Enabling Environment and Institutional Roles

Module 2
Enabling Environment with an emphasis on National IWRM Strategies
UNITED NATIONS E
Distr.
LIMITED
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL E/ESCWA/SDPD/2005/WG.1/3
14 April 2005
COUNCIL ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR WESTERN ASIA
Workshop on “Training of Trainers on the Application of

IWRM Guidelines in the Arab Region”
Kuwait, 14-18 May 2005
MODULE TWO
ENABLING ENVIRONMENT AND INSTITUTIONAL ROLES
Note: This document has been reproduced in the form in which it was received, without formal editing.
05-0228
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MODULE 2
ENABLING ENVIRONMENT WITH AN EMPHASIS ON NATIONAL IWRM STRATEGIES
RATIONALE Addressing the growing challenges associated with water resources management
will require daring and difficult changes to existing institutions and policies
governing water resources. Far reaching and multi-sectoral approaches will be
critical if we are to overcome inefficient use of our water resources and make their
use sustainable. This will require the establishment of a proper enabling
environment that ensures the rights of users and provides the appropriate level of
protection for the resource. Policies, legislation, establishment of governing bodies
at various levels and knowledge management are all part of ensuring that the
objectives of IWRM are met.
The session will provide an overview of the enabling environment (policy,

legislation, financing) and institutional roles (organizational framework and
institutional capacity building) necessary for the effective implementation of
IWRM. It concentrates on the policy and strategy formulation with a focus on
national IWRM strategies and water efficiency plans. Other IWRM components
(i.e., in the enabling environment and institutional roles) are discussed briefly here
but are elaborated further in modules 3, 4 and 15.
Water policies and practices in the ESCWA member countries are presented and a
selected case study from the region is presented as an example for policy reform.
OBJECTIVES 1. Provide a broad overview and thus a setting for examining effective and
practical policy, legal, and institutional frameworks for IWRM.
2. Outline key elements of content of formulating national IWRM strategies and
the process to make people from different professional background aware of
each other’s interests and insights.
3. Provide information on organizational settings in the countries of the ESCWA,
its advantages and disadvantages.
MAIN REFERENCES & - GWP. (2000). Integrated water resources management, TEC Background
BACKGROUND Paper No. 4.
MATERIAL - GWP. (2003). IWRM and Water Efficiency Plans by 2005 – Why, What and
How, TEC Background Paper No 10.
- GWP. (2004). Catalyzing Change: A handbook for developing integrated
resources management (IWRM) and water efficiency strategies, 2004, TEC
Background Paper No 11.
- World Bank/UNDP/FAO, FAO. (1995). Water sector policy review and
strategy formulation – a general framework, Land and Water Bulletin 3.
- ESCWA. (1999). Current water policies and practices in selected ESCWA
member countries, E/ESCWA/ENR/1999/15.
- Water Issues Team, ESCWA. (2003). Local ownership and leadership as
vehicles for effective capacity building in IWRM, paper presented at the Third
World Water Forum, 16-23 March, 2003, Kyoto.
- ESCWA. (1999). Updating the assessment of water resources in ESCWA
member countries, E/ESCWA/ENR/1999/13.
- CEDARE, AWC. (2004). State of the water report in the Arab region
- CEDARE, AWC, UNDP. (2004). Status of IWRM plans in the Arab region
‫ﺗﻌﺰﻳﺰ اﻟﺘﺮﺗﻴﺒﺎت اﻟﻤﺆﺳﺴﻴﺔ ﻹﻧﻔﺎذ اﻟﺘﺸﺮﻳﻌﺎت اﻟﻤﺎﺋﻴﺔ وﺗﺠﺴﻴﻦ اﻟﻘﺪرات اﻟﻤﺆﺳﺴﻴﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻗﻄﺎع اﻟﻤﻴﺎﻩ‬ -
E/ESCWA/ENR/2001/11 ،٢٠٠١ ،‫ﻓﻲ ﺏﻠﺪان اﻻﺳﻜﻮا‬
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،٢٠٠٠ ،‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﻬﻴﺎآﻞ اﻟﻤﺆﺳﺴﻴﺔ واﻟﺘﻨﻈﻴﻤﻴﺔ ﻹدارة اﻟﻤﻮارد اﻟﻤﺎﺋﻴﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻮﻃﻦ اﻟﻌﺮﺏﻲ‬ -
‫ اﻟﺤﻠﻘﺔ اﻟﻘﻮﻡﻴﺔ ﺡﻮل ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﻬﻴﺎآﻞ اﻟﻤﺆﺳﺴﻴﺔ واﻟﺘﻨﻈﻴﻤﻴﺔ‬،‫اﻟﻤﻨﻈﻤﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺏﻴﺔ ﻟﻠﺘﻨﻤﻴﺔ اﻟﺰراﻋﻴﺔ‬
.٢٠٠٠/٩/٢١-١٩ ،‫ اﻟﺪوﺡﺔ‬،‫ﻹدارة اﻟﻤﻮارد اﻟﻤﺎﺋﻴﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻮﻃﻦ اﻟﻌﺮﺏﻲ‬
SUGGESTED INTERNET - ESCWA: www. escwa.org.lb

LINKS - Global Water Partnership: www.gwpforum.org
- Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean: www.gwpmed.org
- AWARENET: www.cap-net.org/ShowNetworkDetail.php?NetworkID=3
- UNDP/CAP-NET: www.cap-net.org
DIRECTLY RELATED 3,4,15
MODULES
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TOPIC SESSION TOPIC SYNTHESIS

QUESTIONS FOR Issues for discussion: How relevant is the IWRM approach for the formulation and
DISCUSSION implementation of water resources management policy in your country? What are the
implications of the IWRM approach for formulating and implementing water resources
management policy? What is the status of development and/or implementation of IWRM
strategies and water efficiency plans (responding to the WSSD 2005 target) in your
country?
Discussion Keywords: mechanisms and processes of coordination within water and with
management of related resources (e.g., land, coastal, minerals, etc.); welfare for all,
equity concern; more attention to demand management side, environmental needs and
sustainability considerations.
Issues for discussion: How is political commitment to IWRM obtained?

Discussion Keywords: Who wants reform? Who are the champions? Who are the
winners and losers? How can interest be negotiated?
Issues for discussion: How comprehensive and flexible should the policies be, how long
should it take to make policy, and at what cost?
Discussion Keywords: Comprehensiveness, flexibility, ownership, and implementability
vs. time, cost, and participation.
Issues for discussion: What are the trade-offs in terms of costs and benefits for
participatory approaches in policy formulation and implementation?
Keywords for discussion: Time, cost, and tradeoffs vs. ownership, new ideas, and
implementability.
Issues for discussion: Integration and coordination are often stated desirable goals. What
are the practical implications and trade-offs in achieving these goals?
Keywords for discussion: Dispersed interest; adequate and capable institutions (do not
appear overnight!); role of scientific research, transparency and monitoring.
Issues for discussion: Are the current legal and institutional settings in your country
conducive for IWRM planning and implementation?
Keywords for discussion: Current institutional structures and responsibilities, national
apex bodies, river basin organizations, regulatory bodies and enforcement agencies,
service providers, civil society institutions and community based organizations, local
authorities; degree of involvement and consultation.
Taking an integrated approach to developing and managing water resources can advance goals such as reducing
poverty, increasing food security, fostering economic growth, and protecting ecosystems. It can also tackle
more effectively specific water challenges, such as controlling flooding, mitigating the effects of drought,
eliminating water-borne diseases, managing transboundary river basins, and addressing increasing competition
for water.
How does an IWRM approach do this? Water should be addressed within a larger hydrological and sustainable
development context than is usually practiced through traditional sectoral approaches. This includes more
coordinated development and management of land and water, surface water and groundwater, the river basin
and its adjacent coastal and marine environment, upstream and downstream interests. But IWRM is not just
about managing physical resources, it is also about reforming human systems to enable people—men and
women and this fact should be clearly reflected to benefit from those resources. Water is an integrated resource,
and this fact should be clearly reflected in our governance structures.
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An IWRM approach requires positive changes in the enabling environment, in institutional roles, and in
management instruments. In order to create an enabling environment, change and reforms should include
policies, legislative frameworks and financing and incentive structures. Regarding institutional roles, emphasis
should be given to creating appropriate and well coordinated organisational frameworks and building
institutional capacity. In terms of management instruments, target areas entail water resources assessment,
planning, demand management, social change, conflict resolution, regulatory instruments, economic
instruments, information management and exchange. Adopting IWRM does not mean throwing everything
away and starting all over again. More often it means adapting and building on existing institutions and
planning procedures to achieve a more integrated approach.
The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002 called for all countries to develop craft
IWRM and water efficiency plans by the end of 2005 in a move to encourage more sustainable approach to
water development and management.
The process of creating an IWRM and water efficiency plan1 is an opportunity for countries to take a coherent
approach to improving how they develop, manage and use water resources to meet development challenges and
the goals of sustainable development.
Creating an effective IWRM strategy requires a somewhat different process than that entailed in creating a one-
off water resources planning document. Key differences include:
- Involvement from multiple sectors: While a water plan is usually designed and implemented by a water
agency, an IWRM strategy requires input and buy-in from all sectors that impact and are impacted by water
development and management—for example, health, energy, finance, tourism, industry, agriculture, and
environment.
- Broader focus: Whereas water plans tend to be driven principally by water issues alone, an IWRM
strategy looks at water in relation to other ingredients needed to achieve larger development goals or meet
water challenges.
- Dynamic rather than static: Unlike a water plan, which lays out a definitive sequence of actions and
decisions, an IWRM strategy aims at laying down a framework for a continuing and adaptive process of
strategic and coordinated action.
- Stakeholder participation: Because it calls for change—and therefore buy-in—at multiple levels, strategy
development requires broader and more extensive participation from stakeholders than a traditional
planning process.
In addition to these, creating of knowledge base, setting a clear timeframe and milestones, providing a
mechanism for monitoring and evaluation, addressing potential stumbling blocks are key elements for an
effective IWRM strategy.
In conclusion, a strategy’s success or failure depends on its ability to catalyze change. This is what matters —
not the specific process, nor the form of the strategy document, but whether or not it results in positive action.
1
According to GWP, it might be better called ‘IWRM and water efficiency strategy’
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TABLE OF CONTENT
A. DEFINING THE ‘INTEGRATED’ IN IWRM .................................................................................................. 7

