The 21st century presents unprecedented challenges to the long-term viability of the world’s Great Rivers. These critical systems provide freshwater for half the world’s people, most agricultural crops, crucial transportation and energy generation. However, such vital and often competing uses for water jeopardize ecosystems and a wide range of benefits that rivers naturally provide to society.

Integrated River Basin Management

To strike a balance for people and nature, the Great Rivers Partnership takes an integrated river basin management (IRBM) approach.

IRBM is the collaborative process of integrating the conservation, management and development of water, land and related resources across sectors within a given river basin. The purpose is to improve economic and social benefits derived from water resources in an equitable manner while preserving and, where necessary, restoring freshwater ecosystems.  (Adapted from Integrated Water Resources Management, Global Water Partnership Technical Advisory Committee Background Papers, No. 4, 2000.)

Anatomy of a River

A river’s anatomy is complex and ever changing. From its headwater streams to its union with the sea, each component supports the health of the whole. We cannot live without nature, nor can we live without changing it; but we do have a choice as to the character and scale of our impact.

In fact, scaling back our impact allows us to realize the inherent benefits of a river. For example, when a river floods its banks, water is absorbed into the soil and nurtures it with nutrients and silt. Trees and plants return the favor, filtering sediment, fertilizers and pesticides before washing the water into the river—ultimately improving its overall quality and safeguarding our drinking water.

While a river is defined by the quality of the land near its source and the forests at its edges, the flow of water is essential to its overall health as well. Seasonal floods trigger spawning migrations in fish and provide them access to nutrient-rich floodplains. Wading birds and waterfowl feed in shallow flooded areas. Naturally low water levels enable seeds of wetland plants to germinate. And the influx of freshwater at our estuaries—where rivers meet the sea—drives the entire marine food web, supporting the most productive waters we know. 

See the resources at right to further explore the natural benefits derived from river systems.