Some though are less sure about the compartmentalizes between IWRM and
water security. Bakker and Morinville (2013) reviewed several governance
dimensions of water security, and suggested that IWRM does not deal with the
inherent uncertainties in water management and focuses too much on river
basins as planning and management units. Most of the concerns stem from
rather limited view of IWRM as a rigid, water-centric paradigm. In practice,
IWRM offers a framework for addressing water-related problems and issues.
How this is done depends on the specific context and will, and in some cases
should, include a risk-based and adaptive approach to deal with inherent
uncertainties. In cases where supra-regional objectives and multi-scale links
are important, IWRM should look beyond the river-basin scale. An example of
this is the water-food-energy nexus. The very purpose of IWRM is to deal with
multi-user and intersectoral allocation issues, manage trade-offs, and capitalise
on synergies. But, to do this, water managers have to come out of the ‘water
box’ and learn to work closely with professionals in other sectors.