A User’s Guide to the GEF-LBMI Report, “Managing Lakes and their Basins for Sustainable Use”

How Can We Stop Degradation of
the World’s Lake Environments?
Integrated Lake Basin Management (ILBM): Towards Preservation and Sustainable Use of Lake Ecosystems

Lakes and their Basins
Key Components of Global Water Resource Systems
Containing over 90% of the world’s liquid surface freshwater, natural and artificial lakes provide many uses for sustainable human livelihoods and economic
development, while serving as essential habitats for a great variety of flora and fauna. Resource
development, use and conservation of lakes have been major undertakings across continents,
particularly with regard to satisfying human needs within, and sometimes beyond, the lake basin. Lakes are vulnerable, however, and their overall condition is deteriorating. Lake basins areeasily impacted by complex land and water relationships; they receive water, sediments, contaminants, nutrients and biota from rivers, surface runoff, groundwater, and the atmosphere.
Because of their unique characteristics, lake systems are much more vulnerable to stresses,
and more difficult to manage, compared to river systems.

Vast and Variety of Resource Values
Lakes and their basins possess many important values for humans (Figure 1). Lakes are someof the most beautiful and accessible parts of the landscape. They supply water for domestic andother uses; and they serve as habitats for important food species comprising various forms ofaquatic life and supporting the earth’s biodiversity. They protect downstream areas against bothfloods and droughts, and they serve as sinks for sediments and contaminants to protect downstream areas. In developing countries, they are often centers of livelihoods for small-scale local
fishers, as well as a base for much larger fishing operations. And whether located in developedor developing countries, most larger lakes are important transportation routes for both people

Figure 1. Ecosystem Services Provided by Lakes and Reservoirs
One proposed framework of ecosystem services is that of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Resource
Provision Services are valued monetarily, while other services (Regulating, Cultural and Supporting Services)
are difficult to value in monetary terms and their degradation is often neglected.

2and products. And although we can construct artificial lakes to create such values, the endowed
values of natural lakes generally far exceed those of artificial lakes. It is these and many otheruses of lakes through which they contribute to general human development and well-being fromthe shoreline, throughout the basin, and even beyond.

Changes in Resource Values Over Time
While some natural lakes have been around for millions of years, others have only been in
existence less than a hundred years. Although artificial lakes may have been a part of humanhistory in many regions of the world since the earliest times, most of the world’s reservoirs
were constructed only over the past century. All lakes, natural or artificial, undergo varioustransformations through time due to natural processes of aging caused by climatic, hydrologic
and ecosystem changes. However, the greatest degradation impacts to lakes and reservoirs arecaused by human interventions. The growing population and industrialization in a lake basin canlead to mounting pressures for development of lake resources, such as water withdrawals andfish landings. Polluting wastewater discharged back into lakes can cause deteriorating water
quality and ecosystem integrity. Thus, the transition in values over time, and changes in thestate of the lake environment, must be understood in relation to each other.
Development interventions of resource values typically take place in phases. In early stagesof resource development, they may be limited only to construction of lakeshore facilities forfisheries, navigation and small scale water supplies. As the population increases, the need forwater for domestic, industrial and agricultural uses increases, generally leading to constructionof large scale flow control facilities. Ports and harbors for fisheries and navigation will also haveto be upgraded to accommodate more fish landings and more passenger and cargo traffic. The
commercial interest development of tourism and recreational facilities may then grow, perhaps
sufficiently to exploit the lake’s cultural and natural heritage assets. Overall, the resource development activities are inevitably associated with infrastructure development and landscapealterations in and around the lake basins which, together with wastewater discharges, gradually
accelerate degradation of water quality and ecological integrity, usually without being noticed
when they began.
The progression of degradation inside a lake
often takes place on a wider and deeper
scale than is apparent. If the seriousnessof a lake problem is realized in time by scientific means, resource conservation andrestoration measures may produce somepromising results. Often, however, thesymptoms of degradation remain unnoticed
for a long period of time because of their incremental nature, and the introduced conservation and remedial measures may be
too little too late. The level of ecological andwater quality degradation may have alreadyreached crisis proportions, suddenly leading to instant loss of ecosystem sustainability (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Changing Resource Values and Resulting
Environmental State of a Hypothetical Lake

3

The Story of a LakeP

catch had nothing to do with them. And although thiscaused bad blood between the farmers and fisherfolk,
it did not lead to violence because other fish breeding grounds were still operating and the fisherfolk
were able to compensate by moving further offshore,and building fish traps and fish ponds. Nevertheless,tensions developed between the two groups that wasnever bridged, and to a large extent they led separate
lives.

eople settled around the lakeshore many millennia ago. While the population was low, the lake’s
resources were abundant, and there was little conflict between different settlements over use of theseresources. The fish caught by one community did notseriously impair the ability of another community toobtain fish, and the water withdrawn for domestic use
did not noticeably lower the lake level. But, as thelake’s population increased, some of these resources
came under pressure. This happened first with thefish. Following some years of low rainfall, fish catches began to decline and the fish that were caught were
smaller than before. The more experienced fishermen
realized that this was occurring because the wetlands
were not being flooded and the fish could not breed
successfully. Conflicts started to break out between
different communities about access to the best fishing grounds. Fortunately, the rains returned before
these conflicts became unmanageable, the breeding
grounds became available again, and the fish populations recovered.