A.1. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................... 7
A.2. IWRM AS A TOOL FOR CHANGE ............................................................................................................. 7
A.3. IWRM CHANGE AREAS .......................................................................................................................... 8
B. NATIONAL IWRM AND WATER EFFICIENCY PLANS ............................................................................... 13
B.1. KEY MESSAGES FROM THE WSSD ACTION TARGET ON IWRM ........................................................... 13
B.2. RESPONDING TO THE IWRM TARGET .................................................................................................. 13
C. CURRENT WATER PRACTICES AND POLICIES IN THE ESCWA REGION .............................................. 18
D. REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................................. 23
E. ANNEX ONE: CASE STUDY ON EGYPT WATER MANAGEMENT POLICY ................................................ 25
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
BOX 1 THE THIRTEEN KEY IWRM CHANGE AREAS........................................................................................... 8

FIGURE 1: IWRM IS AN ON-GOING PROCESS TO CHANGING SITUATIONS AND NEEDS ...................................... 9
BOX 2. KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS ....................... 12
FIGURE 2. LOGISTICS OF PLANNING FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES ..................................... 12
BOX 3. IWRM STRATEGY: NOT JUST ANOTHER WATER PLAN ....................................................................... 14
BOX 4. CHECKLIST OF ISSUES THAT MIGHT BE ADDRESSED IN AN IWRM STRATEGY .................................... 15
BOX 5. SUGGESTED BREAKDOWN OF ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES .............................................................. 15
BOX 6. INVOLVING STAKEHOLDERS ................................................................................................................ 16
BOX 7: CASE STUDY ON WATER POLICY AND STRATEGY BASED ON IWRM APPROACH AND PRINCIPLES... 22
TABLE A.1. ESTIMATED COSTS FOR DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS ....................................................................... 29
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MODULE 2
ENABLING ENVIRONMENT
WITH AN EMPHASIS ON NATIONAL IWRM STRATEGIES
A. DEFINING THE ‘INTEGRATED’ IN IWRM
A.1. Introduction
An Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) approach promotes the coordinated development and
management 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 (GWP, 2000).
This includes more coordinated development and management of:

- Land and water,
- Surface water and groundwater,
- The river basin and its adjacent coastal and marine environment,
- Upstream and downstream interests.
IWRM is not just about managing physical resources; it is also about reforming human systems to enable
people—women and men—to benefit from those resources. In terms of policy-making and planning, taking
an IWRM approach requires that:
- Policies and priorities take water resources implications into account, including the two-way
relationship between macro-economic policies and water development, management, and use,
- There is cross-sectoral integration in policy development,
- Stakeholders are given a voice in water planning and management, with particular attention to
securing the participation of women and the poor.
- Water-related decisions made at local and river basin levels are in-line with, or at least do not
conflict with, the achievement of broader national objectives, and
- Water planning and strategies are integrated into broader social, economic, and environmental goals.
In practice, this means giving water an appropriate place on the national agenda; creating greater “water
awareness” among decision-makers responsible for economic policy and policy in water-related sectors;
creating more effective channels for communication and shared decision-making between government
agencies, organizations, interest groups and communities; and encouraging people to think “outside the box”
of traditional sectoral definitions.
A.2. IWRM as a tool for change
An IWRM approach requires positive change—in the enabling environment, in institutional roles, and in
management instruments (see Box 1). Fundamentally, it is about change in water governance, i.e. the range
of political, social, economic and administrative systems that are in place to develop and manage water
resources and deliver water services, at different levels of society.
Given that change is a fundamental part of the approach, IWRM should be viewed as a process rather a one-
shot approach— one that is long-term and forward moving but iterative rather than linear in nature (see
Figure 1). Inherent in this view is the need for an effective governance framework that fosters good decision-
making on an on-going basis in response to changing needs and scenarios. As a process of change, which
seeks to shift water development and management systems from their currently unsustainable forms, IWRM
has no fixed beginnings or endings. The global economy and society are dynamic and the natural
environment is also subject to change; IWRM systems will, therefore, need to be responsive to change and
be capable of adapting to new economic, social and environmental conditions and to changing human values.
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It would be easy for policy makers and practitioners faced with the prospect of wholesale governance change
to conclude that it is all too complex with too many difficult trade-offs and choices to make. Adopting
IWRM does not mean throwing everything away and starting all over. More often it means adapting and
building on existing institutions and planning procedures to achieve a more integrated approach.
BOX 1 THE THIRTEEN KEY IWRM CHANGE AREAS
The enabling environment

1. Policies – setting goals for water use, protection and conservation.
2. Legislative framework – the rules to follow to achieve policies and goals.
3. Financing and incentive structures – allocating financial resources to meet water needs.
Institutional roles
4. Creating an organizational framework – forms and functions.
5. Institutional capacity building – developing human resources.
Management instruments
6. Water resources assessment – understanding resources and needs.
7. Plans for IWRM – combining development options, resource use and human interaction.
8. Demand management – using water more efficiently.
9. Social change instruments – encouraging a water-oriented civil society.
10. Conflict resolution – managing disputes, ensuring sharing of water.
11. Regulatory instruments – allocation and water use limits.
12. Economic instruments – using value and prices for efficiency and equity.
13. Information management and exchange– improving knowledge for better water management.
Most countries that have objectively evaluated their current water situation have chosen to move towards an
IWRM approach. They found that sectoral approaches were failing to deliver in a number of key areas.
These countries have recognized that effectively addressing such issues is essential for the welfare of the
people and the prosperity of the country. This necessitate an integrated holistic approach to water
management, which acknowledges the strategic importance of water in the context of different institutional
systems; taking into account the competing uses and the scarcity of resources.
A.3. IWRM change areas
Adopting a more sustainable and integrated approach to water management and development requires
change in many areas and at many levels. While this may seem a daunting proposition, it is important to
remember that gradual change will produce more sustainable results than an attempt to completely overhaul
the whole system in one go.
When beginning the process of change, consider:

- What changes must happen to achieve agreed-upon goals?
- Where is change possible given the current social, political, and economic situation?
- What is the logical sequence for change? What changes need to come first to make other changes
possible?
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The GWP’s IWRM ToolBox offers tools and case studies linked to each of the 13 change areas. These tools
and examples can help guide the process of change, but to be effective they must be adapted to the social,
political, and economic situation.
FIGURE 1: IWRM IS AN ON-GOING PROCESS TO CHANGING SITUATIONS AND NEEDS
A.3.1. The enabling environment
A proper enabling environment ensures the rights and assets of all stakeholders (individuals as well as public
and private sector organizations and companies, women as well as men, the poor as well as the better off,
and protects public assets such as intrinsic environmental values. The enabling environment is determined by
national, provincial and local policies and legislation that constitute the “rules of the game” and enable all
stakeholders to play their respective roles in the development and management of water resources. It also
includes the forums and mechanisms, including information and capacity building, created to establish these
“rules of the game” and to facilitate and exercise stakeholder participation.
Promoting a participatory approach: In order to achieve efficient, equitable and sustainable water
management within the IWRM approach, major institutional change is needed. Both top-down and bottom-
up participation of all stakeholders needs to be promoted - from the national-level down to the catchment or
watershed level. Decision-making should be governed by tconsultation and build on a participatory approach
brought down to the lowest appropriate level.
Role of civil society: In addition to government agencies and private companies, water development and
management should involve NGOs, community-based organizations that have full participation of women
and disadvantaged groups, and other sections of civil society. All these organizations and agencies have an
important role to play in enhancing access to water, in bringing about a balance between conservation and
development, and in treating water as a social and economic good.
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Areas to target for change:

