Water research agencies in US team up to develop an integrated water management approach

Water Research Foundation (WRF) have completed a study, titled Institutional Issues for One Water Management (Project #4487), which was conducted in coordination with Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) and Water Research Australia.

The study was aimed at developing an integrated approach for water management in order to address multiple issues faced by the institutions or utilities responsible for management and supply of water.

The project scanned through a collection of case studies in order to spot the transitional challenges faced by others and devised ways to navigate through those challenges and move on to actionable next steps.

The approach, termed as Integrated Water or One Water management approach, will try to eliminate the issues faced by water utilities when working amidst diverse landscapes with unique institutional and societal barriers.

WRF executive director Rob Renner said: "The water landscape we live and work in today is quite different than 50 years ago.

"Our goal in partnering with WERF and Water Research Australia on this project was to provide practical examples of how agencies and communities can, and have, worked through barriers to practise a more integrated and sustainable approach to water resource management.

The shift in the water community demands greater understanding and support for this type of transition and our agencies are aligned in delivering on that need for our community members."

The study also offered recommendations for water associations which can be adopted to lead towards a ‘conducive environment to encourage and provide a smoother transition to a One Water approach.’