Ganesh Pangare, IUCN Asia and Mario Aguirre, IUCN South America

• What mechanisms are in place to allocate water to the environment? Are they effective?

• How can the process of allocating water for environmental needs be useful in ensuring water security in other sectors?

• What are the challenges in your country/region when developing water management plans for all sectors (including the environment)?

• How have existing water allocations in your country/region impacted (positive and negative) the environment?

• What recommendations do you have to ensure equitable sharing of water resources that will conserve both ecosystems and support people?

Water for poverty reduction needs healthy rivers

“Ensuring sufficient water to meet the needs of household, agriculture, industry and the environment is a growing concern across the globe” (Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for International Development)

Sharing the benefits of from water means taking into account water used for one sector will affect the amount and quality if water for other sectorsWater must be integrated into power and food markets, and there must be clean water for healthy and productive riversSo…Environmental flows assessment can be used as a water resources management tool

Flows assessment as a mode to achieve sustainable development

Negotiation on water allocation among users including the environment

Decisions made on basin development

Implementation using knowledge from flows assessment and results of negotiation

Generating knowledge needed for water allocation Basin development scenarios are

created that show impacts of different water allocation decisions on environment and people

Water for poverty reduction needs healthy rivers

Restoring flows to rivers is not aimed merely at improving nature for its own sake. The dialogue and negotiation process of determining water needs for the environment contributes towards allocating appropriate water for all users. Recognizing the services of river ecosystems, incorporating them into management plans, and investing in them accordingly are critical to achieving the Millennium Development Goals and alleviating poverty.