- Policies – setting goals for water use, protection and conservation. Policy development gives an
opportunity for setting national objectives for managing water resources and water service delivery
within a framework of overall development goals.
- Legislative framework – the rules to follow to achieve policies and goals. The required water laws
cover ownership of water, permits to use (or pollute) it, the transferability of those permits, and
customary entitlements. They underpin regulatory norms for e.g. conservation, protection, priorities,
and conflict management. (Module 3)
- Financing and incentive structures – allocating financial resources to meet water needs. Water
projects tend to be indivisible and capital-intensive, and many countries have major backlog in
developing water infrastructure. Countries need innovative financing approaches and appropriate
incentives to achieve development goals. (Module 3)
A.3.2. Institutional roles.
Institutional development is critical to the formulation and implementation of IWRM policies and programs.
A number of factors determine what is appropriate in a given context: stage of development, financial and
human resources, traditional norms and other specific circumstances. Flawed demarcation of responsibilities
between actors, inadequate coordinating mechanisms, jurisdictional gaps or overlaps, and the failure to
match responsibilities with authority and capacities for action are major difficulties in implementing an
IWRM approach. The agencies involved in water resources management have to be considered in their
various geographic settings, taking into account the political structure of the country, the unity of the
resource in a basin or aquifer and the role of community organizations and other interest groups in decisions
over water use and management. Institutional development is not simply about the creation of formally
constituted organizations (e.g. service agencies, authorities or consultative committees). It also involves
consideration of a whole range of formal rules and regulations, customs and practices, ideas and information,
and interest or community group networks, which together provide the institutional framework or context
within which water management actors and other decision-makers operate.
The importance of effective co-ordination mechanisms: A key issue is the creation of effective co-
ordination mechanisms between different agencies. Integration in the sense of organizational consolidation
does not automatically lead to cooperation and coordination or more effective water resources management.
Fragmented and shared responsibilities are a reality and are always likely to exist. There are many examples
where agencies or responsibilities have been merged without significant performance improvements;
conversely, there are several examples where effective co-ordination mechanisms have allowed problems to
be handled well despite the need to involve several agencies. The simple act of putting all water functions
within one agency will not necessarily remove conflicts of interest, and can result in the loss of transparency.

- Creating an organizational framework – forms and functions. Starting from the concept of reform of
institutions for better water governance, the practitioner needs to consider the required organizations
and institutions – from transboundary to basin level, and from regulatory bodies, to local authorities
and civil society organizations.
- Institutional capacity building – developing human resources. This includes upgrading the skills and
understanding of decision makers, water managers and professionals in all sectors, and undertaking
capacity building for regulatory bodies and for empowerment of civil society groups.
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A.3.3. Management instruments
Management instruments are the elements and methods that enable and help decision makers to make
rational and informed choices between alternative actions. These choices should be based on agreed policies,
available resources, environmental impacts and the social and economic consequences. Systems analysis,
operations research and management theory offer a wide range of quantitative and qualitative methods.
These methods, combined with knowledge of economics, hydrology, hydraulics, environmental sciences,
sociology and other disciplines pertinent to the problem in question, help define and evaluate alternative
water management options and implementation schemes. The art of IWRM is about knowing the available
elements and methods and consequently selecting, adjusting and applying customized tools to the given
circumstances.

- Water resources assessment – understanding resources and needs. It includes the collection of
hydrological, physiographic, demographic and socio-economic data, through setting up systems for
routine data assembly and reporting.
- Planning – combining development options, resource use and human interaction. River, aquifer and
lake basin planning entail a comprehensive assembly and modeling of data from all relevant
domains. The planning process must recognize social, economic and environmental needs using a
range of assessment tools.
- Demand management – using water more efficiently. Demand management involves the balancing
of supply and demand, focusing on the better use of existing water withdrawals or reducing
excessive use rather than developing new supplies.
- Social change instruments – encouraging a water-oriented civil society. Information is a powerful
tool for changing behavior in the water world, through school curricula, university water courses and
professional and mid-career training. Transparency, product labeling and access to information are
other key instruments.
- Conflict resolution – managing disputes, ensuring sharing of water. Conflict management has a
separate focus as conflict is endemic in the management of water in many places and resolution
models must be at hand.
- Regulatory instruments – allocation and water use limits. Regulation in this context covers water
quality, service provision, land use and water resource protection. Regulations are key for
implementing plans and policies and can fruitfully be combined with economic instruments.
- Economic instruments – using value and prices for efficiency and equity. Economic tools involve the
use of prices, subsidies, and other market-based measures to provide incentives to all water users to
use water carefully, efficiently and avoid pollution.
- Information management and exchange – improving knowledge for better water management. Data
sharing methods and technologies increase stakeholder access to information stored in public domain
data banks and effectively complement more traditional methods of public information. Information
exchange should be strengthened across sectors to include areas such as environment or tourism that
have direct implications for water quantity and quality.
A.3.4. Creating links across sectors and scales
Many organizations whose primary function is not water management are responsible for sectors, which are
directly affected by water availability and water allocation policies, e.g. agriculture, industry, trade and
energy.
Institutional structures vary from country to country, but whatever the specific structure adopted, it is
essential to have mechanisms for dialogue and co-ordination to ensure some measure of integration. A
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balance has to be met between providing a fully integrated approach where specific issues may get lost due
to lack of expertise or interest, and a sectoral approach where policies are followed by each sector without
considering the needs and impacts on other sectors. The starting point in developing a strategy should be to
bring water-related sectors together and begin the process of cementing more formal ties. It is also important
that the strategy reflects clear links between decision-making processes in water-related sectors and shows
how the implementing desired changes can contribute to achieving key water-related objectives.
In some cases countries have created new organizations, or significantly changed the mandate of existing
ones as part of IWRM reform—apex bodies and river basin (or catchment) organizations are the most
common examples (see Box 2). Reasons for establishing such bodies include: encouraging coordinated
action on water and related issues, such as land management across sectors and/or decision-making levels
and encouraging more participatory management of resources.
BOX 2. KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS
- An ability to establish trusted technical competencies;

- A focus on serious recurrent problems such as flooding or drought or supply shortages, and the
provision of solutions acceptable to all stakeholders;
- Broad stakeholder involvement, catering for grassroots participation at a basin-wide level (e.g.
through water forums);
- The capacity to collect fees, and attract grants and/or loans;
- Clear jurisdictional boundaries and appropriate powers.
Source: IWRM Toolbox, GWP
However, experience shows that the formation of apex or river basin organizations alone will not guarantee
an IWRM approach—appropriate policies, legislation and capacity building must also support them. Nor is
the formation of such bodies essential to ensure an IWRM approach. Other options include strengthening
coordination on water issues between existing sector-based agencies or placing water under the purview of
an agency with a broad natural resources mandate.
FIGURE 2. LOGISTICS OF PLANNING FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES
WATER RESOURCES POLICY

Set objectives and specify where we want to be
A STRATEGY FOR WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

Set the means to translate the objectives into actions
WATER ACTION PLANS

Set the timetable for achieving the water strategy, including specific programs
WATER PROJECTS
Specification and implementation
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B. NATIONAL IWRM AND WATER EFFICIENCY PLANS
B.1. Key messages from the WSSD action target on IWRM
In an effort to encourage a move towards more sustainable approaches to water development and
management, the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002 called on all countries to
draft IWRM and water efficiency plans by the end of 2005.
In addition to this key WSSD target, Article 26 of the WSSD Plan of Implementation also includes a number
of specific recommendations on the issues that these plans should address and how they should be addressed.
Countries have to evaluate which recommendations are useful to them and which are irrelevant or low-
priority. Some generic messages derived from Article 26 that are useful in developing a strategy include:
- • Strategies should help countries and regions move towards integrated water management and more
efficient use of water resources - employing the full range of policy instruments.
- • Strategies should cover institutional, financial and technological change and promote action at all
levels.
- • Strategies should give priority to meeting basic human needs, and take extra care to ensure access
for the poor.
- •Strategies should address the challenges of balancing the need to restore and protect ecosystems
with the needs of various water users.
- •Stakeholder participation, capacity building, monitoring performance, and improving accountability
of public institutions and private companies are all elements of an effective strategy.
- • Strategies should respect and be adapted to local conditions.
B.2. Responding to the IWRM target
The process of creating an IWRM and water efficiency strategy is an opportunity for countries to take a
coherent approach to improving their capacity to develop, manage and use water resources to promote
sustainable development goals and meet development challenges.
In general, planning and strategy development are closely related. However, where as planning is meant to
identify concrete activities, strategy development is more concerned with defining future direction. A
strategy defines goals and agrees on how goals could be pursued outlining a range of possibilities suited to
different contingencies. Planning is the translation of the chosen strategy into concrete objectives, activities
and related means (see Box 3).
Some countries may choose to begin by considering the various ways in which water resources development
and management have the potential to advance or hinder development goals. Others may choose a more
targeted approach and focus on specific water related problems that are hampering development.
Some countries may choose to create new strategies from scratch. Others may build on existing IWRM or
water plans or incorporate water into current national development strategies.
Regardless of the initial approach, strategies should go beyond the actions needed to solve current problems
or to achieve immediate objectives, and aim at institutionalizing changes that will promote more strategic
and coordinated decision-making on an ongoing basis.
To do this, strategies need to encompass changes in the enabling environment, institutional roles, and
management instruments, as described above. In sum, creating a strategy is about catalyzing change to
improve water governance.
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BOX 3. IWRM STRATEGY: NOT JUST ANOTHER WATER PLAN
INVOLVEMENT FROM MULTIPLE SECTORS: While a water plan is usually designed and
implemented by a water agency, an IWRM strategy requires input and buy-in from all sectors that
impact and are impacted by water development and management—for example, health, energy,
tourism, industry, agriculture, and environment.
BROADER FOCUS: Whereas water plans tend to be concerned exclusively with water supply and
demand issues, an IWRM strategy looks at water in relation to other ingredients needed to achieve
larger development goals.
DYNAMIC RATHER THAN STATIC: Unlike a water plan, which lays out a definitive sequence of
actions and decisions, an IWRM strategy aims at laying down a framework for a continuing and
adaptive process of strategic and coordinated action.
STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION: Because it calls for change—and therefore buy-in—at multiple

