2. Why IWRM?
Water is vital for human survival, health and dignity and a fundamental resource for human development. The world’s freshwater resources are under increasing pressure yet many still lack access to adequate water supply for basic needs. Growth in population, increased economic activity and improved standards of living lead to increased competition for, and conflicts over, the limited freshwater resource. Here are a few reasons why many people argue that the world faces an impending water crisis:
• Water resources are increasingly under pressure from population growth, economic activity and intensifying competition for the water among users;
• Water withdrawals have increased more than twice as fast as population growth and currently one third of the world's population live in countries that experience medium to high water stress;
• Pollution is further enhancing water scarcity by reducing water usability downstream;
• Shortcomings in the management of water, a focus on developing new sources rather than managing existing ones better, and top-down sector approaches to water management result in uncoordinated development and management of the resource;
• More and more development means greater impacts on the environment; and
• Current concerns about climate variability and climate change demand improved management of water resources to cope with more intense floods and droughts.
3. Key Issues in Water Management
3.1 Water governance crisis
Sectoral approaches to water resources management have dominated in the past and are still prevailing. This leads to fragmented and uncoordinated development and management of the resource. Moreover, water management is usually in the hands of top-down institutions, the legitimacy and effectiveness of which have increasingly been questioned. Thus, weak governance aggravates increased competition for the finite resource. IWRM brings coordination and collaboration among the individual sectors, plus a fostering of stakeholder participation, transparency and cost-effective local management.
3.2 Securing water for people
Although most countries give first priority to satisfying basic human needs for water, one fifth of the world’s population is without access to safe drinking water and half of the population is without access to adequate sanitation. These service deficiencies primarily affect the poorest segments of the population in developing countries. In these countries, meeting water supply and sanitation needs for urban and rural areas represents one of the most serious challenges in the years ahead. Halving the proportion of the population lacking water and