The study has shown that there are clear stages to river basin development. The development responds to the changing pattern of demand for water over time linked to population growth and economic development.

There is a need to focus on improved data collection and transformation of these data into useful management information. This information needs to be broadly shared with stakeholders.

There is an urgent need for clearly defined water rights. Without clear understandings about water rights and effective enforcement, the poor and disadvantaged groups are vulnerable to losing access to water

The lessons from the case study of advanced river basin management (Japan and Australia) suggest that formal "river basin organizations" are not an essential feature of successfully managed water-scarce river basins. Other arrangements, including various kinds of committees and networks, can often work just as effectively. But there needs to be a clear legal framework, including clarity on water rights, and a regulatory framework to make such arrangements work.

There is a clear need to design effective mechanisms for stakeholder consultations and enlist their cooperation in implementing programs for developing and managing water resources. Well-designed stakeholder driven institutions are more likely to have positive outcomes.

The "success stories" Murray-Darling, Omonogawa, and Brantas, suggest that institutional development has been a slow process taking decades. There is a clear need for more research on appropriate institutional arrangements and the sequence in which new arrangements should be introduced.

A Ministerial level round table meeting was held for representatives of all countries and basins involved in the project - which represents a very high level policy impact.