Enhancing Participation and Governance in Water Resources Management

This book aims to further global understanding of approaches and techniques for applying public participation to improve water resources management. Water resources management is the aggregate of policies and activities used to provide clean water to meet human needs across sectors and jurisdictions and to sustain the water-related ecological systems upon which we depend. Knowledge that is crucial for water management is distributed across governments, non-governmental organizations and the water users themselves. In most circumstances, water management aims to address the interests of and integrate usage across hydrologically meaningful units, such as watersheds. Some manage- ment aspects, however, such as transboundary fl ows across multiple basins and inter-basin water transfers via channels or virtual water, may necessitate a broader geographical scope. In this book, the authors identify successful mechanisms, approaches and practices for promoting public involvement in water resources management, including both conventional approaches and those based on information technology.