and the GWP, up to 28% have made good progress but some 28% are in their initial stages of implementing IWRM. They make some key recommendations for future work on IWRM, which are centred on five themes: (1) institutional and legal framework, (2)stakeholder participation, (3)socio-economic,
(4)capacity-building and (5)environmental sustainability. More recently, UN-Water (2008) completed a survey showing an improvement of IWRM planning process at national level but much more efforts are required to implement the plans at local levels and in Asia generally, the institutional reforms are advanced but there are problems with institutional cooperation and coordination. The fifth World Water Forum, which was held in Istanbul in 2009, confirmed the importance of the institutional and cultural dimensions of water resources management (WWDR, 2009).
Read-in to this, the neglect of the institutional dimension in water resources
management has created a huge barrier to implementing IWRM. Water resources management requires a radical reorientation and an effective dialogue between decision makers,
stakeholders and engineers/academics (Falkenmark et al, 2004). However, the challenge is how this radical reorientation can be made operational on the ground, and how to design and use institutional reforms, potential interactions with other incentives/disincentives at the operational level and the effect they may ultimately demonstrate in practice. Institutional transformations are not a common occurrence (Cowie and Borrett, 2005), so the question is:
what are the prerequisites for institutional change? And what constitutes change?
Biswas (2004), in reassessing the IWRM paradigm, concludes that there is a need for
“an objective, impartial and non-dogmatic assessment of the applicability of IWRM”. Can a single paradigm be applicable to every climatic conditions, every cultural, economic and social settings? “…can it be applicable……to Islamic customs?”(Biswas, 2004). Is there a need for an evolving paradigm to make the concept implementable? How can we have local solutions using a global concept? Iran has a strong Islamic tradition as a Constitutional democratic Islamic Republic. For example, what is the institutional role of Islamic principles in implementing IWRM based on sustainability criteria? How can sustainable policies emerge
3 This report came out at the start of the PhD project providing an insight into research gaps in implementing the IWRM paradigm.
from the moral and ethical values of Islam, bearing in mind that institutional, ethical and cultural aspects have been recognised as important elements of IWRM (e.g. WWDR, 2009).
Strengthening institutional aspects by having and implementing adequate policies, laws, regulations and administrations are vital for the implementation of an integrated approach to water management. This is known as good governance. The World Bank (2007) asserts that Middle East and North African (MENA) countries have appreciated the
importance of good governance in implementing sustainable water management policies in the region, which includes Iran.
Multiple stakeholder participation (social learning process) is crucial to the evolution of sustainable river basin management, and an integral part of the IWRM paradigm. Social learning theory developed by Bandura (1977) postulates that people can learn from each other’s experiences via observation, imitation and modelling or coding the information, which guides the actions. Therefore, the question is how to facilitate multi-stakeholder processes and social learning. This leads to questions about governance and democracy, which have become important global issues as we work towards making sustainable development a reality.
Research is required on linking technical analytical methods and participation (social learning) approaches, (Pahl-Wostl, 2002). For IWRM to be effective, a tripartite alliance between policy maker, stakeholder and engineer (scientist) is required (Schulz et al, 2004). Simonovic and Bender (1996) conclude that participation is essential because stakeholders have the knowledge and experience necessary to formulate effective alternatives.
IWRM is a wide-ranging concept. The scope of the PhD programme has therefore focussed on developing a socio-technical framework for implementing the IWRM paradigm in general, and in Iran specifically, by considering the water allocation decision-making using:
a) a sustainability framework for analysing drivers and pressures associated with water management and management options which provides a pathway towards
implementing the IWRM paradigm
b) an institutional analysis framework that can be linked to (a)
c) a case study approach to facilitate participatory decision-making; and d) exploring the ethical and cultural spheres to foster good governance
The PhD programme will address the above questions and hence will contribute to the advancement of IWRM theory and practice.
1.3 Main Aim
The main aim of this project is to develop an integrated Socio-technical Framework for implementing the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) paradigm in a case study approach by analysing how water resources can be managed and adaptively administered in response to anthropogenic drivers (e.g. population/economic growth) and environmental pressures (e.g. climate change) within the current institutional set-up, and to demonstrate the application of the Framework using a case study approach that is based upon stakeholder participation (Lake Urmia basin, Iran).
1.4 Objectives
1. To assess the applicability of IWRM through a critical analysis of the underlying principles, and to assess progress made with implementation (Chapter II).
2. To develop an integrated methodological framework which can be used to implement the IWRM paradigm by integrating the elements of social and technical assessment (Chapter III).
3. To assess the status of progress towards implementing IWRM in Iran (Chapter IV).
4. To assess the status of water resources planning, management and allocation in the Lake Urmia Basin (Chapter V).
5. To make an integrated socio-technical assessment of the water resources availability for sustainable water allocation management in the Lake Urmia Basin, Iran (Chapter VI).
6. To make a re-assessment of the institutional sustainability of the water allocation strategy in Lake Urmia basin. (Chapter VII).
7. To develop an ethical and cultural framework that can provide a basis for good governance based on Islamic principles (Chapter VIII).
8. To demonstrate the applicability of the overall framework through the Lake Urmia case study approach (Chapters VI - VIII).
1.5 The structure of the thesis:
The structure and the scope of the thesis are given in Figure 1.4 which shows relevant chapters and methodologies associated with the objectives.
Figure 1.4: The scope and objectives of the thesis with relevant methodological tools used in each Chapter denoted by ‘Ch’.
1. To assess the applicability of IWRM through a critical analysis of the underlying principles, and to
assess progress made with implementation Ch 2
2. To develop an integrated methodological framework which can be used to implement the IWRM paradigm by integrating the elements of social and technical assessment
3. To assess the status of in Lake Urmia case study
Ch 5
5. To make an integrated socio-technical assessment of the
6. To make a re-assessment of institutional sustainability of the water allocation strategy in Lake Urmia basin
Ch 7
7. To develop an ethical and cultural framework that can provide a basis for good governance based on Islamic principles
8. To demonstrate the applicability of the overall framework through the Lake Urmia case study approach IAD Institutional analysis and Development ISTA Integrated Socio-technical Assessment IWRM Integrated Water Resources Management