Report Recommends Move to Integrated Water Resources Management

The Policy Committee of the American Water Resources Assn. (AWRA) recently released its first national report examining the challenges and successes of integrated water resources management (IWRM) in the U.S.

In 2011, the AWRA Board of Directors commissioned two position statements from the AWRA Policy Committee. One supported the development of a national water vision and strategy. The other called for implementation of IWRM across the U.S. and committed AWRA to help strengthen and refine IWRM concepts. In an effort to link these two statements, the board asked the committee to explore, through a series of case studies, how IWRM is guiding water management in the U.S. That charge ultimately resulted in the recently released report.

"Case Studies in Integrated Water Resources Management: From Local Stewardship to National Vision" explores state, multi-state and regional efforts to implement IWRM and highlighting its effectiveness at all levels of water management. Citing programs from Oregon, California, Washington, Delaware, Minnesota, Florida and New Mexico, the case studies dispel the mystery behind IWRM by discussing the process of shifting to an IWRM approach and the resulting costs and benefits. Together, the selected set of cases show that IWRM is a powerful and common sense approach for managing water in the U.S.

Using the collective experiences represented in the seven case studies, the report finds opportunities to improve our national stewardship of water resources and concludes with a recommendation that the U.S. move toward integrated water management at all levels of governance.

The following case studies are highlighted in the report:

• Oregon’s Integrated Water Resources Strategy: Implementing IWRM at the State Level
• California’s Integrated Regional Water Management: Setting the Foundation for Regional Integrated Planning
• The Delaware River Basin Commission: A Classic Example of IWRM
• The Yakima River Basin Integrated Water Resource Management Plan
• The Middle Rio Grande Regional Water Management Plan: Regional Planning Using an IWRM Approach
• Developing a Plan and Decision Support System for Integrated Water Resources Management in the Minnesota River Basin
• The St Johns River Water Supply Impact Study: Creating Tools for Integrated Water Resources Management

Click here to download your free copy of the report. 

Source: American Water Resources Assn.