Over time, the lakeshore communities expanded
into towns. The town people, while not relying
directly on fishing for their incomes, continued to
identify with the lake. They were proud of its scenery,
enjoyed its waters for recreation, and used it for easytransport of their goods to other destinations. They
also used it to dispose of their wastes. Rubbish was
dumped in creeks, to be eventually flushed into thelake. To keep up with the amenity offered by othertowns throughout the country, the local council installed sewage removal and primary treatment of theeffluent to remove the worst part of the organic matter. The resulting effluent was then disposed of in thelake at a convenient distance from the town.

Nevertheless, the incident caused the leaders of
the fishing communities to agree on some rulesof access to fishing grounds that would reduce tensions. Each community had the right to send only aspecific number of boats to these areas. It was agreed
that the wetlands were off limits during the period
when they were flooded and the fish were spawning.
Any transgressors would be judged by an assembly of
the leaders of the lakeshore communities, with thosefound guilty being banned from fishing and even expelled from their community.

Amajor expansion of the region occurred many
years later when the national government decided to develop a large irrigated cotton growing area
upstream of the lake to take advantage of increasing
international demands for cotton. The development
was widely welcomed by the region’s business interests (they had lobbied strongly for it), and the town
councils were briefed on the plan and endorsed it.
Of course, the land had to be expropriated from thefarmers who had settled there many generations earlier. In compliance with national laws, the government
intended to provide them with alternative agriculturalland some days travel away. Many of the town people
and the fisherfolk were uneasy about this development, but had no means of finding out much about
it, let alone influencing it. They felt little solidarity
with the farming communities, and actually felt quite
relieved when the irrigation plan went ahead. New,wealthier farmers appeared and the old groups weremoved away.

A

more difficult problem arose many years laterwith the influx of a group of farming families
into the catchment that drained into the lake. As theyprospered and grew, these families cleared increasingareas of land. The land began to erode during the wet
season, with the wetlands at the entrance to the lake
beginning to silt up. Again, fish breeding was interrupted and fish numbers began to decline. However,the farmers did not accept the claims of the fishingcommunities that they were causing the siltation of thewetlands. They believed that the rivers were always
silty during the wet season and that the decline in fish4

A

the towns. Under pressure, the government promised
to upgrade the sewage treatment plant for the town
to remove nutrients from the sewage, since this could
be completed within three years. They also promised
to launch a scientific investigation into the causes ofthe problem.

t first the new irrigation area appeared to cause
no problem. The region prospered with the additional income and the towns grew rapidly to provide
necessary services. A government agriculture office
was opened in the major town and many new people
arrived to take advantage of the employment opportunities in the irrigation area.

T

his lake story illustrates how the complex andunique characteristics of lakes can transforma tranquil situation involving people using their resources into a major issue over time. It illustrates
the subtle nature of lake basin problems, and how
incremental increases in the type and magnitude ofthese problems, as well as the manner in which they
are perceived by various lake resource users, canslowly increase to the extent that major conflicts canarise between lake users, necessitating a lake basin management approach that ensures sustainable
resource use and addresses the concerns of all thebasin stakeholders. This approach exists in the formof integrated lake basin management (ILBM), which
represents both a process and a mechanism throughwhich the interests and the concerns of lake basinstakeholders can be addressed to the satisfaction ofall. In fact, although problems will inevitably arise
when multiple, and sometimes competing, lake uses
must be accommodated over time, the situation need
not always have a negative outcome. ILBM offers anapproach to address such problems, facilitating theparticipation of all stakeholders, as well as a mechanism of cooperation whereby existing and emerging
lake problems can be overcome.

A

fter some decades, problems started to appear
in the lake. Dense mats of weeds began to growaround the mouths of the town creeks and spread into
the boat harbors. Waterweeds even began to appear
near the fish pens. Since the region had long ceased
to be dependent on the fishing industry, this was seen
more as a nuisance than a major problem by many
people. In fact, some entrepreneurial women harvested the weeds to use for weaving. More alarmingly
to most people, the water near the towns quite quickly
and unexpectedly turned dirty and had a musty smell.
Many of the townspeople, particularly the older residents who remembered the beauty of the lake when
they were younger, were seriously upset and complained to the town council. The fishermen were also
worried, but for a different reason. They had trouble
launching their boats through the weeds and they had
trouble selling their fish because of the widespread
perception that the fish were dirty and tasted bad.

There was a strong local opinion that the problem
was caused by the upstream irrigators although
the government officials in the agricultural officeclaimed that it had nothing to do with their industry
and that the problem resulted from the expansion of5The Degrading Trend of theWorld’s Lakes
Increasing Global Pressure for Lake Resource Development
The resource values of a lake and its basin may be degraded by a number of causes triggeredby the previously-noted resource development activities. The GEF-LBMI Project (Table 1) classified the 28 case study lakes (Figure 3) into 15 categories in three groups: (1) in-lake and littoral zone problems; (2) problems originating within the lake basin; or (3) from a wider region
outside the lake basin, including global threats. as depicted in the top row of Table 1.
Most problems are not isolated to specific regions, but are distributed around the world, withmost lakes facing multiple threats. The most frequently mentioned problems originate within thelake basin, with the ingress of sediments from the basin to a lake being the most commonly cited
issue (21 out of 28 lakes). Some 48 percent of the nominated problems originated in the lake basins, illustrating
the importanceof managing thelake basin as awhole. Overall,
the table showsthat
problems
affectinglakes
are not improving.

