Reaping the benefits : how local governments gain from IWRM

Water is a vital and limited resource which is under increasing demand from a growing number of water users in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Competing claims for sufficient good quality water and the benefits derived from it are leading to conflict between users at a river basin, national, catchment and local level. Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is widely promoted as the approach best suited to deal with the complex relationships between water users and water resources and to achieve the efficient use and equitable allocation of water on a sustainable basis.This booklet examines the relationship between Local Government mandates and water resources, highlighting the influence that Local Government has on the resources and the need for an integrated approach to water resources management. It illustrates ‘why’ Local Government should adopt and apply an IWRM approach. The potential benefits of IWRM for Local Government are discussed with examples provided to illustrate how municipalities in the SADC region have benefited from adopting and applying IWRM principles in every day decision making and operations. The examples also show the benefits of an integrated approach in these Local Government actions for the water resources and other water users. [authors abstract]

This document is part of the project ‘LoGo Water : towards effective involvement of local government in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in river basins of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region’.