Full Description

The concepts and principles associatedwith Integrated Water Resources Management(IWRM) have been around for manydecades. The IWRM approach of mergingwater and wastewater utilities into a singleorganization has several advantages, particularlyfor larger urban areas. Not only canpipes for both services be laid in the sameexcavation, but human resources can also beconserved through cross-training of watersupply and wastewater services personnel.Although there are advantages, for a varietyof reasons the concept has been slow togain acceptance. Some of these reasons haveto do with the approach to utility services indifferent countries; for example, in Germanywastewater services fall under the purview ofthe roads department.Utility services in Finland, and to a lesserextent Sweden, provide opportunities tostudy the implementation of IWRM on awider scale. Certainly the mergers of waterand wastewater utilities in these two countrieshave had their challenges. There hassometimes been little cooperation, andeven a culture of rivalry between staff ofthe merged utilities. But more significant,there has been very little documentationabout how the processes of separate utilitiesproviding different services were actuallymerged. This article looks at what is knownand what information is lacking aboutthese types of mergers and suggests areasfor additional study.The authors suggest that the lessonslearned from the implementation of IWRMin Finland and Sweden have wider globalapplications as countries search for ways toincorporate greater efficiencies while workingwith increasingly limited resources.

Includes 37 references, table, figure.

Product Details

Edition: Vol. 102 - No. 9 Published: 09/01/2010 File Size: 1 file , 660 KB