Harnessing Adaptation, Complexity and Uncertainty in Integrated Water Resource Management

Human induced changes, from the local to the global scale, have serious impacts on waterflows and on ecosystems. What is more, our earlier perceptions about the stability of ecosystems and freshwater systems, and that change is possible to control, have proven to be false.

Today we know that freshwater systems do not respond to change smoothly. Stressed ecosystems can suddenly shift from a seemingly steady state that is difficult to reverse.
The UN climate advisory body (IPCC) warned that global environmental change will entail increasing environmental variability and increased occurrence of extreme weather events. Wet areas are likely to become wetter, with more frequent episodes of flooding, whilst dry areas may become drier, with longer periods of drought.
The implications of environmental change combined with increased human induced changes of water flows and ecosystems should not be underestimated. In a vulnerable social-ecological system even a small event (such as extreme weather events) may be devastating for the persistence of the system, and the livelihood of communities.
Taking this complexity and surprises seriously has fundamental consequences for our understanding of what is to be defined as 'sustainable' water management, aid and politics. This further impacts how we evaluate not only the potentials, but also some of the possible problems in what often is denoted Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM).

The Resilience and Freshwater Initiative
Emerging theories focusing on resilience in social-ecological systems are of great importance in improving freshwater management. The Resilience and Freshwater Initiative aims at synthesising, communicating and making emerging theories on resilience operational for water policy and IWRM. The Initiative had three aims:

1) Synthesise and make emerging scientific theories of socio-ecological resilience operational for water policy and IWRM.
2) Enhance knowledge among Swedish water resilience.
3) Enhance knowledge among national and international water policy decision-makers on emerging scientific theories of social-ecological resilience.www.resalliance.org

Resources

RESILIENCE: Going from Conventional to Adaptive Compatibility

Does the EC Water Framework Directive Build Resilience? Policy Paper 1

Water, Climatic Variability and Livelihood Resilience: Concepts, Field Insights and Policy Implications - Policy Paper 2

Harnessing Uncertainty - Programme for 2005 WWW Seminar

Eutrophication Policy Implications of a Regime Shift in the Baltic Sea

Complexity, Environmental Change, and Institutional Arrangements for Integrated Water Resources Management