Integrated Water Resources Management in Latin America Routledge Special Issues on Water Policy and Governance Series

It is now widely accepted that the world is likely to face a major water crisis unless the present management practices are improved very significantly. Promoted extensively by donors and international institutions over the past 15 years, integrated water resources management (IWRM) has been assumed explicitly to be "the" solution for managing the limited water resources of the world. Hundreds of millions of dollars have now been spent in promoting IWRM in developing countries. However, no serious and objective analysis has ever been undertaken as to whether IWRM has made water management more efficient and equitable in any region of the world than otherwise may have been the case. This pioneering analysis indicates that IWRM has not only been unsuccessful in Latin America, but also is highly unlikely to succeed in the future. The reasons and constraints for this failure are outlined.

This book previously appeared as a special issue of the International Journal of Water Resources Development.

1. Introduction: Integrated Water Resources Management in Latin America Asit K. Biswas 2. Integrated Water Resources Management: Is It Working? Asit K. Biswas 3. Integrated Water Resources Management: A ‘Small’ Step for Conceptualists, a Giant Step for Practitioners Luis E. Garcia 4. Integrated River Basin Plan in Practice: The Sao Francisco River Basin B. P. F. Braga and J. G. Lotufo 5. The Dilemma of Water Management ‘Regionalization’ in Mexico under Centralized Resource Allocation Christopher A. Scott and Jeff M. Banister 6. Small-scale Irrigation Systems in an IWRM Context: The Ayuquila-Armeri´a Basin Commission Experience Paula Silva 7. Integrated Water Resource Management in Colombia: Paralysis by Analysis? Javier Blanco 8. The Rocky Road from Integrated Plans to Implementation: Lessons Learned from the Mekong and Senegal River Basins Olli Varis, Muhammad M. Rahaman and Virpi Stucki 9. Capacity Building: A Possible Approach to Improved Water Resources Management Alexandra Pres 10. Challenges for Integrated Water Resources Management: How Do We Provide the Knowledge to Support Truly Integrated Thinking? Rachael A. McDonnell

Asit K. Biswas is President of the Third World Centre for Water Management, Mexico, and Distinguished Visiting Professor Lee Kuan Yew School for Public Policy. He has advised over fifteen governments and his work has been translated into thirty-two languages.

Benedito P.F. Braga is Director of the National Water Authority, Brazil. He is also Vice President of the World Water Council and Past President of the International Water Resources Association.

Cecilia Tortajada is the Vice President of the Third World Centre for Water Management, Scientific Director of the International Centre for Water in Zaragoza, and Visiting Professor of Lee Kuan Yew for Public Policy, in Singapore.

Marco Palermo is the President of the Instituto Pro-Ambiente at Sao Paulo, Brazil.