Integrated Water Resources Management: Global Theory, Emerging Practice and Local Needs (Water in South Asia)

Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) has become the international label for the 'new approach' to water resources management. This volume, and in fact the entire series, investigates how this global concept resonates with regional, national and local concerns in South Asia. This is the first volume in a new series under the aegis of the South Asia Consortium for Interdisciplinary Water Resources Studies (SaciWATERs) and explains the IWRM. This volume begins by tracking the emergence of IWRM as a central notion in water debates. It then discusses the European experience with IWRM in the context of the European Water Framework Directive-the most comprehensive attempt so far at an IWRM-based water governance and management system. Thereafter, the book turns to South Asia. Among other things, the contributors argue that: *In South Asia, IWRM is a concept in search of a constituency, and not a concept that has emerged from regional or local practice *Understanding and implementing IWRM requires interdisciplinary analysis and frameworks *IWRM is a 'boundary' concept - plastic enough to adapt to local needs and the constraints of several parties employing it, yet robust enough to maintain a common identity across sites *There are issues and limits in transplanting the model of river basin organizations, a central thrust within the global IWRM discourse *A focus on water alone may be misguided, and that IWRM should look intensely at land-water linkages By supplementing the theoretical discussions with case studies, this reader provides material for new-style education programs on water resources, and will be of interest to students and scholars in the fields of water resources, hydrology, environmental studies, and development studies. Contents......Page 6 Series Editor’s Note......Page 8 List of Tables......Page 10 List of Figures......Page 11 List of Boxes......Page 13 List of Abbreviations......Page 14 Acknowledgements......Page 18 IWRM in South Asia: A Concept Looking for a Constituency......Page 22 IWRM: The New Sanctioned Discourse?......Page 39 Solving Problems of ‘Fit’ at the Expense of Problems of ‘Interplay’? The Spatial Reorganisation of Water Management following the EU Water Framework Directive......Page 65 Limits to Leapfrogging: Issues in Transposing Successful River Basin Management Institutions in the Developing World......Page 110 Criteria for a Holistic Framework for Water Systems Management in India......Page 146 Water–Land Linkages: A Relatively Neglected Issue in IWRM......Page 173 Water Balance Studies and Hydrological Modelling for IWRM......Page 190 Water Allocation between Agriculture and Hydropower: A Case Study of Kalthota Irrigation Scheme, Sri Lanka......Page 220 Inter/Intra-Sector Coordination as a Means to IWRM: The Case of Sri Lanka......Page 250 Approaching IWRM through Multi-Stakeholders’ Dialogue: Some Experiences from South India......Page 272 Water Transfers Out of Agriculture: Towards a Win-Win Solution? A Case Study of Thuruwila, Sri Lanka......Page 318 Asserting the Rights of the Toiling Peasantry for Water Use: The Movement of the Dam Oustees and the Drought-Affected Toilers in South Maharashtra......Page 353 About the Editors and Contributors......Page 390 Index......Page 395 Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) has become the international label for the ‘new approach'to water resources management. This volume, and in fact the entire series, investigates how this global concept resonates with regional, national and local concerns in South Asia. This is the first volume in a new series under the aegis of the South Asia Consortium for Interdisciplinary Water Resources Studies (SaciWATERs) and explains the IWRM. This volume begins by tracking the emergence of IWRM as a central notion in water debates. It then discusses the European experience with IWRM in the context of the European Water Framework Directive—the most comprehensive attempt so far at an IWRM-based water governance and management system. Thereafter, the book turns to South Asia. Among other things, the contributors argue that: - in South Asia, IWRM is a concept in search of a constituency, and not a concept that has emerged from regional or local practice; - understanding and implementing IWRM requires interdisciplinary analysis and frameworks; - IWRM is a ‘boundary'concept—plastic enough to adapt to local needs and the constraints of several parties employing it, yet robust enough to maintain a common identity across sites; - there are issues and limits in transplanting the model of river basin organizations, a central thrust within the global IWRM discourse; and — a focus on water alone may be misguided, and that IWRM should look intensely at land-water linkages. Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) has become the international label for the 'new approach' to water resources management. This book investigates how this global concept resonates with regional, national and local concerns in South Asia.