Table 1. Summary of Problems Affecting the 28 Study Lakes as Described in the Individual Lake Reports.
A red symbol means the problem is not improving significantly; a yellow symbol means the problem has
improved somewhat; and a green symbol means there has been significant improvement.
A red
symbol means that the problem is not improving significantly; a yellow
symbol means that it has
improved somewhat; and a green
symbol means that there has been significant improvement.

6

Photo: ILEC

① Overfishing due to finemesh size

Photo: Lake Laguna Development Authority (LLDA)⑤ Fish pens in Laguna de
BayPhoto: Nick Aladin⑩ Dried bed of Aral Sea

Photo: USEPA⑭ Damage from acid rain

Photo: USEPA

Photo: Thomas Ballatore② Invasive parasitic fish, sea
lamprey③ Exposed salt on Lake
Nakuru shoreline

Photo: Thomas Ballatore

Photo: ILEC

④ Impacts of water hyacinthon lake transportation

Photo: USEPA⑥ Shoreline and littoral
habitat destruction⑦・⑧ Inflowing sedimentplume to Lake Superior

Photo: NOAA

Photo: USEPA⑪ Stormwater effluent⑫ Industrial wastewater

Photo: USEPA⑨ Toxic contamination

Photo: NASA Visible Earth⑬ Smoke from biomassburning covering Lake
Victoria

Photo: NASA Visible Earth⑮ Increasing lake levels in
Himalayas due to glacial
melt

Box 1. The GEF-LBMI Project and Its 28 Case Study Lake Basins
GEF-LBMI Project stands for a Global Environment Facility Medium Sized Project entitled, “Towards
a Lake Basin Management Initiative: Sharing Lessons and Experiences from GEF and Non-GEF Lake
Basin Management Projects”. The Project was implemented over a period of 30 months (March 2003
through September 2005), being funded through a partnership of multilateral agencies, bilateralagencies, local government, and nongovernmental organizations. Twenty-eight lake basins wereselected for study in this Project, representing a wide range of climate conditions, sizes, problems,
political jurisdictions, and management challenges. The lakes include some of the major freshwaterand saline lakes in the world. Twenty two the lakes contain globally significant biodiversity. Twelve
lakes are national lakes; that is, their basins lie within a single nation-state. Sixteen of the lakes aretransboundary, with more than one country having jurisdiction over their basins or waters. Threeof these transboundary lakes (Lakes Baikal, Cocibolca/Nicaragua, Tonle Sap) lie entirely within one
country, but have other countries in their basins. (http://www.ilec.or.jp)

7

Figure 3. Case Study Lakes in GEF-LBMI Project8Unique Features of Lentic(Static) Water Systems
Affecting the Sustainabilityof Lake Basin Resources
Another Fundamental Factor Affecting Human-Nature
Relationships with Water Resources
In the broadest sense, lakes, wetlands and reservoirs can be considered “standing water” systems (Box 2). In scientific terms, standing waters are termed “lentic” systems, whereas flowing waters (rivers) are known as “lotic” systems. In general, because lakes usually have bothinflowing and outflowing rivers, a lake basin can be characterized as a complex combination ofboth lentic and lotic waters, with this distinction between the two being of great importancefor lake management (Figure 4). In fact, the occurrence and management of lake problems
is influenced by three characteristics of lentic water systems -- integrating nature, long water
retention time and complex response dynamics.

Box 2. Categorization of Lake Basin Types(a) Surface Drainage
Basin(b) Subsurface
Drainage Basin

Lake Constance Basin(e) Coastal Drainage Basin

Chilika Lagoon Basin(c) Transitional Drainage
Basin

Lake Naivasha Basin

Lake Malawi/Nyasa Basin(d) Closed Drainage
Basin

Issyk-Kul Basin(f) Mixed Flow Drainage Basin(g) Reservoir Drainage Basin

Tonle Sap Basin

Tucurui Reservoir Basin

9Figure 4. Nesting structure of watersheds consisting of lentic and lotic water bodies Lake Hussain Sagar, India

Long Retention Time: The water residence time of a lake gives an indication of the averagetime water spends in the lake. Large lakes with long retention time are able to absorb large inputs of floodwaters, pollutants and heat without exhibiting immediate changes. Large or small,lakes with long water retention time also allow for suspended materials to settle to the bottom,
thus acting as efficient sinks for many materials. Further, the long-term stability of older lakes
has allowed complex, often unique ecosystems to evolve. Although lake ecosystems are resilient when faced with stresses that have existed over evolutionary time scales, they can be extremely vulnerable to “new” stresses, such as the introduction of exotic species. The long water
retention time also means that once a lake is degraded, it can take a very long time – if ever
– for it to recover or be restored. It also leads to lags in ecosystem response that are poorly
matched to the human management time-scale.
Management Implications: Because the problems can build up and become noticed
slowly, and take equally as long to be managed, institutions involved in lake basin management need to be prepared to engage in sustained actions, with long term funding commitments. The implications of lake ecosystem vulnerability being affected for a long timenecessitate management with a precautionary approach.
Complex Response Dynamics: Unlike rivers, lakes do not always respond to changes in a
linear fashion. Figure 5, for example, illustrates a non-linear response (hysteresis) of manylakes to increases in their nutrient concentration. The consequence is that a lake’s degradation in response to developing pressure, suchas increased nutrient concentrations (frompoint A to point B), may not be apparent until the nutrient concentration is high, and thelake abruptly switches its trophic status. The
management difficulty for a decision maker isthat the lake cannot simply change from point
C back to point B. There are likely to have beenchanges to the ecosystem, so the recovery
phase can follow a delayed path from point C
through point D , and back to point A or a similar position indicating some degree of recovery.
Biomagnification, the increase in concentration Figure 5. An example of the complex responseof certain compounds (such as PCBs and diox- dynamics of a lake to human-induced impacts andmanagement interventions

10ins) in organisms as one goes up the food chain, is another important response dynamic withcomplexity (Box 3).
Management Implications: Complex response dynamics, particularly in relation to longwater retention times, imply that the problems need to be anticipated as far in advance aspossible through monitoring, development of indicators and analytical studies, while carrying out scientific explorations to unravel the complex processes and their implications.
Scientific studies may also help develop novel solutions to these problems.

