ABSTRACT
It is widely held that current practices of water resources management on the global scale are inadequate (Watkins 2006). The roots of this inadequacy lie not so much in poor fi nancing or technology or natural scarcity of water, as in “poverty, inequality and unequal power relationships, as well as fl awed water management policies that exacerbate scarcity” (Watkins 2006: 1). Many agree that the fragmentation of water management by sectors, resources and users is the main cause of the problem (e.g., UNEP 1994). In response to this consensus, the need for a holistic management approach has been advocated in the form of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) presented as a tool for effi cient, equitable and sustainable development and management of the world’s limited water resources and for coping with confl icting demands for water (UN-Water 2008: 4).
