Integrated Water Resources Management ― From Research to Implementation

IWRM is concept that was established as an international guiding principle in the early 1990ies and that has recently become a vital approach to solving the problems associated with the topic of water. Based on the sustainable quantitative and qualitative management of the interacting components (surface waters, aquifers and coastal waters), IWRM supports not only social and economic development but also the preservation of ecosystem functions and numerous technical and conceptual innovations. With the concept, the water community moved from sectoral approaches to integrative and transdisciplinary practices. Under BMBF’s funding priority, more than a dozen of projects developed new approaches and concepts for IWRM in suitable model regions of manageable size outside the European Union.

Dietrich Borchardt, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Magdeburg, Germany; Janos J. Bogardi, University of Bonn, Germany; Ralf B. Ibisch, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Magdeburg, Germany