Climate & Environment
Water Resource Management
Definition
Water resource management is the planning, development, distribution and oversight of water resources across competing uses. Its internationally endorsed form, integrated water resources management (IWRM), promotes coordinated management across sectors and scales, balancing social, economic and environmental objectives.
References
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This reference provides supporting context for how “Water Resource Management” is defined and used.
Overview
How it is used
Governments prepare national and basin water plans; SDG indicator 6. 5. 1 measures IWRM implementation; development programmes fund management capacity; corporate water strategy sits downstream of public resource management frameworks.
Why it matters
Fragmented, sector-by-sector water decisions produce overuse and conflict. Coordinated resource management is the institutional route to water security under growing climate variability.