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Managing Freshwater Inflows to Estuaries
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A Methods Guide
Authors: Stephen B. Olsen, Tiruponithura V. Padma, Brian D. Richter
Estuaries play a critical role in the functioning of the planet. They are already heavily stressed by the growing intensity of human activity in the world’s coastal regions. These pressures are being further amplified by growing demands on the planet’s limited supplies of freshwater—causing inflows to estuaries to be reduced, polluted, or eliminated. Yet, freshwater is the lifeblood of every estuary. It is the basis for their uniquely complex functioning and the extraordinary wealth of goods and
services that they provide to humanity.
There is an urgent need to implement approaches to integrated water resources management that begin by recognizing the need to allocate sufficient freshwater to sustain rivers and estuaries as healthy ecosystems and then make allocations for additional human needs. This guide describes a step-by-step process that links the catchment to its estuary and proceeds from issue definition and planning, to winning formal commitment to IWRM policies and procedures and on to implementation. Each step describes the priority actions that integrate the best available science with a participatory and transparent management process. To succeed and generate long-term societal and environmental benefits, the approach described in this guide must be implemented over many decades. As expressions of adaptive ecosystem management, IWRM programs must adapt to changing conditions and to their own experience.
They should be sources of new knowledge. In such long-term efforts, it is important to publicly celebrate successes—particularly when positive results come from local initiatives and local creativity in problem-solving.