Box 3.
Toxic compounds such as PCBs and dioxins are extremely soluble in fat. Therefore, they can remainin the bodies of organisms that consume them, and get concentrated in lower-order organisms thatare in turn consumed by higher-order organisms. The table below shows how the concentration of
PCBs increases as one goes up the North American Great Lakes food chain.
Biomagnification of PCBs in the North American Great Lakes.
Organism

PCB concentration relative to concentration in phytoplankton

HumansHerring Gull Eggs
Lake Trout (a large fish)
Smelt (a small fish)
Zooplankton
Phytoplankton

?
4960
193
47
5
1
(Adapted from USEPA and Government of Canada, 1995)

Integrating Nature: Lakes receive pollutant inputs from diverse sources in various forms
from their drainage basins and beyond. The inputs to a lake can exist in the form of atmospheric precipitation; flows from rivers and other inflowing channels; heat- and wind-induced
energies that cause waves; thermal energies that affect mixing properties; and land-based andairborne pollutants and contaminants, nutrients, and organic substances, both living and nonliving matter. The integrating nature refers to the mixing of these inputs within a lake so thatboth resources and problems are disseminated throughout the volume of a lake. There are important limits to in-lake mixing: stratification can prevent complete vertical mixing of water, andrestricted embayments can limit horizontal water movement. Nevertheless, valuable resources(fish; invertebrates), as well as problems such as floating plants and pollution, are able to movethroughout most of the upper parts of a lake.
Management Implications: The integrating nature of a lake means that many lake
resources, as well as lake problems, are shared throughout the lake. As a result, it is notsensible to subject different parts of a lake to different management regimes. This is particularly relevant to transboundary lake basins. A related consequence of their integrating
nature is that it is difficult to exclude users from accessing a lake’s resources. These properties require lakes and their basins to be subjected to adaptive management, utilizing
wide-ranging policy instruments.

11

Integrated Lake BasinManagement andGovernanceLessons Learned from the Global Lake Basin Management Experiences
The global experience of lake basin management encompasses a wide variety of lessons. Someare at early stage of resource development and the resulting degradation of their environments
is minimal. Others have been overexploited and their ecological services functions are sufferingfrom serious degradation. And still others have been introduced with measures for achieving
sustainable resource development, use and conservation. Regardless, the way in which thestress is exerted from the basin to the lentic body of lake water is the same, and a common andintegrated approach is needed to address these wide ranging issues in lake basin management.
As examples, the GEF-LBMI Project summarized the experiences from the management of 28
lakes as follows.

Figure 6. ILBM (Integrated Lake Basin Management)
ILBM is a conceptual framework for assisting lake basin managers and stakeholders in achieving sustainable
management of lakes and their basins. It takes into account the biophysical features of as well as managerial
requirements for lake basin systems, that are associated with the lentic (standing or static) water propertiesof lakes as well as the inherent dynamics between humans and nature in the process of development, use andconservation of lake and basin resources.

12

Importance of Basin Approach: Management does not stop at the lakeshore, but must
extend into the basin, and often beyond. The largest number of lake issues reported in the
project originated from their upstream or downstream basins.



Border Barriers (Transboundary Lakes) Must be Overcome: In principle, transboundary
lakes are more difficult to manage. In practice, however, there is good progress in establishingagreed plans of action and institutions.

Technological Interventions Can be Effective: Technologies can have dramatically positiveeffects on lakes, provided the root causes of their problems and their sustainability areproperly addressed.

Success Depends Heavily on Stakeholder Involvement: Degradation of the ecosystemservices provided by lakes results from unsustainable human interventions for resource
development. Sustainability can be best achieved when the respective stakeholders fully
understand and appreciate their respective roles regarding the problems.

Long-term Commitment is Essential: The long water retention time and complex dynamics
of lakes means that successful project outcomes are seldom immediate. Thus, there is aneed for indicators that illustrate both planning (Process Indicators), implementation (Stress
Reduction Indicators) and actual lake basin improvements (Environmental Status Indicators).



Monitoring Should Not be Overlooked: Long-term monitoring data sets can form the basis
for mutual understanding of lake basin management issues, thereby leading to cooperative
actions to address them.



Lake Basin Management is a Continuing Process not a One-time Project: Management
interventions at a lake basin usually first happen in isolation, often for non-lake related
reasons. Through time, however, the need for the integration of projects can grow.

The experiences learned from the GEF Project indicate that good lake basin management requires: (1) Institutions to manage the lake and its basin for the benefit of all lake basin resource uses; (2) Policies to govern people’s use of lake resources and their impacts on lakes;(3) Involvement of people central to lake basin management; (4)Technological possibilities and limitations exist in almost all cases; (5) Knowledge both of a traditional and scientificnature is valuable; (6) Sustainable finances to fund all of the above activities are essential.
These constitute the essential components of basin governance about which ILBM can provide
the overall framework for application (See Box 4).

