Watershed Management (PDF)

5. Introduction =============== Integrated watershed management (IWM) is the process of managing human activities and natural resources on a wate​rshed basis, taking into account social, economic and environmental issues, as well as local community​interests and issues such as the impacts of growth...

5. Introduction =============== Integrated watershed management (IWM) is the process of managing human activities and natural resources on a wate​rshed basis, taking into account social, economic and environmental issues, as well as local community​interests and issues such as the impacts of growth and climate change. 5.1. Definition and Basic Concepts ---------------------------------- IWM is planning for a complete management of diverse land and water resource to obtain integrated benefits to conserve soil and water. - The main goal of Integrated Watershed Management is to sustainably manage natural resources to improve the quality of living for the population. This goal is accomplished by the following objectives: - Supplying and securing clean and sufficient drinking water for the population - Providing and securing access to sanitation - Improving and restoring soil quality and thus raising productivity rates - Reducing the impact of natural hazards, especially in the context of climate change - Improving the income of the population with simultaneous regeneration of natural resources In the widest sense, IWM includes all resources in a watershed, both **human and bio-physical** resources. **Basic concept:** - The triangular relationship among **land, water & vegetation** - The IWM concept is to harmonize the use of soil, water and vegetation in a way that conserves these resources and maximize their productivity. - IWM is termed as the process of formulating and carrying out a course of action involving manipulation of natural, agricultural and human resources on watershed to achieve resource objectives, taking into consideration of social, economic and institutional factors operating within the watershed. - The integrated concepts of watershed management provide a framework for sustainable development, - While watershed management practices provide the tools for making that framework operational: Various institutional mechanisms such as: - regulations, - market and non-market incentives /financial/, - public investment provide the means for implementing those practices. - IWM is the process of guiding and organizing land and other resource use on a watershed to provide desired goods and services without adversely affecting soil and water resources. - Developing integrated approaches requires an understanding of communities, their responses to various incentives, and an understanding of the physical environments in which communities exist. - Knowledge of appropriate technical solutions and of institutions or mechanisms, legal and financial, to implement action programs is also required. The best way to protect resources is on **a watershed basis** using an integrated watershed management approaches because it allows us to address multiple issues and objectives and enables us to **plan within a very complex and uncertain environment.** - **Integration of the natural system**- critical importance for resource **availability** and **quality**. - Integration of freshwater & coastal zone management - Integration of land and water management - Integration of surface & ground water management - Integration of quantity and quality in water resources management - Integration of upstream & downstream water-related interests - **Integration of the human system**- fundamentally determines the resource use, waste production and pollution of the resource and which must also set the development priorities. - Mainstreaming of water resources management - Macro-economic effects of water developments - Influencing economic sector decisions - Integration of all stakeholders in planning & decision - Integrating water and wastewater management integrated\_watershed\_management Figure 9: Integrated watershed Management Process 5.2. Importance of integrated watershed management (IWSM) --------------------------------------------------------- **Q1. Why an integrated approach to watershed management?** A watershed-based management approach takes into account everything that occurs within a watershed, including both naturally occurring activities and human activities. In this regard, soil, vegetation, animals and humans are all an integral part of a watershed. In other words, life in the watershed is not just about plants and animals. It is also about people, how they live, how they relate with each other and with the environment. It is also about how they use the resources in the watershed for their food, livelihood, and their basic needs and for their comfort. Relating to each other while using the resources bring out a particular way of life (culture) that influences or is influenced by attributing meanings to these ways (spiritual). An integrated approach is needed because life in the watershed has natural, economic, social, political, cultural, human and spiritual dimensions. It is good to compare and see the differences in order to clarify concepts. While technical people have a clear definition of what a watershed is, an average person would tend to think of watershed as a forested place, very far up in the mountains where water is coming from. Watershed is associated with trees because of governments program of reforestation in the watershed. While certain watersheds are reserved and forested to optimize water generation there are parts of land that drained channels or rivers, or brooks which are not located in the reserved area. Farmlands are part of the watershed as well as towns and cities and industrial complexes. **Principles of integrated watershed management** All principles of Watershed Management should increase understanding of: - Basic watershed processes and their interrelated nature, - The principles of long-term watershed management, - The elements of successful watershed management frameworks, and - The benefits of the watershed management approach. **1. Watershed as natural system that we can work with** Watershed can be regarded as a