Linking Ecological Goods and Services to Integrated Water Management

Summary

The goal of this project was to develop a policy framework for an integrated system of water resources management on the Canadian prairies. The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) recognized that the institutional capacity for implementing Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in Canada is weak. The decision-making process remains a complex mix of municipal, provincial and federal strategies and jurisdictional control is often confused. IISD suggested that a watershed based IWRM system and Payment for Ecological Goods and Services (PES) could be successfully integrated to develop a participatory watershed management program, while enhancing market efficiency.

Grant Outputs

Achievements and62000 Highlights 2004/2005: Sustainable Natural Resources Management – http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2005/annrep_2004-2005_en.pdf

This report summarizes the work completed by the International Institute for Sustainable Development on prairie water policy. It assesses current water policy structures on the prairies and their capacity for adaptive management in the face of projected stressors. It identifies urbanization, intensified irrigation demands, increasing nutrient loads and climate change as current and potential threats. This project resulted in a policy symposium on prairie water management in Winnipeg in 2005.