Integrated Water Resource Management in Water and Sanitation Projects- Lessons from 11 projects in Africa, Asia and South America

Updated - Thursday 10 February 2005

Year of publication: 1999

The document reports the findings of a participatory review of 11 drinking water and sanitation supply (DWSS) and integrated water resource management (IWRM) projects from around the world. It examines their successes and failures and draws lessons for the implementation of IWRM strategies elsewhere.

While representing a wide variety of physical and socio-economic settings all the projects shared a commitment to participatory approaches aimed at empowering communities and giving them the maximum possible control over their resources. Problems identified included a failure of support agencies to provide a framework within which localized successes could become more widespread, and a gap between IWRM legislation at the national level and practical implementation of community focussed projects on the ground.

The document makes a number of recommendations for practical improvements in IWRM implementation and highlights areas where further work is needed.

Target audience: water resources managers, policy makers, planners