levels, strategy development requires far broader and more extensive participation from stakeholders
than a conventional planning process.
While adopting a more sustainable and integrated approach to water management and development requires
change in many areas and at many levels, this does not mean that major initial reforms are essential. First
steps that can easily be implemented are enough to catalyze the process. A well-thought out set of changes—
the kind embodied in a strategy—will produce more sustainable results than either an attempt to completely
overhaul the whole system or an ad hoc approach to change.
A successful strategy should build on the following principles:

- Agreeing on goals and targets.
- Laying down a framework for better decision-making on an on-going basis.
- Linking the water strategy to broader development goals and national development planning
processes.
- Anticipating capacity needs and making adequate investments in capacity building.
- Involving and gaining the support of stakeholders, including women and the poor.
- Allocating sufficient human and financial resources to the process.
- Setting a timetable with milestones/targets.
- Putting into place monitoring and evaluation mechanisms that feed back into the process.
An indicative, and not exhaustive, checklist of the kinds of issues that could be covered in an IWRM strategy
is given in Box 4.
Developing IWRM strategies requires a well organized process including definition of roles and
responsibilities, a framework for involving stakeholders, creating the knowledge base, setting milestone
indicators and putting into place mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation.
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BOX 4. CHECKLIST OF ISSUES THAT MIGHT BE ADDRESSED IN AN IWRM STRATEGY
a. Interfaces between macro-economic and water resource decision making (Modules 5 and 10)
b. Efficiency of water infrastructure (Module 11)
c. Mitigation of the effects of floods and droughts and other extreme water-related events (Module 7)
d. Non-conventional water resources and conservation technologies (Modules 8and 12 )
e. Water quality and broader environmental issues (Module 6, 7 and 8)
f. Eco-hydrological issues (Module 7)
g. Data collection systems, and access to information by users (Module 16)
h. Policy instruments and the legal and regulatory framework (Module 3)
i. The role of the state and the potential for public private partnerships (Module 11)
j. Processes for reconciling water quantity and quality needs of all water users (Module 6, 8,9, 12and 13)
k. Mechanisms for consultation and public participation (Modules 4,11)
l. Interfaces between river basins and adjacent coastal and marine environments (Modules 7, 13)
m. The roles of women in the provision, management and safeguarding of water (Module 0)
n. Capacity building (Module 15)
o. Management agencies (including river basin organizations) (Modules 3, 8 and 9)
p. Mechanisms to achieve financial sustainability (Modules 5 and 10)
Defining responsibilities
How a country chooses to define roles and responsibilities depends to a large extent on its particular
situation, including its planning framework and decision-making structure. Some countries have centrally
organized planning processes, while others delegate responsibility for planning and decision-making on
water resource issues to the province or regional or municipal levels or states. There is no one correct
administrative model. But whatever the model, the roles and responsibilities of the different actors need to be
clearly defined at an early stage and accountability mechanisms need to be put in place. A suggested
breakdown of roles and responsibilities is given in Box 5.
BOX 5. SUGGESTED BREAKDOWN OF ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
National government • Lead role, ‘owner’ of the process

• Mobilize funding
• Sets macro-economic policy environment
Steering committee • • Guide the process
(with wide societal / interest group • Mobilize support across sectors and interest groups
representation) • Guarantee quality output
• Monitor implementation progress
Management team • Manage day-to-day processes for strategy
(group of qualified professionals/water development, implementation and capacity building
authorities/municipalities)
Facilitating institutions, • Provide neutral platform for dialogue
(for example, national and local NGOs, • Support strategy development process by providing national
committees, Regional, and sharing knowledge
Partnerships local UN country teams) • Foster capacity building and training
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Involving stakeholders
To be effective, strategies must balance two often-conflicting objectives: They must win broad-based support
from stakeholders to be effectively implemented without falling into the trap of endless consultation at the
expense of action. The key to balancing these objectives is to ensure broad participation by diverse
stakeholders in a well-organized, time-bound fashion at appropriate stages of the process and include
mechanisms for conflict resolution. However, it should be recognized that building stakeholder support and
participation in integrated water resource management and development is an on-going process, not a one-
time event that ends with the completion of the strategy. The main stakeholders to be brought in the process
are presented in Box 6.
BOX 6. INVOLVING STAKEHOLDERS
Core stakeholders engaged in formulating a strategy may include:

- Government Ministries and related institutions involved in national development planning and
policy making.
- Government Ministries and related institutions involved in key water-related sectors, including
domestic water supply and sanitation, irrigation, agriculture, energy, health, industry, transport,
fisheries and tourism.
- Water utilities, agencies and related bodies (e.g. Water Development Boards).
Stakeholders participating at different key stages of the strategy formulation process:

- Local communities and community based organizations (mayors and religious leaders, for
example).
- The private sector, including but not limited to water supply and sanitation service providers.
- Financial agencies (e.g. donor agencies, international banks, micro-credit institutions).
- Sectoral interest groups such as farmers and fishermen.
- Women’s groups and associations
- Representatives of indigenous communities
- Non-government organizations
- Media representatives
- Research and training institutions, including Universities.
Creating the knowledge base

There are two aspects to creating a knowledge base for a strategy:
♦ Pulling together the knowledge needed to identify key water-related challenges, determine where
change is needed, and set a baseline for monitoring progress and impacts.
♦ Developing systems to feed knowledge into the decision-making process on an on-going basis.
A baseline assessment of key water resources and development issues provides a good basis for identifying
and prioritizing water challenges and objectives. The Global Environment Facility strongly recommends
starting with a basin-by-basin analysis of competing uses of water resources and the land-use decisions in
influencing them.
Setting a timeframe and milestones

How long will it take to prepare an IWRM strategy? This depends. Some countries may take a rapid initial
approach, and then update as they delve into implementation. Other countries may choose to invest more
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time—perhaps to build stakeholder participation and ownership—in the strategic development process.
Either way, agreeing on milestones and time-frames for completing the strategy is critical for success.
While the strategy should be flexible enough to adapt to changing political, economic and environmental
conditions, it may be useful to agree on a timeframe for regular review and updating. Many organizations
update their strategies every five years, but may do so more often during periods of rapid change.
Implementation may take place using a step-by-step process based on a sequence of geographical coverage
and timing of reforms. This offers room for change, improvement and process adjustment, provided that the
proper bases for sound decision-making have been established and follows clear and transparent criteria.
Monitoring and evaluation

Defining indicators, establishing benchmarks, and setting mechanisms to ensure ongoing monitoring and
evaluation are key activities in any successful implementation plan. Monitoring and evaluation activities
have three main objectives—to see whether the implementation process is on track, to measure both short-
and long-term impacts, and to evaluate impacts to determine if actions are indeed contributing to the larger
development goals defined in the strategy.
Monitoring and evaluation of an IWRM reform process takes place at many different levels, from simple
project progress to impact on national socio-economic and environmental situation. The higher the level, the
more methodological issues arise and the more difficult it becomes to find descriptive indicators to ascertain
impacts. It is imperative to start the process by setting the goals and expected accomplishments, taking into
consideration the feasibility of the monitoring and evaluation process, the validity and significance of
expected results and the identification, definition and interpretation of indicators.
Addressing potential stumbling blocks

According to a global GWP survey on the status of IWRM planning in 20042 and feedback from partners, the
three most common reasons that countries find their strategy development and implementation processes
slowed down or stalled are: lack of support for the process, lack of funding, and lack of capacity. Lack of
support and high-level commitment—often due to lack of understanding as to what a strategy is and how to
go about it—is the primary obstacle in getting the process off the ground. Without a broad base of support
from the prime minister level down to the farmer in the field, successful implementation is unlikely.
With a good vision and understanding of the policy implications of an IWRM process, most countries should
be able to mobilize financial resources domestically. Support from bilateral and multilateral donors are
options for consideration; however it is very important to have in place a well conceived financial plan for
needed investments with feasible options for cost-recovery. Lack of appropriate technical, institutional, legal
and managerial capacity to steer the reform process towards IWRM is a major obstacle in initiating an
IWRM process. Building the local capacity rather than relying on external expertise is crucial for ensuring
the sustainability and ownership of the process (Module 15).
Ensuring effective implementation

