The enabling environment, including effective institutions and management instruments, eases the formulation and implementation of relevant policies and plans. It responds directly to the Rio+20 outcome, which called for significant improvements in the implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management at all appropriate levels. Only through an integrated approach can the allocation of water resources benefit the many and not the few. Water governance is essential to balance available resources with demands from a multitude of often conflicting water users as well as ensuring critical ecosystems continue to maintain the resource base.

Water governance has been defined as “the range of political, social, economic and administrative systems that are in place to develop and manage water resources, and the delivery of water services, at different levels of society” (Effective Water Governance Rogers and Hall, 2003). Its importance for the new development framework has been stressed by many international organizations, including the UN, OECD and World Bank.

Participatory mechanisms and accountability will help to address disparities in service provision and help policy makers to focus on inequity and its deeper causes. A universal approach is proposed that tackles both inequalities and sustainability (ensuring intergenerational equity), and respects the human right to water and sanitation services (A Post-2015 Global Goal for Water: Synthesis of key findings and recommendations from UN-Water. UN-Water, 2014).

Appropriate governance measures, such as regulation and enforcement of agreed standards, are essential to ensure overall quality of water bodies over time. Controlling pollution will improve water quality in rivers and lakes as well as support ecosystem functioning by reducing organic and mineral nutrients that deplete the oxygen supply (UN-Water, 2014).

Strengthening water governance will require a concerted programme of education, knowledge and skills development, including a focus on youth and women. The collection, analysis, and use of sex-disaggregated data, gender statistics and other social data are necessary to check that meeting the targets removes inequalities; tools for project preparation, monitoring, and management will also need to be developed to enable effective implementation to take place (UN-Water, 2014).

>> Governance: key tools and lessons learnt from implementation

>> Governance challenges and suggested tools for the implementation of the water-related Sustainable Development Goals