| Chapter 1: | Water Resources Development and Management in Sub-Saharan Africa |
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are social equity, economic efficiency, and environmental sustainability (Butterworth, 2006; Lenton & Muller, 2009). The IWRM approach does not provide a common blueprint of how to meet the goals because the water resources, development priorities, levels of infrastructure, institutions, and social and economic challenges are country and locality specific and require strategies best suited to the each country's particular context. However, numerous case studies worldwide show that effective strategies and good practices for better water management employing the IWRM approach include one or more of the following four elements: 1) adequate investments in infrastructure to store, abstract, control, conserve, and protect water resources, 2) a strong enabling environment for setting goals for these water management parameters and strengthening legislative and financial support, 3) clear, robust, and comprehensive institutional roles to build institutional capacity, develop human resources, and establish transparent processes for decision making and for informed stakeholder participation, and 4) effective use of available management and instruments for planning, allocation, water demand management, and conflict resolution. These strategies go far beyond earlier hydrologic approaches focusing on the expansion of hydraulic infrastructure, calling for attention to both water and development challenges. As a result, IWRM has significantly contributed to reducing poverty, promoting economic growth, and improving livelihoods in different countries, watersheds, and communities worldwide (Lenton & Muller, 2009).
The Global Context
Water resources development usually refers to the capture of rainfall, stream flow, or groundwater to meet human needs. Common forms of development include diversions to abstract river water for domestic, industrial, or irrigation supply and dams to store water for hydropower generation, irrigation, flood control, and river navigation. The development of water resources has often been integral to economic development, for example, by providing reliable water supplies to increase agricultural