The success of a strategy depends on its ability to catalyze change. What matters is not the specific process
in itself or the form of the strategy document, but whether or not the process results in positive action. While
it is useful to embody the strategy in a physical document, this should not be viewed as the end of the
process, which should be on-going.
2
Based on an unpublished survey undertaken by GWP in 2004.
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In summary, some of the suggestions that can help avoid non-action include:
- Securing funds for implementation during the strategy formulation phase, to prevent the loss of
momentum while funds are raised for implementation.
- Giving due attention to capacity-building at individual and institutional levels to ensure that
organizations are able to take on new responsibilities and challenges.
- Ensuring broad-base support, grounded in different levels of government and society at large so that the
strategy is not vulnerable to changes in political regimes or the departure of key personnel.
- Assigning the same body responsible for leading the strategy development, the responsibility for
overseeing implementation, and making that body accountable to higher authorities.
- Proposing realistic actions in terms of what can be accomplished given the current socio-economic,
institutional, and political context.
- Ensuring that water development and service provision are well matched to user needs and sustainable,
in terms of financing and maintenance.
- Ensuring that monitoring and evaluation activities feed back into the process so that problems or
potential obstacles can be immediately dealt with.
- Adopting a flexible implementation process to adapt to changing conditions and take advantage of new
opportunities.
Synchronize efforts with other national plans and strategies to encourage coordinated action and ensure the
relevance of the strategy. Examples of relevant plans and strategies include:
- National Five Year Plans or Sustainable Development Strategies,
- National Plans on women’s development and empowerment,
- National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans,
- National Plans to Combat Desertification,
- Country poverty reduction strategy papers (PRSPs), and
- National strategies to meet the Millennium Development Goals.
C. CURRENT WATER PRACTICES AND POLICIES IN THE ESCWA REGION 3
Traditional water policies and management strategies in the ESCWA region are not feasible when viewed
from the different perspectives of social, economic and environmental considerations - IWRM
considerations. A multitude of problems surrounds those old practices. The message stressed in all the
studies is that the availability of clean water in the region is so limited that a sub-optimal management of
water resources cannot succeed in achieving the goal of sustainable economic development. The issues
involved in planning and applying an effective course of water resources management are complex,
interrelated and often politically sensitive. Nonetheless, they cannot be avoided in this arid region of
increasing population growth and deteriorating water resources.
Although there are many similarities among the policy issues and challenges faced by the countries of the
region, there are also differences in the specific requirements of each country. Different countries are
adopting different approaches to national water sector reform that reflect important differences in their socio-
economic and cultural conditions and in their legal and administrative systems.
3
This section is extracted and summarized from the ESCWA Document on “Current water policies and practices in
selected ESCWA member countries”, E/ESCWA/ENR/1999/15
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In all the new water policies and strategies, demand management has been given a central role. The general
objectives are:
(a) To improve the use efficiency of the existing water resources, by implementing various technical and
institutional measures;
(b) To improve the allocation efficiency of the water resources, enhance their productivity and maximize
their benefits in all different uses, by formulating a special package of economic measures;
(c) To protect water resources from further deterioration in quality and quantity, through the utilization of
efficient legislation, regulations, monitoring, enforcement, and economic measures;
(d) To curb the growing demand for water in general, and in the agriculture sector in particular, by different
regulatory, technical and economic measures.
The reuse of wastewater and a concern regarding crop patterns and the water requirements of different crops
are advancing in many countries of the ESCWA region. In Jordan, for instance, the improvement of
irrigation techniques, the use of treated wastewater and the rehabilitation/upgrading of the distribution
networks have become main issues. Water metering and water charges, as well as regulations, are also
gaining momentum.
To lower the financial water burden on public budgets, the delivery of water services by wholesaling water
to intermediaries and retailing distribution to end-users can be channeled to the private sector. Delivery
services are usually best handled if assigned to autonomous utilities agencies operating at a local level.
Egypt, the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and others are moving towards contracting private operators to
handle water utilities.
Water education and human resources training are indispensable, but are still underestimated in most of the
ESCWA member countries. This issue should have a higher priority among the strategic options. However,
if the system of incentives remains unchanged in those countries, one should not expect to achieve a highly
motivated staff that can enhance performance. This kind of change could be most readily effected within the
context of autonomous water utilities, and even more so in the private sector.
Institutional reform is a central requirement in any comprehensive water resources management plan. But it
is a long-term process that requires time, money and patience before it can bear fruit. Policy-makers should
keep that in mind and remain persistent.
In the region, no strategy included mention of a methodology of charging for the disposal of industrial
effluents. Moreover, none mentioned the importance of using the “polluter pays” principle, which if applied
and enforced, could be an efficient tool in reducing the levels of water pollution.
In order to accommodate the above observations, it will be necessary to develop an evaluation procedure that
would override the economic arguments and replace them with others, taking into account that society is not
a purely economic creation.
Favorable economic conditions in the past have fostered water policies that focused on the development of
water resources in most of the ESCWA member countries. These policies required substantial capital
investment in water infrastructure and in the operation and maintenance of water-related facilities to meet
expanding water requirements. Currently, the water situation is dramatically different, because of the over-
exploitation of water resources, the degradation of water quality owing to development activities and
pollution, the inefficient use of water caused by increased competition among water users and the lack of
comprehensive planning.
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Comprehensive planning for the establishment and implementation of a national water plan and the
integrated development and management of water resources is lacking in most of the countries. A national
water plan based on an integrated and holistic approach contributes significantly to the efficient development
and management of water resources in the ESCWA region.
National water policies and strategies differ between countries, depending on their hydrological,
hydrogeological and socio-economic conditions. Egypt, Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic have given
priority to further development and efficient utilization of their surface water, as well as to its protection and
preservation. In most of the GCC countries, water policies (or rather lack of it in certain cases), were driven
mainly by the previous agricultural policies aimed at achieving self-sufficiency in food, and were, naturally
focused on the supply augmentation side. At present, many GCC countries have abandoned these agricultural
policies. The GCC countries are still focusing on policies dealing with the augmentation of water supplies
through seawater desalination, utilization of groundwater sources, and treated wastewater reuse. However, in
the last few years, a clear policy shift towards demand management and conservation has been made in some
of the countries, particularly in Oman and Bahrain, and institutional reforms and consolidation of water
authorities are made in some, such as in Saudi Arabia. The provision of adequate amounts of potable water,
as well as improvements in sanitation and preservation of the environment, have been the main goals for all
countries in the region. Appreciable efforts recently have been made by some of the countries to meet these
goals.
It is suggested that ESCWA member countries take into consideration the following basic concepts in
formulating realistic and practical water policies and strategies:
1. Successful national water resources management normally comprises three mains components: (a) a well-
studied and achievable water-policy based on existing resource and future demands; (b) alternative options
for water plans and programs; and (c) the development of projects that are feasible within the availability of
financial and human resources. Since these three components are closely inter-related, any deviation or ill-
definition of any of them may raise major difficulties in implementing the plan’s strategies. It is also
recognized that long-term water plans may not be appropriate, since future water demands will depend
entirely on changes in economic, environmental, social, political and technological conditions.
2. In the ESCWA region, the water situation is more critical than in many other developing countries, due
mainly to the aridity in the Gulf countries in the south and the sharing of most of the water resources of the
riparian countries in the north. It is evident that the countries in the ESCWA region should give more
emphasis to integrated water management and structural water development. Water usage is inefficiently
managed, while the possibilities for additional development of water sources are considerably limited.
However, the two basic models of water management and water development will continue to be
indispensably inter-related and their integration is a must.
3. The bottom line that policy-makers should keep in mind is that there is no perfect solution that could be
applied to all cases. Postponing actions and implementing measures to curb the crippling water stress, has its
own negative socio-economic repercussions. The challenge is to find a reasonable and practical approach to
activate the vital process of optimizing the use and allocation of water resources; i.e. tailor the reforms to the
reality of the water problems without hiding facts (for political reasons, for instance), or being extremely
pessimistic or optimistic.
4. Benefiting from the experience of other countries and examining the global perspectives to gain insight
into the broad requirements for ensuring water sustainability is always recommended. However, the actual
policies of balancing competing objectives, and manipulating different tools and measures to achieve
appropriate water allocation schemes and optimal water management systems must be adapted and
customized to the country’s own conditions. Start with the most feasible changes and then move on with the
momentum of success to address the more difficult issues.
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5. Water use intensity should always be the guide stick to improvements in agricultural policy and crop
patterns and in prioritizing new development projects and expanding the existing ones.
6. In irrigated agriculture, it may be impractical to meter water supplies to a large number of small farmers,
as is the case in Egypt. Some practical solutions recommend measuring and pricing water delivered to an
entire village, a WUA or to any other community-based association, relying on the organization to recover
costs from users and ensure the most efficient use of the water
7. In the short-run, water pricing (whether for irrigation or municipal water) should be designed:
(a) To maintain and operate the water conveyance and distribution facilities;
(b) To provide incentives for conservation and the adoption of water-saving technologies;
(c) To be based on a progressive but simple tariff structure;
(d) To be transparent and equitable.
It is particularly important to inform users that the water bill they receive does not involve the sale of water
as a raw material, but instead is related to its storage, conveyance, delivery pressure, treatment and
decontamination. In the short run, water may remain subsidized. In the longer run, however, water prices
should gradually be increased to eventually cover the full cost of water, i.e., to equate the marginal values of
water in different uses, take into account the environmental cost and remove differences between private and
social cost.
8. Pricing water is often viewed as an unpopular action, but this need not to be so. Studies worldwide show
that people will pay the real cost of water if they receive reliable services. Currently, the poor who often
receive no public water and sanitation services pay many times the municipal rates to private water vendors
(as in Yemen, for instance). Survey studies on Willingness-to-pay attitudes together with user participation,
can help design tariff structures that will cover service costs and also keep lifeline water use affordable to the
poor (World Bank, 1997). It must be always remembered, when designing the tariff structure of municipal
water, that only a small fraction of water use is used for drinking and preserving life. The larger portion of
municipal water consumption is for non-basic uses, such as watering lawns and gardens, washing clothes or
cars, bathing, flushing toilets, and filling swimming pools.
9. Sources of financing should be clearly specified and planned from the beginning. The role of the private
sector should be intensified and facilitated, and cost recovery should be the minimum accepted goal when
establishing the water charges for different uses.
10. It is important to establish a national water quality program supported by legislation and a coordinated
mechanism among concerned agencies. Meanwhile, the “polluter pays principle” should be one of the
measures adapted to control pollution. Environmental/health impact assessment studies should be carried out
for all water development plans.
11. Water recycling and the use of treated wastewater should be an issue of top priority, especially in the
GCC region. Previous studies (Al-Zubari, 1998) show that if only 50 per cent of domestic water supplies are
treated and re-used in agriculture, the process could satisfy more than 14 per cent of the agricultural demand
for water and reduce fossil groundwater withdrawal by 15%, by 2020. However, more investigation
regarding cost effectiveness and the environmental/health impact is required.
12. The issue of water reallocation from irrigation to other uses, although very problematic, cannot be
avoided, especially in countries that have chronic municipal water shortages. To mitigate the effects of such
reallocation, it should be accompanied with an increase in technical efficiency in the agricultural sector.
13. Social barriers may also be a constraint in implementing water demand management, such as the reuse of
treated wastewater in the agriculture sector and introducing charges for irrigation water. Social resistance
requires special handling. Direct contact with the affected communities and public awareness programs will
prove helpful in that respect.
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14. Agreements between riparian countries should provide the basis for water allocation and investment
activities concerning international surface water, groundwater and water quality. Therefore, more attention
should be directed to launching negotiations that will lead to collaborative action.
BOX 7: CASE STUDY ON WATER POLICY AND STRATEGY BASED ON IWRM APPROACH AND PRINCIPLES
Palestinian Water Policy and Strategy
The National Water Policy, formulated by the Palestinian Water Authority embodies 15 main principles,
which govern policy and planning in the water sector in Palestine
Policy Principles
• All sources of water should be the property of the state
• All citizens have a right to water of good quality for personal consumption at costs they can afford
• Industrial and agricultural development and investment must be compatible with available water
resources
• Water is an economic good
• Sustainable development of all available water resources
• Coordinate the development of the water resources of Palestine at the national level, and
implementation at the appropriate local level
• Separation of institutional responsibilities for policy and regulatory functions from the service delivery
function
• Public participation
• Integrating water quality and water quantity
• Integrating water supply and wastewater management at all administrative levels
• Consistent water demand management
• Protection and pollution control of water resources
• Polluters pay
• Conservation and optimum utilization of water resources
• Obtaining the right of water resources shared by other countries on the principle of equality
Based on the above guiding principles, the Palestinian Water Authority initiated and produced a draft Water
Management Strategy in order to identify how to respond and contribute to the fulfillment of the
Palestinian Water Policy. This strategy identified the following seven key elements as capturing the most
important issues and required strategic interventions:
• Pursue Palestinian water rights.
• Strengthen national policies and regulations.
• Build institutional capacity and develop human resources
• Improve information services and assessment of water resources
• Govern water and wastewater investment and operations
• Enforce pollution control and protection of water resources
• Promote public awareness and participation
Source: Palestinian Water Strategic Planning Study, 2001, Palestinian Economic Council for Development and
Reconstruction (PECDAR), PNA
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Resources Forum, Vol. 16, no.1, February, pp. 55-63.
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E. ANNEX ONE: CASE STUDY4 ON EGYPT WATER MANAGEMENT POLICY
1. Current conditions and water-related problems
The Nile, the main sources of water in Egypt, provides an annual yield of 55.5 Billion cubic meters (BCM),
as specified in the 1959 water agreement between Egypt and Sudan. Currently, around 10 BCM of water is
added to that stock through the use of groundwater (4.85 BCM/y) and other non-conventional sources of
water (mainly reused drainage water and wastewater) to fill the growing gap between supply and demand of
water (El-Arabawy et al., 1998).
The following points summarize the main issues shaping the water problems in Egypt:
1) Sources of pressure on the limited water resources are

