River basins are complex systems. They are open systems with sometimes ill-defined boundaries. Rivers may have shared delta, watershed limits in flatland areas are either vague or man-made (and alterable), and watershed limits often do not correspond exactly with aquifer limits. On top of this, river basins interact continuously with the atmosphere (precipitation and evaporation, airborne pollution) and the receiving waters (seas and sometimes lakes). Furthermore, the uses made of river basins often transcend river basin boundaries (eg. interbasin water transfers). River basins are important as they fulfil many important functions, such as water supply for households, industry and agriculture, navigation, fishing, recreation, and 'living space'. Economic and social development and even life itself cannot be sustained without sufficient water at the right time and place and of right quality.Integration river basin management is about all these things. It is much broader than traditional water management and includes significant parts of land-use planning, agricultural policy and erosion control, environmental management and other policy areas. It covers all human activities that use or affect freshwater systems. In brief, integrated river basin management is the management of water systems as part of the broader natural environment and in relation to their socio-economic environment.

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Documents more.. 29-Oct-2007 Community Management 22-Oct-2007 Community-based watershed planning and management on the island of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia Case Study from Ramsar Handbook 4 22-Oct-2007 Optimising the use of wetland benefits in river basin management A Case Study From The Murray-Darling Basin, Australia 25-Oct-2004 Sharing Environmental Responsibility in Southeast Mexico Minga Working Paper Series 01-Apr-2004 Workshop on Community Approaches to Riverine Biodiversity Conservation

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