Box 4. The Meaning of GovernanceAlthough there is no universal definition of governance, the differing definitions exhibit similarfeatures. Governance is seen as a process of interaction based on accommodation, rather thandomination. It includes both public and private organizations and their relationships. Governancealso is often considered as facilitating action, since it involves activities for resolving common
problems. Governance also puts emphasis on networks, flexibility and informal institutions. The
governance fabric also is dynamic, since it can take place from the very local to the global level.
This manner of characterizing governance is useful since it reinforces the notion that governanceis something very concrete, and determines who gets what water, when and how. Governancemanifests itself, for example, in daily interactions between local public official, citizens, communities
and organizations. Thus, how water is governed is critical for reducing poverty. Further, from theperspective of practitioners and private and public decision makers, governance means more whentied to the common good and to resolving common problems.
(In: “Developing Water Governance Capacities: Water Troubles are Governance Troubles,” Hakan Tropp, SIWI, Stockholm. Water
Front: A Forum for Global Water Issues, No. 2, June 2006, p.10)13§ Institutions: Developing Effective Organizations

Chapter 4

When the human population and industrial activity around a lake is minimal, informal and traditional institutions are usually sufficient to manage any problems that might arise. However, with
development, the need for more formal government institutions and research groups can arise(see Box 5). However, when state and national government policies become more important,local traditional societal measures often lose much of their function. Accordingly, the following
questions should be considered when assessing management programs:

Is our organizational structure correct?



Do we have the necessary legislative powers?

Have we formed alliances with all relevant organizations that must be involved in the basin
management effort?



Do we have good links to decision makers, and will they listen to us?

Has political will and commitment grown, or has it waned?

Are our capacity building and training programs effective?

What mid-course corrections are needed; Are there new skills, for example, not consideredwhen we started the management intervention?

An example from The GEF-LBMI ReportBox 5. Examples of Types of Different Agreements
VisionLake Chad. A Strategic Action Plan with a long-term vision (20 years) for the Chad Basin has been prepared with the assistanceof the Global Environment Facility (GEF). It was adopted by the member states in 1998. The Lake Chad Vision for 2025 highlights
a number of important issues needing to be addressed in the basin.

Memorandum of Understanding
Lake Champlain. The 1988 Memorandum of Understanding on Lake Champlain, and the Water Quality Agreement of 1993 signedby the states of Vermont and New York in the United States, and the Province of Quebec in Canada are examples of non-bindingtransboundary covenants. The MOU created a mechanism for the exchange of scientific information and encouraged cooperativeplanning for watershed protection. It established the Lake Champlain Steering Committee with diverse representation among thethree jurisdictions, as well as a role for three citizens' advisory committees. The MOU is a five-year renewable agreement that sets
the stage for the passage of national legislation and development of a comprehensive plan for the lake basin. This comprehensive
plan is still under way.

Agreements
Lake Peipsi/Chudskoe. The Agreement between the Governments of the Republic of Estonia and the Russian Federation on
Cooperation in Protection and Use of the Fish Resources of Lake Peipsi/Chudskoe, Lake Pihkva, and Lake Lämmijärv was signed
in Moscow on May 4, 1994. The agreement goal is to develop cooperation on the protection and joint use of fish resources in
Lake Peipsi/Chudskoe, Lake Pihkva, and Lake Lämmijärv. The agreement included the establishment of the Intergovernmental
Commission on Fishery in Lake Peipsi/Chudskoe, Lake Pihkva, and Lake Lämmijärv.
The Great Lakes of North America. The United States and Canada signed the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 1972.
Signed by President Richard Nixon and Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, the agreement does not have treaty status, but is abinational executive agreement that commits Canada and the United States to undertake specific actions to protect and enhance
the water quality of the Great Lakes. Not only does the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement address water quality issues, butalso the issue of multiple fragmented jurisdictions. To this end, the agreement established the International Joint Commission (IJC)
Great Lakes Regional Office (the only IJC regional office), with specific responsibilities for providing technical support, coordinating
programs, and monitoring implementation of the two federal governments under the Agreement. The IJC subsequently
established a Great Lakes Water Quality Board and a Science Advisory Board to carry out its mandate for the Great Lakes Basin.

Conventions
Lake Tanganyika. The Convention for the Management of Lake Tanganyika is a government-government agreement settingout the rights and duties of the four riparian countries of Tanzania, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Zambia thatsurrounding the lake. It establishes institutional structures for cooperative management, management principles, a GEF-initiatedStrategic Action Program (SAP), and related matters. The convention was developed through a series of regional workshops
bringing together senior lawyers and policy makers from each of the four riparian countries. The final draft of the Convention
was adopted by the steering committee (July 2000) at the completion of the GEF-funded UNDP Lake Tanganyika Biodiversity
Project (LTBP). The Convention was signed by the four riparian states on June 12, 2003, and is now being ratified by the various
parliaments. Once it enters into force (after ratification by at least two countries), the Convention will provide the legal authority
to implement the SAP and to regularly it on a regular basis as necessary.
Sources: ILEC/GEF Briefs for Lakes Chad, Champlain, Peipsi/Chudskoe, and Tanganyika, and the North American Great Lakes.

