Negotiated approaches to Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) - A Conference Report by Gomukh Trust

These documents deal with proceedings of the discussion initiated by Gomukh Trust, Pune with support from Arghyam, Bangalore on “Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority Act” to examine it in the context of Integrated River Basin  Management and community participation.  The objectives of the conference were –

• To discuss and disseminate intricacies of the MWRRA Act and the functioning of the Authority.  
• To analyze the process of river basin planning, as stated in the Act and role of people’s participation in this crucial process.  
• To showcase community-led river basin initiatives from different of the country and to discuss how these initiatives can be internalized and up scaled through acts like MWRRA.
• To draw lessons learned from the entire process for different states of India.  

The Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Act was passed in the year 2005, as a part of the Maharashtra Water Sector reform process. It was passed immediately after the Management of Irrigation Systems by Farmers Act, 2005. The stated reasons behind formulating the MWRRA act were the actual problems faced by the Water Resources Department in managing the irrigation system in Maharashtra.

There was absence of coordination between departments, water pollution was increasing dangerously, and the water management system in Maharashtra was highly iniquitous and therefore not conforming to the globally accepted norms of holistic and participatory management. It was felt that this was mainly a systemic problem and hence, with the help of technical advice from the World Bank, the Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority Act was formulated.

Unfortunately, despite its significance, there was hardly any dialogue or public debate regarding the intricacies of the law and its implications on various sectors, and the common stakeholder was in dark about the actual functions and powers of the law and the authority. With this in mind, Gomukh Trust initiated a process of dialogue, not limited to the MWRRA, but broadly about Integrated River Basin Management and the pivotal role of stakeholders in the entire process, termed as “The Negotiated Approach to Integrated River Basin Management.” Nearly 200 stakeholders from all over the Krishna basin and some experts from States like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, New Delhi, etc, were invited.

As the main objective of the conference was to initiate a ‘dialogue’ on MWRRA and IRBM, the  conference was planned with a focus on parallel thematic sessions, which enabled each participant to  contribute to the discussions. Plenary’s were limited to the inaugural session and concluding session. Each thematic session dealt with different facets of Integrated River Basin Management and discussion centered around the implications of the MWRRA Act on the selected themes and the way in which they would affect the implementation of this act.   An expert in the respective field chaired each session; the Initiator presented current status and led the discussions forward.  A brief outline and introduction was prepared for all the sessions so as to introduce the participants to the themes and help keep the discussions on track. The themes for discussions were as follows: 

• Water Laws in India: Implications for Statutory and community-based river basin  management initiatives   
• Resolving water conflicts in river basin
• Managing Floods through IRBM  
• Ground water Management in IRBM  
• Allocating Water for Nature through IRBM  

Part 1 of the Report (4.8 MB)

Part 2 of the Report (4.7 MB)

Part 3 of the Report (5.1 MB)