According to the Global Water Partnership (GWP) (2009), the concept of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) evolved in order to address the failures of traditional approaches to water management and to assist in meeting worldwide development goals without compromising environmental sustainability.  Traditional approaches entail management and decision making within one sector; involving limited institutions; addressing specific issues and interests and allocating funds among these sectors.  To correct this, and reverse the present negative impacts on water resources, countries are being encouraged to translate into reality, actions programmes for water, based on the Dublin Principles of water management.  These principles are based on the fact that (i) fresh water is a finite and vulnerable resource, (ii) water development and management should be based on a participatory approach, (iii) women play a central role in provision, management and safeguarding of water and (iv) water has an economic value and should be recognised as an economic good.

This article (i) defines IWRM, (ii) discusses the steps involved in implementation, (iii) the agencies involved and their roles, (iv) discusses and evaluates the challenges faced in implementing IWRM in Columbia and Burkina Faso and (v) offers recommendations for avoiding challenges and improving implementation. Increasingly, there is the acknowledgment that unless water is not properly managed, development goals cannot be achieved.  In recognition of this, many practitioners and policy makers around the globe have been engaging in practices that are aimed at achieving a balance between economic efficiency, social equity and environmental sustainability in water resources management.  These practices are known as the IWRM approach (GWP, 2009).