- Population growth;
- Quality deterioration of surface and groundwater (agricultural, municipal, and industrial wastes);
and
- Expansion of agricultural sector and other economic activities.
2) Low levels of efficiency of water conveyance and use
- High rates of leakage and waste in water conveyance for all uses (e.g., 50% in the municipal
water due to malfunctioning networks);
- Inappropriate water-pricing policies leading to inefficient use of water in agricultural sector
(consumes 85% of total water resources); and
- Adoption of water-intensive crop pattern by farmers due to lack of water pricing and other
economic policies.
3) Diminishing of opportunities of supply augmentation
- Almost all possible sources of freshwater supply has been developed;
- Achieving better exploitation of Egypt’s share in the Nile water through the Upper Nile water
conservation projects is very much dependent on political conditions in the riparian states;
- The economic cost for resources augmentation is very high; and
- Financing additional water supply and irrigation projects have caused an enormous increase in
the public debt, while private sources of finance are inadequate.
4) Incapable environment for efficient management of water resources
- Water management is fragmented among Egypt’s different ministries and other public
institutions, with no central agency or institution is completely in charge and authorized to
coordinate the actions and decisions taken by various users of water resources. The Ministry of
Public Works and Water Resources (MPWWR) is the agency responsible for water
management, however it lacks the authority to implement coordination among water users,
enforce decisions and recommended actions or resolve conflicts that arise among different
sectors;
- Very low salaries in the government sector together with continuously increasing economic and
financial pressures experienced by all levels of public servants, resulting in poor management
and lack of enforcement of water regulations;
- Limited budgets for monitoring water quality, disposal of industrial wastewater, water extraction
and recycling, and monitoring the enforcement of water laws and regulations;
- Lack of adequate training opportunities burden the water sector with unskilled and inefficient
human resources;
4
Additional case studies of Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, Oman, and Saudi Arabia are available in the
original document “Current water policies and practices in selected ESCWA member countries, ESCWA, Document #
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- Water-related research and development efforts are also scattered among academic and
governmental institutions, which in most cases lack the technical facilities to conduct proper
levels of research;
- The system of assessing water resources will require: unified definitions of different concepts
and terminology, unified measuring and assessment techniques, unified analysis techniques, and
cooperation and inter-linkage between different institutions;
- The data and information system is inadequately equipped with technological and human
resources, in addition to the existence of different databases at different governmental
departments, ministries, research institutions and others. Moreover, the system is deficient in the
amount and type of data and information it holds, and particularly lacks technical, economic,
financial, health and environmental data.
2. Managing water resources
(a) Previous water policies
The several national water policies that were designed during the past few decades to manage Egypt’s water
resources were very much directed towards augmenting water supply and building the infrastructure needed
for water conveyance and distribution, especially in the agriculture sector.
Most of those policies, however, were too optimistic regarding the possibility of providing Egypt with
additional water resources through the Upper Nile projects5. They were also unrealistic in their expectations
and aimed at satisfying all expected future water needs. For instance, the 1990 water development policy
assumed that the efficiency of the distribution network would be raised from 50 per cent to 80 per cent
(Fahmy, 1996), which has not been the case so far.
Despite the uncertainties in the numbers used in the calculations and projections of these policies, no
probability was attached to the expected outcomes and no scenarios were generated on the two sides of the
resource-requirement equation (Fahmy, 1996). Unrealistic expectations, along with rigid objectives and
inflexible options for achieving those objectives, led either to the unsatisfactory fulfillment or non-
accomplishment of the water projects that were planned.
(b) Recent water policies
Egypt’s most recent water policy has added a new dimension, which directs more attention towards
managing the demand for water while emphasizing the need to improve the water quality and sustain
adequate fresh water resources in the future. The following points highlight the major objectives of this new
policy (Attia, 1997 and 1999):
(i) Secure the future water supply of the Nile, while developing additional water resources
(conventional or non-conventional) to meet the growing needs and demand for water;
(ii) To control the demand for water;
(iii) To raise water-use efficiency levels;
(iv) To rationalize the use of the available water and increase its productivity; and
(v) To protect surface and groundwater from pollution and prevent further deterioration in water
quality.
5
Four conservation projects have been suggested to increase the river yield at Aswan and to reduce the amount of water
lost in the Upper Nile, such as the Jongli Canal, Bahr El-Ghazal and Marshes projects, that could add up to 9 BCM/year
to Egypt’s share of the Nile water. Work on the Jongli Canal halted several times due to the rebellion in southern Sudan.
The expected water benefits of this project is estimated at 4 billion cubic meters annually, to be divided equally with
Sudan (Fahmy, 1996).
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The general trend of the new water policy has shifted from a supply orientation towards a somewhat more
balanced approach that considers both the supply and demand sides of the equation, with higher emphasis on
protecting the quality of water resources from further degradation.
3. Towards developing a water resources management strategy
The MPWWR of Egypt is trying to follow the guidelines for water resources management strategy
recommended in (FOA et al., 1995). They are recognizing that to achieve the policy’s targets calls for a long-
term horizon that will provide time to introduce and effect the recommended institutional, technical and
economical changes. The strategy began with a comprehensive assessment of the water resources and
identification of the critical issues deserving immediate attention. The problems as outlined by (El-Arabawy
et al., 1998) and (Attia, 1999) include:
(a) Farmers are very much oriented towards the traditional irrigation system and try to avoid, whenever
possible, the use of water-saving irrigation techniques;
(b) The cropping pattern is very biased towards water-intensive crops, such as rice, sugar cane and others,
which are related to the free-of-charge irrigation water system that has always prevailed;
(c) Fragmented land possession, due to the existing land tenure system, inhibits the utilization of modern
technology in agriculture, which increases the O&M cost of irrigation canals and the drainage systems
and adds to the waste of irrigation water. Farmers have always opposed the idea of integrating their small
properties into relatively larger districts, despite the economical benefits of large-scale irrigation and
cultivation projects;
(d) The high cost of water development projects. Recent studies have shown that the cost of water supply is
about LE 10 to LE 20 per 1,000 cubic meters. Water pricing and charging for irrigation water, however,
is not accepted by the majority of farmers, and is politically resisted. This means that the concept of cost
recovery will need further in-depth socio-economic investigation to identify the most feasible approach
to take;
(e) The agricultural sector used to be one of the most capable sectors in absorbing the continuously
expanding labor force. However, generating new jobs in the agricultural sector now depends directly on
the availability of the water resources needed to reclaim new lands and establish new settlements.
In addition to the above problems, two critical issues deserve the special attention of water-planners:
(a) The strategy of food security in basic crops is hard to implement and sustain without a rational
scheme for utilizing the limited water resources and solving the problems of low efficiency rates in using
both the scarce water and land resources;
(b) The current institutional systems of irrigation use should be taken into account. For years, farmers
have always relied on their own established and informal, but powerful, social organizations to guide and
control their relationships and interactions regarding the use of irrigation water. Accordingly, it may not
be wise to change that structure now. It would be better, instead, to develop and reconstruct the existing
social organizations as sub-systems of the whole irrigation system. The legislative background of these
organizations should be carefully considered before introducing any new formulas of organization.
Technical assistance and training should be offered to members of these organizations. A dynamic and
practical information system related to irrigation and water use should be accessible to farmers and the
views of their organizations should be incorporated and utilized, through a participatory approach, in
formulating the water management strategies.
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4. Strategic options for achieving the policy objectives
In 1997, the MPWWR identified a broad set of options that could be assessed and evaluated against the
criteria of effectiveness, economic efficiency, equity, sustainability, fiscal impact, environmental impact,
administrative feasibility, political and public acceptability, regional development and international
considerations. This list was somewhat modified later on (Attia, 1999). The major change was in excluding
the irrigation water pricing option while keeping that of cost recovery as a special case of pricing. The new
set of options is categorized as follows:
(a) Options for an optimal utilization of existing water resources:
- Increasing water efficiency through the minimization of water losses in the use of surface and
groundwater sources. This necessitates implementing a number of technical improvements to reduce
water conveyance loss, especially in irrigation uses. In addition to improved control structures, a
general rehabilitation of canals and distributaries is being carried out. It is estimated that this
rehabilitation program will eliminate the unnecessary losses associated with transporting the Nile
water to farms, and could save one BCM of water annually by the year 2005 (El-Arabawy et al.,
1998);
- Involving WUA in the old lands, at the “mesqa” and farm levels, in the operation, maintenance and
management of the irrigation system;
- Setting a cost recovery system in which water users pay for the services of water distribution and
network maintenance. This could be handled better through the formation of a WUA, in addition to
an intensive public awareness program to promote the idea. The work of the WUA should be
supervised by persons affiliated to the MPWWR, whose job would involve coordination among
farmers to ensure that they work as one team towards achieving the MPWWR strategies;
- Changing the cropping pattern to reduce the agricultural water consumption. The proposed policies
include:
- A gradual replacement of sugar cane with sugar beets, taking into account the lifetime of the current
sugar factories;
- Reduction of the rice-cultivated area to about 900,000-1,000,000 feddans, which is sufficient to
satisfy the national demand for rice, on one hand, and prevent soil salinization and sea-water
intrusion, on the other hand;
- Introduction of new brands of rice and other crops with lower water requirements and high
productivity;
- Narrowing the gap between the net revenues of similar seasonal crops;
- Designing an indicative cropping pattern for each region and advising farmers to follow it, or else
pay for the excess water if they don’t.
- Developing strategies to utilize the renewable groundwater aquifers underlying the area of the Nile
Valley and the Delta, taking into consideration that it is not an independent source of water (its
reserves depend on the discharges from the Nile water);
- Considering utilizing the non-renewable groundwater aquifers in the western desert and Sinai. At
this time, concentration is on conducting research to acquire enough information about those desert
aquifers and the cost of their development;
- Reusing agricultural drainage water to meet part of the irrigation demands and improve the overall
efficiency of the water system. The quantity of this water source could be increased from its current
level of 4.8 BCM to 7 BCM. Anticipated future plans are to increase the quantity and quality of
drainage water and also design a continuous monitoring and evaluation approach on the
environmental impacts of such projects. It is also planned to enhance water quality monitoring
activities through the use of the existing data network, after updating and upgrading;
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- Reusing sewage water in cultivating non-food crops, such as cotton. The quantity of this water could
be increased from 0.26 BCM to close to 2.5 BCM by the year 2020.
The estimated costs of some of these projects are presented in table 3 below.
TABLE A.1. ESTIMATED COSTS FOR DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

