Governance and Management
A fundamental barrier to implementing integrated water resources management (IWRM) on the Canadian Prairies and worldwide is inadequate institutional capacity and resources. Further complicating matters, water resources management is usually a multi-jurisdictional responsibility and involves different levels of government and non-governmental action.
Applying an IWRM framework means that the different stakeholders must be aware of the linkages between their actions and the effects on other participants and jurisdictions. Good water governance is the product of sound policy analysis, effective decision-support tools, appropriate monitoring frameworks and adaptive management.
The Water Innovation Centre provides research and analysis to inform institutional capacity building and policy development for effective water resources management. We believe that highlighting the high economic value of ecosystem services provided through sound watershed and river basin management will encourage the necessary investments in institutional capacity.
Contents
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Water and Land Management for Climate Adaptation
Ecological watershed management is a key to successful climate adaptation in Manitoba, and has significant co-benefits, including rural innovation and nutrient management in the Lake Winnipeg basin. -
Water Soft Paths
A water soft path approach involves envisioning a future state of water sustainability and designing a feasible policy pathway to achieve that state. The water soft path is characterized by wide use of diverse, often decentralized systems. This project will critically examine the ecosystem services for which we use water and appropriately match water quality to its intended use. -
Environment Canada: Lake Winnipeg Management
Nutrient loads on Lake Winnipeg from primarily municipal and agricultural sources have apparently exceeded ecological thresholds and Lake Winnipeg is now deservedly the subject of concerted scientific and institutional attention. In partnership with Environment Canada, IISD is involved in a multi-year project to analyze the use of market-based instruments for nutrient management options in the Lake Winnipeg watershed. -
Scenarios for Agricultural Policy Making
Scenarios research can provide valuable insights for decision-makers by going beyond extrapolated historical trends. Defined as “a description of journeys to possible futures,” effective scenarios bridge local concerns with external influences. A study by IISD focused on linking these issues in the context of the Canadian Prairies to highlight the elements of sustainable agriculture regionally. -
Integrated Water Resources Management: Recommendations for Agricultural Sector Participation
The basic principles of integrated water resources management are widely accepted as critical factors for managing and protecting increasingly stressed water resources, but their acceptance as broad-based management tools for land management, specifically in the agricultural sector, is relatively new and only slowly gaining recognition. This research was aimed at assisting Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada identify ways in which to effectively contribute and/or support these watershed-based land and water management approaches. -
Integrated Water Resources Management and Payments for Ecosystem Services
Integrated water resources management (IWRM) and payments for ecosystem services principles are clear but independent policy directions on the Canadian Prairies that—if successfully integrated—could greatly clarify water resource management by creating diffuse local management capacity. This research, funded by the Max Bell Foundation, provides best-practice guidance to policy-makers for integrating payments for ecological goods and services with watershed-based IWRM, and is a seminal exploration of these issues in a Western Canadian context. -
Ecosystem Management in Transboundary Basin: Opportunities and Challenges
This research, in partnership with United Nations Environment Program-DHI, includes a review of selected transboundary basins representative of UNEP regions to ascertain the application of ecosystem-based approaches and provide recommendations to forward the development and implementation of integrated water resources management planning.
