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Water management is currently in a sustainable development phase, where pressures like changes in water quantity, erosion and contamination are being seen to interact in a complex pattern. In this phase it is necessary to take a holistic, integrated approach to environmental issues in order to meet sustainable development aspirations. Risk-related management decisions are challenged by complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity. Depending on the challenge, risk management must adapt to the specific circumstances and context. While simple risk problems can usually be addressed through routine-based procedures and measures (e.g. waste water treatment), complex risk situations (e.g. environmental quality of river basins) require new governance processes. These processes should be well informed, robust and participatory. Inspiring to this end is the risk governance framework developed by the International Risk Governance Council (IRGC). The use of the best available understanding on how river ecosystems function will resolve some of the complexity, reduce uncertainty and thus will improve river basin management. However, significant uncertainty will remain. This is intrinsic to the complexity of social/ecological systems. We need to accept and may learn to cope with this uncertainty by applying the concept of Adaptive Integrated Water Management (AWM). That AWM works in real-world practice is, for instance, demonstrated by how the Lonjsko Polje Nature Park (a floodplain area of the Sava River in Croatia) is managed to date. Risk-informed management incorporates all these elements as it involves the integrated application of the three key principles: be well informed, manage adaptively and take a participatory approach. The most appropriate scale for implementation of these key principles may be the catchment or landscape scale. |
