Application of Environmental Flows in River Basin Management: Workshop Report

Edited by: Mark Smith, IUCN This workshop was organised in response to a needs assessment conducted with the GEF constituency prior to and during the GEF International Waters Conference in Brazil in June 2005 and after consultations with stakeholders during the 2007 conference in Cape Town. High demand was expressed during both consultations for better understanding of the concept of environmental flows and for better knowledge of the processes and tools needed to support implementation. Focussing the workshop on the Latin America / Caribbean region was timely because of the intensity of hydropower development in the region and the high priority given to management of dams and flow allocation in project plans, TDAs and SAPs for GEF IW projects in the region. Awareness has thus been growing in the region of the potential for application of environmental flows to make management of transboundary waters more effective. The workshop was therefore designed to support increased shared understanding of the conceptual and practical basis for environmental flows, focussing particularly on key issues related to integrating social, economic and environmental goals into decision making over dams and water allocation.

Click here to get the file