The ISS Water Resources Management Cluster aims to develop a set of case studies of water management and use them to devise principles for successful reforms.

The researchers in the cluster believe that one reason initiatives fail is because they address water

resources management in isolation from other policies and practices. The research programme takes a more comprehensive approach to the multiple, often competing, policy environments in which water resources are managed. Deforestation, for example, can reduce the availability of water by altering rainfall patterns and increasing run-off. Purely from a water management perspective, one solution would be to build a dam. An integrated approach might, however, point to a different, more sustainable answer.

The cluster’s case-study based research aims to identify where and why policies on water management have succeeded. It focuses on three broad themes: legislation and institutions, the application of economic principles to water management, and institutional reform and planning. The empirical evidence gathered during the case studies can be used to develop and exchange innovative ideas for improved management of water and sanitation.