complete system and it entails several components. Entities that define the system may include products or outputs leaving the system, inputs coming to the system and interaction between its components. The various parts of the watershed are physically and operationally linked i.e. the various resources are linked not only spatially but also functionally, and the potential benefit from integrated use can be large. **2. Watershed management must be participatory** - Participatory means involving method where the community is motivated to function and contributes as a group to perform various tasks. - The management must involve local farmers and other land users and wide community who depend on the land. The adequacy of planning depends on the human element and not only on physical or technical aspects. - Therefore, planning must start from people living on the land. The watersheds communities must involve in all stages of implementation of watershed development activities. **3. Watershed management should follow multi-disciplinary approach and it is a continuous process** - Watershed management is inter-disciplinary approach. - Watershed planning is a coordinated analysis by a team of technicians representing various disciplines like hydrology, geology, engineering, soil science, forestry, agronomy, and economists. - Each disciple is inter-related with each other. **4. Watershed management must be gender sensitive**: - Women\'s are the most affected by environmental hardship; for example, they need to walk long hours to fetch increasingly scarce water, firewood and animal dung in addition to attending livestock, to name a few. - Their involvement in watershed development planning, implementation and management is the key to ensure that they equally benefit from the various measures. **5. Watershed management must be build up on local experience, strength.** - Local knowledge is essential to improve the existing technologies, to adopt new ones and to manage natural measures once they are introduced and established. **6. WM must be flexible at different level** - Flexibility is needed during the selection of community based on their size (slightly smaller or higher than the ranges indicated), and clustering and during the steps of the producer. - Flexibility is also essential when considering the choice and design of measures within agreed criteria of quality and integration. **7. WM must be cost-sharing & empowerment/ownership building** - Cost-sharing by stakeholders contributes to the sustainability of the projects for establishing the responsibility of various stakeholders in the management of the resource. - Various forms of local contributes are possible upon social networks and groups formation mechanisms. **8. WM must be complementary to food security and rural development mainstream (like HIV, health, education......)** - Watershed deployment planning should incorporate additional elements related to basic services and social infrastructure. **9. Flexible approach is always need** - One should never look for a rigid, step-by-step ''cookbook recipe'' for watershed management. - Different regions have watershed that function in very different way, and even neighboring watersheds can have major differences in geology, land-use, or vegetation that imply the need for different management strategies. - Different communities vary in benefits they want from their watersheds. - Therefore, watershed management is a dynamic and continually re-adjusting process that is built to accommodate these kinds of changes. **10. WM framework support partnering, using sound science, taking well-planned action, and achieving results** - A strong watershed framework uses sound science, facilitates communications and partnership, and fosters actions that are well planned and cost effective. - The three common elements of successful watershed management framework includes, i. Geographic management units (**the watershed itself**) -- which agreed up on by partners to provide a functional, practical basis for integrating efforts. ii. **Stakeholders** (anyone who can impact or is impacted by decisions in the watershed are involved through the processes, with clearly defined roles and responsibilities. iii. Partners agree on a **management cycle**, including activities they will work on together and a fixed time schedule for sequencing these activities. Importantly, the cycle signals that watershed management is a never ending job. Remember, these steps can be initiated by a local watershed associations, basin group, or regional or federal agency. *Summary* ========= - *Integrated watershed management is planning for a complete management of diverse land and water resource to obtain integrated benefits to conserve soil and water.* - *The IWM concept* - *is to harmonize the use of soil, water and vegetation in a way that conserves these resources and maximize their productivity. OR* - *is the triangular relationship among **land, water & vegetation*** *Its main objectives of integrated watershed management* - *is to develop more than one resource with due consideration to the interrelations and interactions among the respective components* *In the widest sense, IWM includes all resources in a watershed, both **human and bio-physical** resources.* - *The best way to protect resources is on **a watershed basis** using an integrated watershed management approaches because it allows us to address multiple issues and objectives and enables us to **plan within a very complex and uncertain environment.*** - *In integrated watershed management, **integration can be considered under two basic categories:*** 1. ***Integration of the natural system**- critical **importance for resource availability and quality.*** 2. ***Integration of the human system**- fundamentally determines the resource use, waste production and pollution of the resource and which must also set the development priorities.* *All principles of Watershed Management should increase understanding of:* - *Basic watershed processes and their interrelated nature,* - *The principles of long-term watershed management,* - *The elements of successful watershed management frameworks, and* - *The benefits of the watershed management approach.*