Dr Eric Tardieu*
As water resource management at the basin level is increasingly recognized as an essential component in effectively addressing the expanding number of challenges stemming from climate change and resource scarcity, basin organisations are peacemakers and accelerators of sustainable development. Whether operating at a national or transboundary level, they are, by construction, multi-stakeholder platforms fostering dialogue, between countries on a transboundary scale, between users and water stakeholders on a sub-national scale.
Basin approach to boost the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
In order to accelerate the achievement of SDG 6.5.1 (“Degree of implementation of integrated water resources management”) and 6.5.2 (“Proportion of transboundary basins where an operational arrangement for water cooperation is in place”), it is important to develop these transboundary and sub-national scales of sharing and solidarity.
Cooperation at the level of river basins has proved its worth and brings concrete benefits to the populations. They are relevant structures to ensure a joint and sustainable management of surface and groundwater resources and lead ambitious actions of adaptation to climate change. On a transboundary scale, cooperation facilitates a shared vision of the use of water resources, pressures and uses; it brings more means by the mutualisation of technical and human resources and hydraulic infrastructures, when they are necessary, thanks to a concertation on their location; the experiences on hydraulic infrastructures common to several countries, their successes (sharing of benefits, peace preservation…) and difficulties must be more widely shared. The United Nations Water Conventions (1992, 1997) are valuable tools for improving this cooperative and integrated management of transboundary basins.
Designing and implementing plans for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) at basin level is effective: in terms of costs, investments in infrastructures are made based on the hydrological context rather than on purely administrative consideration. In terms of knowledge, sharing of information between the data producers of the basin (including but not limited to in-situ monitoring networks and remote sensing such as satellite) and the involvement of water users in basin councils improve the diagnosis of the state of water resources. In terms of governance, participatory basin management creates ownership of the measures adopted, and provides the basis for an operational approach to IWRM.
This operational approach to IWRM helps to make concepts of nexus and source-to-sea a reality at basin level.
Launched by INBO during the 9th World Water Forum, sponsored by UNECE, OMVS, OMVG, France, Morocco, Senegal and Switzerland, the Dakar Action Plan for river, lake and aquifer basins promotes this approach of IWRM at basin level.
Already gathering 91 signatories from 50 countries, the Dakar Action Plan aims to accelerate the achievement of SDGs by the basins and for the basins, both national and transboundary.
It provides the technical definition of the principles for actions and commitments needed to strengthen cooperation, planning, legal and institutional framework of basin organisations as well as the search for innovative financing.
Enhancing complementarity between national and transboundary approaches
At the UN Groundwater Summit (7-8 December 2022, Paris), the Dakar Action Plan for basins was followed by a specific coalition: Transboundary Water Cooperation Coalition.
Transboundary basins account for 60 per cent of the world’s freshwater flows. 3 billion people depend on their water resources. The management of these transboundary basins should be aligned with the principles of sustainable and equitable use, upstream-downstream solidarity and no-harm principles. In a world of limited resources, cooperative management of transboundary basins is essential to meet the challenges of our times: sustainable economic development, human and environmental health, biodiversity preservation, climate adaptation and mitigation, disaster risk reduction and lasting peace.
The Transboundary Water Cooperation Coalition (TWCC)[i] gathers 40 countries, regional integration and international organisations, international financial institutions, NGOs, academic and research centres. It encourages concrete commitments to support the advancement of transboundary water cooperation.
Furthermore, for effective basin management, greater complementarity between transboundary and national basin approaches is needed. While transboundary basin organisations (TBOs) provide a relevant framework for transboundary management, they must be able to rely on a national, and then local implementation, so that operational measures can be implemented in the territories. And conversely, national basin approaches must be consolidated at the transboundary level, under the coordination of an operational, effective and recognised TBO.
At national and local levels, basin organisations serve as multi-stakeholder platforms. They play a crucial role in fostering an integrated approach aligned with the SDGs, facilitating precise and comprehensive diagnostics of water resources and needs, enabling participatory planning, and promoting better ownership of implemented measures. By doing so, they optimise results for coordinated sectoral policies. However, to enhance basin management further, it is imperative to better involve local authorities, communities, economic sectors, and civil society actors in these initiatives. Strengthening cooperation among relevant institutions, particularly between basin organisations worldwide and within each region, is essential. This collaboration facilitates the exchange of experiences and best practices in water management, ultimately contributing to more effective and sustainable outcomes.
Improve city-basin dialogue to improve basin management
Most of the world’s population already lives in cities. By 2050, there will be nearly 6 billion city dwellers, 70% of the global population. This concentration of populations in urban areas creates many challenges. Cities are singularities in a hydrographic basin: they are at the same time a source of growing pressure on water resources, a territorial unit in demand of climate adaptation solutions and a powerful actor holding significant means.
