Integrated Water Resources Management in Latin America

It is now widely accepted that the world is likely to face a major water crisis unless the present management practices are improved very significantly. Promoted extensively by donors and international institutions over the past 15 years, integrated water resources management (IWRM) has been assumed explicitly to be "the" solution for managing the limited water resources of the world. Hundreds of millions of dollars have now been spent in promoting IWRM in developing countries. However, no serious and objective analysis has ever been undertaken as to whether IWRM has made water management more efficient and equitable in any region of the world than otherwise may have been the case. This pioneering analysis indicates that IWRM has not only been unsuccessful in Latin America, but also is highly unlikely to succeed in the future. The reasons and constraints for this failure are outlined. This book previously appeared as a special issue of the International Journal of Water Resources Development.

Editorial: Integrated Water Resources Management in Latin America Asit K. Biswas Integrated Water Resources Management: Is It Working? Asit K. Biswas Integrated Water Resources Management: A 'Small' Step for Conceptualists, a Giant Step for Practitioners Luis E. Garcia Integrated River Basin Plan in Practice: The Sao Francisco River Basin B. P. F. Braga and J. G. Lotufo The Dilemma of Water Management 'Regionalization' in Mexico under Centralized Resource Allocation Christopher A. Scott and Jeff M. Banister Small-scale Irrigation Systems in an IWRM Context: The Ayuquila-Armeri'a Basin Commission Experience Paula Silva Integrated Water Resource Management in Colombia: Paralysis by Analysis? Javier Blanco The Rocky Road from Integrated Plans to Implementation: Lessons Learned from the Mekong and Senegal River Basins Olli Varis, Muhammad M. Rahaman and Virpi Stucki Capacity Building: A Possible Approach to Improved Water Resources Management Alexandra Pres Challenges for Integrated Water Resources Management: How Do We Provide the Knowledge to Support Truly Integrated Thinking? Rachael A. McDonnell Asian Water Development Outlook, 2007: Achieving Water Security for Asia Asit K. Biswas and K. E. Seetharam The Mexico World Water Forum's Ministerial Declaration 2006: A Dramatic Policy Shift? Muhammad Mizanur Rahaman and Olli Varis