Cost estimated for each 1 000 c m Total development cost
Water Development Project (million US$) ( million US$)
Upper Nile losses conservation projects 2.2 21
Reuse of drainage water 1.4 4
Expansion of groundwater utilization 5.6 16.8
Sewage water treatment 9.4 15.7
Industrial waste treatment 13.3 26.5
Source: Fahmy Hussam, 1996. Comparative Analysis of Egyptian Water Policies. Water International, Vol. 21, pp. 33-
45.
(b) Options for developing new water resources include:
- Increasing Egypt’s share of the Nile water through implementing joint projects with other countries
in the Nile Basin. Those projects could add up to 9 BCM of water when finished. However, these
additional water estimates should not be emphasized in the plan, because they are subject to many
political changes and pressures;
- Desalination of brackish groundwater in the western and eastern deserts and at the borders of the
Nile Valley. This water could be used with minimal treatment to irrigate certain perennial or
seasonal crops, and also as a supplementary source to rainfall water to increase the productivity of
land and cultivate two crops per year instead of one;
- Harvesting of rainfall and flash flood waters. This could conserve about 2 BMC/year and is one of
the top priorities of the MPWWR because of the economical and social hazards created by such
flash floods.
(c) Options for water quality management include:
- For industrial sources of water pollution, existing laws require treating the industrial wastewater
before discharging it into the river or other water bodies. However, lack of enforcement has been
the problem. In new industrial cities, sewage and industrial wastewater would be collected
separately, since they require different treatment facilities;
- In the urban areas, treatment facilities should be built to collect the domestic sewage and treat it
before it is discharged back into the system;
- In the agricultural sector, control and reduction in the use of fertilizers, pesticides and the other
added chemicals should be required. New types of fertilizers that contain smaller amounts of
harmful chemicals should be introduced and encouraged;
- Nile cruises should be obliged by law to treat their wastewater during navigation before discharging
it.
Needless to say, coordination with other involved ministries and authorities is a pre-requisite for the
successful implementation of these options.
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5. Creating the enabling environment for successful implementation
In creating the environment to facilitate the implementation of the recommended options for water
management as pointed out in Bayoumi, 1999, some of the capacity-building factors have already gained
momentum, while others are still on the waiting list. The first group includes:
(a) Increasing public awareness regarding the value of water. The MPWWR has launched a public awareness
program to inform the public about its efforts in water resources management, and propagate the significance
of water savings in domestic and irrigation uses;
(b) Continuous monitoring program to collect the required data about water quantity, quality and level of
use. The MPWWR has launched three such monitoring program, but nevertheless, these efforts are still
limited and need further integration with other concerned authorities;
(c) User participation in water management and the decision-making process. The MPWWR is establishing
joint committees to represent different water users, and is encouraging the establishment of a WUA to
promote the role of farmers in managing water sources at the “mesqa” levels and later on at the canal levels;
(d) The future policy of the MPWWR includes an intensive training program to improve the technical and
management capacity and skills of the staff and prepare a new generation to assume the heavy water
responsibilities of the future;
(e) Building an integrated information system to provide data on water quantity and quality;
(f) Reviewing, updating and upgrading all the institutional and administrative procedures in the MPWWR
organizational structure to reflect the integrated approach of water management and the new trends towards
privatization;
(g) International coordination and cooperation among the Nile Basin countries in the implementation of the
Upper Nile projects. These projects will be facing protest against changing the ecological system of the Nile
basin, which will require intensive political negotiations and cooperation among the Nile countries.
The second group of factors, awaiting assessment and receptivity towards their implementation, includes:
(a) Privatizing some of the water activities;
(b) Human resource development. This is a major aspect of strengthening the institutional structure of the
MPWWR. Criteria for staff selection and promotion should be changed and related to skills and past
experience in the field. A new system of incentives and rewards should be implemented;
(c) Use of modern technologies (satellite images, remote sensing techniques, mathematical modeling for
simulation, information and data dissemination systems) in water resources management;
(d) Coordination with other ministries through joint committees that meet on a regular basis to discuss
mutual water resources issues and recommend proper decisions. This coordination framework requires a
clear definition of each party’s responsibilities and enhancing the exchange of data, knowledge, and
technical expertise in the field of water management among the different authorities;
(e) Updating existing legislation and issuing new decrees as required. Some of the existing laws are hard to
implement. For instance, the law that prevents disposing industrial effluents in the water courses or sewage
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network, but does not tell users where or how to dispose of these wastes. Law enforcement needs
enhancement and funds for application.
6. Evaluation of the resource management efforts
The Water Resources Master Plan (WRMP) suggested by the planning team of the MPWWR of Egypt is still
a proposal, although a good one, for a water management strategy. Assessment of its list of options must take
place before reaching final agreement on the options most feasible for implementation. Evaluation of these
options has to consider both the benefits and costs of each option, and the evaluation process should be
guided by the list of criteria proposed by the MPWWR planning department.
Though the strategy proposal was prepared according to the general framework recommended in (FAO et al.,
1995), several comments should be made:
(a) Successful planning for the management of limited water resources should come within a framework for
a national sustainable development plan that considers all social, economical, financial, environmental,
technological, and other needs. Some of the recommended options would certainly have adverse effects on
different sectors of the economy, which should be anticipated in advance. For instance, several of the
recommended options would have an adverse effect on employment opportunities in some economic sectors.
This problem should be carefully investigated and solutions should be designed in advance;
(b) Measures of water allocation among the various sectors are not discussed or highlighted;
(c) The WRMP highly concentrates on the agriculture sector and irrigation demands for water and also on
the technical aspects of irrigation water use, its implications and the possible options for its enhancement. It
is true that the agricultural sector is the major consumer of Egypt’s water resources, but other sectors also
deserve good attention, especially since the prospects of relying on agriculture for Egypt’s future economic
development are not very promising;
(d) Several of the proposed options, such as the reuse of the agriculture drainage water, reuse of sewage
water and the utilization of the renewable groundwater aquifers underlying the Nile Valley and the Delta,
involve many externalities that affect the water resources system itself, as well as human health and the
surrounding environment. Such externalities need highlighting and extensive assessment;
(e) Many parts of the suggested options are highly correlated. For instance, the rates of irrigation drainage
water as well as the exploitation of the groundwater under the Delta and the Nile Valley are dependent, to a
high extent, on the amount of seepage and water discharge. The recommended improvements in both the
technical and use efficiency of irrigation water will eventually affect the stock of those sources of water.
Therefore, the figures used in long-term planning have to be thoroughly questioned, verified and subjected to
various levels of probability;
(f) Meanwhile, the assumptions and models behind the national aggregate numbers, such as the potential
increase in demand for water by the different economic sectors, for instance, have to be reviewed and revised
systematically. Depending on one estimated figure (the rate of population growth or the rate of growth in
industrial production) to make projections for a long period of time, such as 20 years and more, will not
produce very accurate results;
(g) Some issues in the strategic options, such as human resources recruitment and compensation, can not and
should not be treated in isolation from the general structure of the employment and compensation system of
the government sector, which the MPWWR is part of. This is another point that emphasizes the significance
of a national integrated strategy formulation;
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(h) It is true that an integrated data system helps in both the design and implementation of the water
management strategy and also in monitoring and evaluating the implementation process of the strategy,
which is essential in adopting adjustments as they become necessary and before it is too late. Nonetheless, it
is believed that the efforts of the MPWWR to establish an integrated information and data network have
concentrated on the technical data and information without giving enough weight to other information and
data (economic, health, institutional, etc.). More effort has to be directed towards developing a centralized
and comprehensive data and information system. Egypt does not lack the bases for this sort of system, but it
needs to strengthen the organizational infrastructure and human capacity required to establish and maintain
this system. Much of the required information and data are scattered in various institutions and are very hard
to find, gather and reproduce as they are needed;
(i) Health and environmental issues related to water are still not given enough weight in the national water
policy;
(j) The financial requirements, their sources and availability, are completely ignored in the proposed
strategy;
(k) The role of stakeholders in the various stages of the planning process is ignored (except for the potential
role of WUAs);
(l) It is believed that the role of increasing public awareness still needs to be more intensive in its contents
and scope. It is not enough just to emphasize the efforts of the MPWWR in reforming the water sector and
facing future challenges. Facts, though painful, should be made public. The negative economic and social
effects of the expected water deficits should be highlighted and made public;
(m) Finally, a reform strategy should be supplemented with an action plan that shows the kinds of program
stated for implementation.
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Enabling Environment and Institutional Roles

