(surface water or groundwater), where it is used (agriculture, water supply,
hydropower and others), technology (dams, reservoirs, canals and tanks) and social
equity (the share of accessible water to a particular societal group and geography),
preclude a unified vision of water. Given the coupling between land use and water
use decisions, the need to widen the scope of integrated water resources management to include land management aspects is pertinent. With wholesale reforms as
required to realize integrated water resources management being a difficult terrain, a
beginning can be made by thinking on specific issues and challenges, such as
managing floods and droughts, or improving water use efficiency in food
production.
Integration of wetlands in water management plans is also not about pitting grey
and green infrastructure, but achieving complementarities and synergies. While
making water infrastructure decisions, a beginning can be made by examining
whether green infrastructure solutions such as wetlands can deliver the desired
water resource outcome, and then filling the gap that may still exist by a grey-green
combination. A harmonized understanding of wetlands and their hydrological
functions in a landscape is the foundation step. The science base on wetlands will
need to graduate from being dominated by describing ecosystem structures and
processes to providing quantitative assessments of hydrological functions, in usable
forms and terms suited to water sector policy-makers. Wetlands managers will also
need to have the capacity to describe water regime requirements of wetlands to
perform these functions while acknowledging that climate change may render
historical regime information insufficient to inform about the future course of
actions. For water managers, the role of wetlands will need to evolve beyond just an
allocation decision, to understanding water as it moves in a landscape, and the role
wetlands play in influencing this movement. A natural convergence point is to plan
at a catchment scale, wherein the landscape and water interactions can be assessed
and planned for meaningfully.
With water sector going through a significant reorganization, an important
question to ask is whether wetland management will be better off if brought within
administrative frame of the former? The answer, unfortunately, is not a
black-and-white one. In case water sector continues its focus on water storages,
such a move may be highly retrograde, as only few wetlands and a narrow set of
ecosystem functions of wetlands are likely to be considered. On the other hand,
when located within the stable of MoEFCC’s programmes, wetlands become a silo
of their own and get relegated to one of the several sectors that water planners need
to consider and provide for in allocation decisions. The answer, perhaps, lies
somewhere in between; placing wetlands in either sector does not matter, till the full
ranges of ecosystem services and biodiversity values of wetlands are considered
and secured in developmental planning and decision-making.
Wetlands and Water Management: Finding a Common Ground
123
hydropower and others), technology (dams, reservoirs, canals and tanks) and social
equity (the share of accessible water to a particular societal group and geography),
preclude a unified vision of water. Given the coupling between land use and water
use decisions, the need to widen the scope of integrated water resources management to include land management aspects is pertinent. With wholesale reforms as
required to realize integrated water resources management being a difficult terrain, a
beginning can be made by thinking on specific issues and challenges, such as
managing floods and droughts, or improving water use efficiency in food
production.
Integration of wetlands in water management plans is also not about pitting grey
and green infrastructure, but achieving complementarities and synergies. While
making water infrastructure decisions, a beginning can be made by examining
whether green infrastructure solutions such as wetlands can deliver the desired
water resource outcome, and then filling the gap that may still exist by a grey-green
combination. A harmonized understanding of wetlands and their hydrological
functions in a landscape is the foundation step. The science base on wetlands will
need to graduate from being dominated by describing ecosystem structures and
processes to providing quantitative assessments of hydrological functions, in usable
forms and terms suited to water sector policy-makers. Wetlands managers will also
need to have the capacity to describe water regime requirements of wetlands to
perform these functions while acknowledging that climate change may render
historical regime information insufficient to inform about the future course of
actions. For water managers, the role of wetlands will need to evolve beyond just an
allocation decision, to understanding water as it moves in a landscape, and the role
wetlands play in influencing this movement. A natural convergence point is to plan
at a catchment scale, wherein the landscape and water interactions can be assessed
and planned for meaningfully.
With water sector going through a significant reorganization, an important
question to ask is whether wetland management will be better off if brought within
administrative frame of the former? The answer, unfortunately, is not a
black-and-white one. In case water sector continues its focus on water storages,
such a move may be highly retrograde, as only few wetlands and a narrow set of
ecosystem functions of wetlands are likely to be considered. On the other hand,
when located within the stable of MoEFCC’s programmes, wetlands become a silo
of their own and get relegated to one of the several sectors that water planners need
to consider and provide for in allocation decisions. The answer, perhaps, lies
somewhere in between; placing wetlands in either sector does not matter, till the full
ranges of ecosystem services and biodiversity values of wetlands are considered
and secured in developmental planning and decision-making.
Wetlands and Water Management: Finding a Common Ground
123