14§ Policies: Broad Directions and Specific Rules

Chapter 5

In most cases, development policies promoting fishing, agriculture, industry, etc., are the initial management focus, with lake environment preservation measures later becoming more
important. When environmental degradation exerts serious effects on resource development
and/or when people’s interests in protecting biodiversity, ecosystems, scenery, and historicaland cultural heritage becomes stronger, appropriate societal rules (direct regulation, economic
incentives, etc.) become necessary (see Box 6). Accordingly, the following questions should beconsidered when assessing management programs:When we developed rules, did we involve those who would be affected?

Do we have adequate resources to enforce the rules, or do we need to use another approach?

Are economic instruments likely to succeed in controlling the use of lake basin resources?



Do we have an environment that allows charges for use of lake basin resources?

An example from The GEF-LBMI ReportBox 6. Command and control (CAC) and Economic Instruments
Described in some of the 28 Case Study Lake Briefs.
Command and Control
Lake Basin

Standards

Bans/Quotas

BaikalLake water levelstandards

Timberharvestingbanned within
ecological zones

BaringoStandards forfishing gear;
Controls overtree cutting

Fishing
moratorium

Water quality
standards

Ban onmotorboats; Banon recreation
activities

Biwa

Water quality
standards forindustrial, urban
and agriculturaldischarges;
Voluntary
pollution control
agreements byfactories

Chad

Water quality
standards

Water quality
standards
Champlain for effluent
and industrial
discharges

Chilika
LagoonZoningSubsidies

Effluent
Charges

User Fees
for Natural
Resources

Fixed water
allocation
quotas between
countries

Aral Sea

Bhoj
Wetland

Economic Instruments
Licencesto AccessResources

Zoning under"Baikal law"
controlling
permitted
activities
Fishing
licenses;
Licenses
for water
extraction

Fees for wateruse

Foreshorezoning; Bufferzone between
settlements
andplantations

Subsidy towashermen to
move out of lower
lake catchment

National park
Detergent
with controls
phosphorus ban; over land use;
Ban on persistent Lake zones
organic
for recreation
pollutants; Banboating; Zoned
on invasive fish protection ofreed beds

Preferential
national
government
subsidy rates for
major prefecturalenvironmental
infrastructuredevelopment;
Compensation tofishermen for lossof fishery; Subsidy
for catchinginvasive fish.

Water usecharges(Nigeria)

Fisheries
licenses
Detergentphosphorusbans; Restriction Buffer zones
on emissions
for wetlandof atmosphericprotection
pollutants (USA
Clean Air Act)
Allocation
Shorelineof water forzoning (1 km)
environmentalof restrictedflows (to be
activities
approved)

15

Fishing
licenses

Licensingof fisheries
andprawnsDirect andindirectpayments fromthe downstream
water users

Agricultural
subsidies forriparian protection,etc.

§ Participation: Expanding the Circle of Involvement

Chapter 6

When fishing and agricultural activities are doneon a small scale in each village, direct participation of the population is possible. When theactivities and sources of problems go beyond the
local scale, however, the possibilities for directpublic participation can be lost, necessitating establishment of a regional mechanism (See Box
7). Thus, it is important to have a shared means
and/or place for the basin society as a wholeto address conflicts. Accordingly, the following
questions should be considered when assessing
management programs:

Do mechanisms exist for effective
stakeholder participation?

Do the mechanisms cover all basin stakeholders?



What changes have occurred in regard to awareness and understanding of the problems andtheir links to stakeholder activities?

What is the perception of the program’s stakeholders?



Is community participation sufficient?

An example from The GEF-LBMI ReportBox 7. Indigenous Peoples: Key Lessons from Lake Titicaca
Located in the Andes Mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru, Lake Titicaca is, volumetrically,
the largest high altitude lake in the world. Although year-round air temperatures on the highaltitude plateau are cool at night (8-10 °C) and moderate during the day, the lake has a moderating
effect on the local climate, leading to the development of unique plant and animal species, andthe establishment of indigenous communities. With the exception of mixed populations found incities and large towns, the general population of the Titicaca basin is comprised almost entirely of
Indigenous Peoples: the Quechua zone in the north, the Aymara zone in the center, and another
Quechua zone in the south. The Uro population also is located in some areas near the lake, including
the Puno area in Peru, in the Desaguadero River basin in Bolivia, and around Poopo Lake in Bolivia.
With the change from Spanish colonial rule to national rule, large tracts of land were taken fromthe indigenous communities to form properties controlled by new landlords. This system of large
haciendas remained until the application of agrarian reform laws in Bolivia in 1953 and Peru in 1969.
This history, spanning centuries, created hostility and distrust among the indigenous population thatremains to this day. Later policies to create an open market resulted in the reduction of prices for
agricultural products. In addition, government investments in infrastructure and services in cities
had a negative impact on rural areas. Nevertheless, the local population possesses a great desire to
improve livelihoods in the Lake Titicaca basin which, if properly directed, could yet produce positive
results for the people and the lake.
The introduction of exotic species in the Lake Titicaca basin, such as the Trout (Salmo truta) during
the 1940s, and the Pejerrey (Basilichtys bonaerensis) to Lake Poopo in 1969, led to the extinctionof native fish species and infestation of a protozoan parasite that affected 70 percent of the annual
native fish harvesting in 1988. These fish introductions had negative impacts on the socioeconomic
conditions of the Aymaras and the Urus, whose indigenous communities and livelihood patterns
depend on native fish.
Source: Lake Titicaca Brief.

