From this it can be seen that:
• There is no need to measure everything; and
• The choice of indicator is important as to whether it gives sufficient ‘sense of the bigger picture’.
Indicators have not been applied very much for the measurement of the performance of water resources management although they have been used very successfully in water utilities. Two important uses in water utilities have been a) to keep stakeholders informed of the performance of the utility and b) to help the utility identify action areas.
Well selected indicators can assist the manager of water resources to maintain a focus on the important work areas and take strategic decisions to address problem areas.
IWRM emphasises the integrated approach to water resources management, bringing together various stakeholders or interest groups to participate in management decisions on water. It can therefore be seen that indicators of IWRM may also serve an important function of keeping stakeholders informed of progress and performance of the water resources management system, enhancing transparency, trust and commitment whilst also assisting the RBO to focus action on priority areas.
2.1 Use of indicators
Water sector reforms have been driven by the concern for more efficient use of water resources to speed socio-economic development whilst taking into account the needs of future generations. These laudable goals are meaningless unless there is some process to establish whether any progress is being made to achieve them. Introducing indicators to report on the situation immediately provides a benchmark against which future reports can be measured.
Indicators are useful to:
• Measure progress over time against various water management objectives providing information relevant to policy;
• Measure performance against a target to evaluate the effect of policy actions and plans;
• Present information to the public or stakeholders in a simplified way; and
• Identify areas for increased attention by an organisation.
The benefit of this to the RBO is that successes or weaknesses in the water management system may be tracked allowing an appropriate response to be justified to decision makers and implemented.
Indicators have two core functions:
• To provide system information to inform the RBO, the public and policy makers; and