Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM)

Sound management to reach social and development goals

The Plan of Implementation adopted at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002 called for countries to "develop Integrated Water Resources Management and Water Efficiency Plans by 2005".

IWRM is the standard terminology used by the government and the water sector industry to describe better practies in water management, or what they call "the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources in order to maximise the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems".

In September 2000, the United Nations adopted the Millennium Declaration. 191 UN member states pledged to meet global proverty reduction targets, the so-called Millennium Development Goals by 2015. In environment, they committed themselves to halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water.

These Millennium Declaration commitments now drive the freshwater policy, aid and multi-lateral development bank programmes in developing countries worldwide. Needed are greater efficiency in the use of water and fair allocation to balance the limited supply with rising demand, as well as improved sanitation services and good hygiene practices.

WWF believes that these two goals are not opposed, that social and development goals are not in conflict with biodiversity conservation. Instead, Integrated Water Resource Management can contribute to poverty reduction and sustainable development. WWF's framework for achieving these goals includes tools of its Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM), an approach that conserves rivers from source to sea.