16§ Technology: Possibilities and Limitations

Chapter 7

There is a potentially large role for technical interventions in development and protection oflake resources. Interventions such as seweragedevelopment (see Box 8), which are often usedin developed countries to address water quality
problems, face the problem of not having a sufficiently large base of people in developing countries to pay for the increased utility. Accordingly,
the following questions should be consideredwhen assessing management programs:
Will the infrastructure be effective overthe long term or does it need institutionalchanges?

Have we budgeted for infrastructure replacement costs?



How will we pay for operations and maintenance costs?



Are the effects of infrastructural interventions on the lake environment being considered?

Is the focus on addressing the root causes of the problems?



Are measures in place to deal with non-point sources?

An example from The GEF-LBMI ReportBox 8. Conventional and Advanced Wastewater Treatment in the 28
Study Lake Basins
The extent of sewage treatment in the 28 lake basins is related to per capita gross national income(GNI) and population density, as summarized below. The extent and degree of wastewater treatment
is indicated by the bold words in each cell (e.g., Low to High). The classes of treatment are indicatedas low = primary, medium = secondary, and high = tertiary. For lake basins with a low population
density and low GNI per capita (cell I-1), almost no sewage treatment is carried out. As both income
and density increase (I-2, II-1, II-2), however, conventional treatment systems expand, usuallywith bilateral funding. For high GNI per capita countries (III-1, III-2), even in sparsely populatedareas (III-1), conventional and advanced treatment are carried out, usually with central or local
government funding.
Population Density
GNI per capita

I) Low-Income Economies < US$765

II) Middle-Income Economies
US$765-9,385(1) < 100 persons/km2(2) ≥ 100 persons/km2

I-1) No provisionI-2) Low to medium provision

Lakes: Malawi, George, Tonle Sap, Issyk-Kul,
Chad, Kariba Reservoir, Tanganyika, Baringo,
Chilika Lagoon
Funding: Not currently planned.

Lakes: Victoria, Naivasha,
Nakuru, Bhoj Wetland, Toba

II-1) Low to medium provisionII-2) Low-to-high provision

Lakes: Aral Sea, Baikal, Titicaca, Ohrid, Xingkai/
Khanka, Tucurui Reservoir, Peipsi/Chudskoe,
Cocibolca

Lakes: Dianchi, Laguna de Bay

Funding: Partly funded by international
assistance.

Funding: Mostly by international
assistance.

Funding: Mostly by international
and/or central government
assistance.

III-1) High provision

III-2) High provision

III) High-Income Economies

Lakes: Champlain, North American Great Lakes

Lakes: Constance, Biwa

> US$9,385

Funding: By central and local governments.

Funding: By central and local
governments.

Note that sewage treatment is provided at Laguna de Bay through a private sector initiative for new residential areas and industrial establishments.
Source: “Possibilities and Limitations of Environmental Infrastructure Provisions for Lake Basin Management,” S. Ide, Thematic Paper, Lake BasinManagement Initiative.

17§ Information: Pursuing the Sources of Knowledge and Wisdom

Chapter 8

There are few lakes for which continuous, or even periodic, diagnosis and surveys of the lake
environment are carried out. Indigenous knowledge (e.g., where the important fish egg laying
spots are located), along with scientific study and investigation, play a key role in lake basin
management. Dissemination of research findings often accelerate social responses (see Box 9).
Accordingly, the following questions should be considered when assessing management programs:

What is the status of the knowledge base?

Is a monitoring system that can measure changes in key indicators in place?

Is the database sufficient?

What are the remaining key knowledge gaps?



Are the information management tools sufficient to be effectively deployed?

An example from The GEF-LBMI ReportBox 9. The Lake Tanganyika Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis
The Lake Tanganyika Biodiversity Project commenced in 1995. Its objective was to "...establish aregional long term management programme for pollution control, conservation and maintenance of
biodiversity in Lake Tanganyika." The main threats to Lake Tanganyika's biodiversity were identified
by the country representatives at a workshop held early in the project, as follows:• Unsustainable fisheries;• Increasing pollution;• Excessive sedimentation; and• Habitat destruction.
The representatives ranked the perceived threats in order of national priority. A preliminary
Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) was developed on the basis of this information, as well as
the outputs of a series of national review meetings. The preliminary TDA brought together the four
national review exercises and added a regional and transboundary perspective. The final TDA wasundertaken following the completion of the special studies programmes.
The TDA is structured as a three-level matrix with the four main threats to the lake, thetransboundary implications, the institutional problems and the general action areas constituting thefirst level (see Table).
Table: Level 1 of Three-level Lake Tanganyika TDA
Main Threat to Biodiversity Cross-Cutting Transboundary
and Sustainable Use
Implications* Unsustainable fisheries* Global loss of biodiversity* Increasing pollution* Excessive sedimentation* Habitat destruction

Cross-Cutting Institutional Problems General Action Items* Lack of resources* Loss of shared fisheries resources * Poor enforcement of existing
regulations* Decline in water quality* Reduce impacts of fishing* Control pollution* Control sedimentation* Lack of appropriate regulations for * Habitat conservation
Lake Tanganyika* Lack of institutional coordination

The second level has four parts; one for each of the four identified General Action Areas. Each partdescribes the problems that, when considered together, form the threat that the General Action
Area is addressing; the stakeholders that will need to be involved; the uncertainties requiring further
information is required; a Programme of Actions to address the specific problem. The third leveltakes each specific problem and its Programme of Action and identifies its timing; the key agency
that would lead a particular proposed Action; and the available human and material resources.
Source: “Lake Tanganyika: The Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis,” Global Environment Facility (GEF), Washington, D.C.

