Attachments
Summary
Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), as defined by the Global Water Partnership, is “a process which promotes the coordinated management and development of water, land and related resources, in order to maximize the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems”. This approach recognizes that a single intervention has implications for the system as a whole, and that the integration of development and flood management can yield multiple benefits from a single intervention.
Integrated Flood Management (IFM) integrates land and water resources development in a river basin, within the context of Integrated Water Resources Management, with a view to maximizing the efficient use of floodplains and to minimizing loss of life and property. Integrated Flood Management, like Integrated Water Resources Management, should encourage the participation of users, planners and policymakers at all levels. The approach should be open, transparent, inclusive and communicative; should require the decentralization of decision-making; and should include public consultation and the involvement of stakeholders in planning and implementation.
The management of floods as problems in isolation almost necessarily results in a piecemeal, localized approach. Integrated Flood Management calls for a paradigm shift from the traditional fragmented approach, and encourages the efficient use of the resources of the river basin as a whole, employing strategies to maintain or augment the productivity of floodplains, while at the same time providing protective measures against the losses due to flooding. Sustainable development through Integrated Water Resources Management aims at the sustained improvement in the living conditions of all citizens in an environment characterized by equity, security and freedom of choice. Integrated Water Resources Management necessitates the integration both of natural and human systems and of land and water management.
Both population growth and economic growth exert considerable pressure on the natural resources of a system. Increased population pressure and enhanced economic activities in floodplains, such as the construction of buildings and infrastructure, further increase the risk of flooding. Floodplains provide excellent, technically easy livelihood opportunities in many cases. In developing countries with primarily agricultural economies, food security is synonymous with livelihood security.
The ecosystem approach is a strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources, a strategy that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable manner. Both Integrated Water Resources Management and Integrated Flood Management encompass the main principles of the ecosystem approach by considering the entire basin ecosystem as a unit and by accounting for the effects of economic interventions in the basin as a whole. Environmental sustainability of the flood management options is one of the prerequisites in IFM.
Sustainable and effective management of water resources demands a holistic approach, linking social and economic development with the protection of natural ecosystems and providing appropriate management links between land and water uses. Therefore, water related disasters, such as floods and droughts, because they play an important part in determining sustainable development, need to be integrated into water resources management.
A holistic approach to emergency planning and management is preferable to a hazard-specific approach, and IFM should be part of a wider risk management system. This approach fosters structured information exchange and the formation of effective organizational relationships. In integrated flood management planning, achieving the common goal of sustainable development requires that the decision-making processes of any number of separate development authorities be coordinated. Every decision that influences the hydrological response of the basin must take into account every other similar decision.
Adaptive management offers a robust but flexible approach to dealing with scientific uncertainties an approach wherein decisions are made as part of an ongoing science-based process.
It involves planning, acting, monitoring and evaluating applied strategies, and modifying management policies, strategies and practices as new knowledge becomes available. Adaptive management explicitly defines the expected outcomes; specifies the methods to measure performance; collects and analyses information so as to compare expectations with actual outcomes; learns from the comparisons; and changes actions and plans accordingly.
Water will be the primary medium through which the expected effects of climate change will materialize. Climate change and increased climate variability will affect flood processes in several ways simultaneously. Sea level rise will place coastal communities at higher flood risk.
And changing precipitation patterns will lead to an increased occurrence of flash floods and, in some regions, riverine floods. Integrated Flood Management takes account of those expected effects, and is therefore an autonomous adaptation strategy to climate variability and change.