Strengthening the dialogue between cities and organisations in charge of planning and managing water resource at the scale of river basins is the key for a better management of water resources: this can be referred as “City-Basin Dialogue”. INBO has worked with the OECD on this topic, as well as published with the IWA the handbook on basin-connected cities – including around 40 case-studies from all over the world to support decision making in strengthening the city’s connection and integration with its river basin.
Incubate water and climate projects at basin scale: an effective response to the challenge of adaptation
More frequent and intense floods and droughts, reduced river flows, degradation of aquatic ecosystems, rising sea levels resulting in salinization of coastal groundwater: water is one of the first victims of climate change, which poses significant threats to water security, food security, and ecosystem health. Investing in water, and in particular in planning of adaptation to climate change at basin level, is a necessity.
One effective strategy that emerges to address climate change impacts is the incubation of water and climate projects at the basin scale. By providing technical and financial support to innovative adaptation initiatives, basin organisations can help communities build resilience, reduce vulnerability, and adapt to changing climatic conditions. These projects may include infrastructure upgrades, ecosystem restoration efforts, community-based water management initiatives, and capacity-building activities aimed at enhancing adaptive capacity and promoting sustainable development.
A priority of action is to bridge the gap between actors developing ideas of projects of adaptation to climate change at basin levels and donors of climate finance. To help adaptation projects come into existence, an incubation platform for water and climate projects was launched by INBO at the COP22 United Nations Climate Change Conference (Marrakesh, 2016). This incubator largely focused on projects for adaptation to climate change in the African continent. It now supports project development all over the world. Technical and institutional support is provided by the platform. After being detected, it is necessary to be able to make a clear description of the project, its objectives and needs and to comply with the administrative procedures of donors to access climate finance.
Strengthening water and ecological securities
The current anthropogenic biodiversity crisis and global water crisis are fundamentally intertwined. Being successful in addressing water and biodiversity crises implies recognizing these interdependencies in our policies, which are still very much fragmented. These policies are designed in silos and often implemented on a far too limited scale. It greatly limits their potential.
To make a difference, there is a need to develop a greater consistency of water and biodiversity policies and to implement ambitious measures in a systematic way at the scale of the hydrographic basins of lakes, rivers and aquifers.
This is the objective of the “Water and Nature Declaration” launched during the IUCN World Water Congress (Sept. 2021, Marseille) by INBO, the International Office for Water (OiEau), The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the World Water Council (WWC).
It recognizes that there is no water security without ecological security, and vice versa. It encourages dialogue between the water and nature communities, to make water management and nature protection policies more coherent.
It is also a call to action, for an acceleration in the implementation of aquatic Nature-based Solutions (NbS), in the form of Natural Water Retention Measures (NWRM: aquatic NBS promoted by the European Commission[ii] as efficient techniques using ecosystems for water storage). Such Nature-based Solutions are no-regret measures that deliver multiple benefits when planned in numbers at basin scale: water security, climate mitigation and adaptation as well as biodiversity preservation.
10th World Water Forum: “Water management by the basins, for the basins!”
Amidst the discussions and deliberations at the 10th Water Forum, set to take place from 18 to 25 May in Bali, Indonesia, a segment dedicated to basin management is being organised by INBO.
For 30 years, INBO has been working to gain recognition for the basin scale, with a view to better management of water resources. This dedicated “basin” segment, first introduced at the World Water Forum in Dakar in 2022, stands as a testimony to the collaborative efforts of INBO, alongside partners such as the Organisation for the Development of the Senegal River (OMVS), the Organisation for the Development of the Gambia River Basin (OMVG), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and Switzerland, among others.
Aligned with the overarching theme of “Water for Shared Prosperity”, this political segment aims to engage stakeholders and mobilise action towards accelerating the achievement of the SDGs by the basins, for the basins.
It will address complementary themes such as financing, water information systems and cooperation.
This segment, and more broadly the World Water Forum, will be a dynamic platform for sharing knowledge and experience and promoting innovative solutions, in line with our mission to ensure sustainable and balanced management of the world’s river basins.
*Secretary General – International Network of Basin Organizations, Director General – International Office for Water, Vice President – World Water Council
[i]https://www.riob.org/en/riob/international-initiatives/transboundary-water-cooperation-coalition
[ii]https://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/adaptation/ecosystemstorage.htm
About Author
Dr Eric Tardieu is Director General of the International Office for Water (OiEau) since 2017, and Secretary General of the International Network of Basin Organizations (INBO) since 2018.
He’s an Environmental Engineering, graduated from Ecole Polytechnique, with a PhD in membrane filtration applied to urban wastewater treatment. After serving for French Ministries of Agriculture and Environment, he held successive responsible positions in the public sector for national, regional and local authorities, implementing policy regulations, designing multistakeholders strategies and plans of measures. He has been engaged not only in the field of water resources management and environmental protection, but also public policies for innovation, research and attractivity, public private partnerships or European and international cooperations. Since 2022, he also serves as Secretary General of IWRA and Vice-President of the World Water Council.
