Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture No. 4/07
Integrated watershed management:
an approach to natural resources management
Peter F. Ffolliott
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
Hans M. Gregersen
Solvang, CA, USA, and
Kenneth N. Brooks
University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
Abstract
Increasing demands for land, water, and energy resources by expanding
human populations point to the urgency with which people must learn to
manage and use natural resources in an integrated and sustainable
fashion. Integrated watershed management (IWM) provides a framework and
the tools to help people meet their needs in the most effective and
efficient way possible without degrading the land and water resources
on which such needs depend. This paper lays out the IWM framework by
sequentially presenting the basic nature of IWM and its components; the
institutional context for IWM; the issues and approaches associated
with planning IWM policies and programs; hydrologic and other technical
considerations involved in implementation of IWM; the important topic
of monitoring and evaluation to improve performance; the role of
research, training and better use of new information and communication
technologies in developing an adaptive management approach; and a brief
picture of lessons learned from IWM and future opportunities and
potentials.
Keywords: land, water, natural resources, watersheds, institutions, policies
JEL: Q 100
Vol. 46 (2007), No. 4: 373-394