Introduction - Recognition of Necessity
IWRM Guidelines at River Basin Level Project started in November 2007, based on the recognition that there was a need for a mechanism to translate the IWRM principles into practical application.
The principles of concepts of IWRM have been widely recognized, but the implementation of IWRM is not satisfactorily progressing in many basins. This is, perhaps, because the practitioners responsible for water resources management at the basin level encounter difficulties in understanding where and how to begin, or advantages of applying IWRM with respect to their actual situation may not be apparent enough. Therefore, it is desired that practitoners absorb the ideas and needs of IWRM and understand the effectiveness of applying these within a basin-wide approach. These Guidelines for IWRM at River Bain Level are intended to be used for that purpose, as a tool to fill that ‘gap’.
In these circumstances, UNESCO organized the steering committee of the Guidelines. The committee is composed of 2 Co-chairs and 12 members. Co-chairs are Dr. Eugene Z. Stahkhiv (International Center for Integrated Water Resources Management, ICIWaRM) and Mr. Shinsuke Ota (Japan Water Agency, JWA). The committee members include Dr. Mochammad Amron as a chairperson of NARBO, Mr. Kenzo Hiroki (Ministriy of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, MLIT) and Mr. Wouter Linklaen Arriens (Asian Development Bank, ADB), also Vice Secretary General of NARBO. Mr. Ota, Mr. Hiroki and Mr. Arriens are also assigned as the committee members. It is not only by their excellent previous achievement but also by the reason that these Guidelines are intended to be applied in Asia Monsoonal Region.
I worked as a Japanese taskforce member of the Guidelines which was composed of staffs of Ministriy of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Japan Water Agency and Japanese consultants. Therefore, I would like to report on what has been discussed in the Japanese Taskforce in order to translate IWRM principle into application especially in Asia Monsoonal Region.
Structure of the Guidelines
The Guidelines consist of two parts.
Part 1 deals with Overarching Principles of IWRM at River Basin Level
Part 2 deals with practical examples intended for use by practitioner of IWRM
Part 1 provides basic principles of IWRM mainly targeting policy-makers, and explains the benefits of IWRM at river basin level and the need to promote it at the policy level. Italso proposes a spiral model of IWRM, which illustrates the evolving and dynamic nature of IWRM process.
The spiral model is originally intended to practitioner of IWRM for the explanation of the concept of IWRM, rather than the fact that it is explained in Part 1. Practitioners often feel the dilemma that they tried to do at once all the thing that they want to do while coordination for it doesn't proceed. It is important to set priorities and to define the extent of issues to be addressed at a particular stage based on time and financial constraints. In other words, it is important to ‘give up’ something in order to implement IWRM. But it should be noted that setting a priority does not mean giving up on solving specific prolems. These can be addressed in a phased manner. For these reasons, ‘Spiral Model’ is the concept for practitioners in the sense of practical implementation IWRM.
Part 2 consists of these sub parts:
- Part 2-1 The Guidelines for IWRM Coordination
- Part 2-2 The Guidelines for Flood Management
- Part 2-3 Invitation to IWRM for Irrigation Practitioners