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Enabling Environment and Institutional Roles

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Module 2

Enabling Environment with an emphasis on National IWRM Strategies

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR WESTERN ASIA

Workshop on “Training of Trainers on the Application of

ENABLING ENVIRONMENT AND INSTITUTIONAL ROLES

The session will provide an overview of the enabling environment (policy,

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SUGGESTED INTERNET - ESCWA: www. escwa.org.lb

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TOPIC SESSION TOPIC SYNTHESIS

Issues for discussion: How is political commitment to IWRM obtained?

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A. DEFINING THE ‘INTEGRATED’ IN IWRM .................................................................................................. 7

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

BOX 1 THE THIRTEEN KEY IWRM CHANGE AREAS........................................................................................... 8

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A. DEFINING THE ‘INTEGRATED’ IN IWRM

This includes more coordinated development and management of:

A.2. IWRM as a tool for change

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BOX 1 THE THIRTEEN KEY IWRM CHANGE AREAS

The enabling environment

A.3. IWRM change areas

When beginning the process of change, consider:

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FIGURE 1: IWRM IS AN ON-GOING PROCESS TO CHANGING SITUATIONS AND NEEDS

A.3.1. The enabling environment

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Areas to target for change:

A.3.2. Institutional roles.

Areas to target for change:

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A.3.3. Management instruments

Areas to target for change:

A.3.4. Creating links across sectors and scales

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BOX 2. KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS

- An ability to establish trusted technical competencies;

Source: IWRM Toolbox, GWP

FIGURE 2. LOGISTICS OF PLANNING FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES

WATER RESOURCES POLICY

A STRATEGY FOR WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

WATER ACTION PLANS

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B. NATIONAL IWRM AND WATER EFFICIENCY PLANS

B.1. Key messages from the WSSD action target on IWRM

B.2. Responding to the IWRM target

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BOX 3. IWRM STRATEGY: NOT JUST ANOTHER WATER PLAN

STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION: Because it calls for change—and therefore buy-in—at multiple

A successful strategy should build on the following principles:

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BOX 4. CHECKLIST OF ISSUES THAT MIGHT BE ADDRESSED IN AN IWRM STRATEGY

BOX 5. SUGGESTED BREAKDOWN OF ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

National government • Lead role, ‘owner’ of the process

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BOX 6. INVOLVING STAKEHOLDERS

Core stakeholders engaged in formulating a strategy may include:

Stakeholders participating at different key stages of the strategy formulation process:

Creating the knowledge base

Setting a timeframe and milestones

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