Background

Environmental flow related research started at IWMI in 2002 with the launch of the Eco-hydrological Databases and a project on Global Environmental Flow Assessment. It has also been an implicit part of several smaller studies until 2004, when the core–funded project Environmental Flows: Theory and Applications was launched. At present, the Environmental Flow research is conducted through several sub-projects, including the above core-funded one, sub-projects in India and Ghana.

The research questions

• How can the environmental water needs of ecosystems (thus far primarily a neglected water resources sector) be incorporated into the framework of global water resources assessments and projections, and be estimated at the global scale under the current situation of limited eco-hydrological knowledge?
• What are the present levels of environmental water stress/scarcity in major river basins and the resultant implications for sustainable, future water resource development?
• What are the most effective ways to promote the adoption of environmental flow concepts and practices into water resources development and management in developing countries?
• What hydrology-based desktop and more comprehensive methodologies are applicable for assessing environmental flows in the development and resource-limited contexts characteristic of developing countries, and how can limited existing information on aquatic ecosystem character and direct livelihoods dependency most effectively be incorporated to improve their ecological and social relevance and outcomes?
• What approaches may be used to evaluate environmental flows in economic terms?
• How can the various water-related functions of wetlands be quantified?

Objectives

• To quantify and map environmental flow requirements at the global scale and illustrate the role of the environment as a legitimate ‘water user’ in global water resources projections and assessments of water scarcity.
• To improve the practice of water resources planning and management, and the condition of aquatic ecosystems and associated livelihoods in river basins in developing countries through development and application of appropriate techniques for assessment of environmental flows, with a focus on Asian countries (which have so far had little exposure to this novel and highly influential concept).
• To examine the possibilities of using limited hydrological and environmental data for the development and application of planning-type and more comprehensive environmental flow assessment methods for developing (Asian) countries.
• To determine through local partnerships in the Asia region, the environmental water requirements of different river systems, and to use the case studies to help develop national capacity in the determination and implementation of environmental flows, as well as to improve water governance systems.

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