18

§ Financing: Large Sums of Money Are Not Always Necessary

Chapter 9

Although management measures require funding, the funding level is not uniform, and the
distribution must be a societal decision (see Box 10). The allocation of funds depends on how
various questions are being answered: how the values of the lake are being enjoyed and bywhom; who bears what burden; and how can public resources be secured? Naturally, financing,policy making and the methods of participation all affect each other. Accordingly, the following
questions should be considered when assessing management programs:

Can we spend the funds collected locally?

Do we have sufficiently strong links to the national government to obtain financial support for
major projects?



Are there globally important features in our lake basin that warrant international funding?

How best can external funds be used so that the fundamental components of management aredeveloped?

By focusing on these six issue domains, the conditions of management at each lake can be
Grasped, and the topics related to integrated lake basin management can be prepared. The lessons synthesized in the GEF-LBMI Report provide a foothold for an approach to these issues.

An example from The GEF-LBMI ReportBox 10. User Fees for Lake Dianchi, China
Lake Dianchi, located near Kunming, China, is the center of a major urban, industrial, and tourism
region. Pollution from industry, agriculture, and urban sewage is a major problem, and lakeauthorities have made major investments in sewage and wastewater control. In the year 2000
alone, authorities spent over RMB 340 million (about $41.5 million). To address the ongoing problem
of industrial pollution, the lake authorities have combined a pollution levy system with a loan/grant
program for installation of pollution control equipment.
Starting 15 years ago, old industries were charged a pollution levy if their discharges exceeded
the stated discharge standard. In addition, the 1988 Dianchi Protection Ordinance prohibits theintroduction of any new polluting industries in the Lake Dianchi basin.
Existing industries, when taking actions to control pollution, were provided with loans from thegovernment for the required investments. These loans were funded by a combination of theenvironmental pollution levy receipts, plus special funds allocated for lake basin environmental
improvements. As an added incentive, if it was shown that after the pollution controlling investments
were made, the industry could then meet the pollution discharge standards, the loan was converted
to a grant that required no repayment. By combining government investments, pollution levies, anda loan/grant program for pollution controlling investments, the authorities have begun to tackle themajor pollution problem facing this important lake.
Source: Lake Dianchi Brief.

19

ILBM Applications
Synthesis of Governance Components to a Coherent BasinManagement Framework

ILBM as a Planning Tool
All planning processes generally consist of steps to: (i) establish a goal (or a set of goals) agreed
to by the stakeholders; (ii) develop alternative strategies for reaching the goal; (iii) select thepreferred strategy on the basis of a feasibility assessment; (iv) implement the strategy, withmobilization of necessary resources; and (v) refine the strategy through monitoring and evaluation. While ILBM does not provide a prescriptive procedure, it does provide an effective analysis
framework, for example, to: (i) those with no plan for development, use, or conservation; (ii)those with only a sectoral plan for resource development, but no plan for achieving sustainability resource use; and (iii) those aiming to achieve greater levels of sustainability in lake basin
management efforts.

(i) Lake Basins with No Development, Use, or Conservation Plans
For lake basins with little exposure to human activities, preservation and prevention of problems
is a top priority. To develop plans for sustainable resource use and ecosystem preservation, an
assessment of the existing resource values, and the potential for development and possible
degradation must be carried out through sharing of information at the appropriate level. As examples, a survey should be carried out on the necessary institutions, policies, and participationthat need to be assessed in developing a long-term preservation plan. Technological interventions for development and/or preservation also must be investigated for possible future considerations. It is cheaper to use limited funds for necessary planning costs, rather than suffer thelosses to values that can result from resource depletion.

(ii) Lake Basins With No Comprehensive Conservation Plans
It is urgent to introduce the ILBM perspective for these lakes. The details depend on location,with continental, regional, country and local versions of ILBM being desirable. ILBM issues forthese lakes include: (i) sharing knowledge and information broadly among the various lake basinstakeholders; (ii) developing the necessary intuitional framework; (iii) a new policy frameworkthat goes beyond the existing sectoral approach; (iv), wide participation of stakeholders to attain balance in policy development; (v) investigation of the potential technological options; and(vi) possible restructuring of the financing mechanism. Because the various elements of ILBM
are integrated and goals agreed to, continuous improvement and flexibility are required.

(iii) Lake Basins Aiming to Achieve Greater Levels of Sustainable Resource Use
For these lake basins, a policy and institutional framework usually already exists for dealing
with the various development and preservation issues. For lakes that extend over multiple
jurisdictions, however, an integrated framework may not exist, or may not be functioning well.
Further, a means for resolving any remaining conflicts over resource use between upstream anddownstream users may not exist. In such cases, ILBM must be pursued with all the elements
considered (GEF-LBMI Report chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9), recognizing for each case that it is20

important to understand the most appropriate means to proceed and the need to be flexible. As
a comprehensive plan is being developed (GEF-LBMI Report chapter 10), flexibility and continual
improvement also are necessary.
For all the above lake cases, however, the viability of a management plan for a lake basin isstrongly dependent on aligning the plan with other, higher levels of national and regional plans
for socioeconomic development and environmental conservation. Further, the individual intervention projects and activities will have to be integrated over time into an ILBM framework thatcan gradually be transformed into a sustainable institution (see Box 11).

Box 11. Different Modes of Integration in Planning
Integration by Encompassing (Figure a)
Independently-developed sectoral programs and projects may be beneficially integrated into a
coherent and collaborative framework by introducing an encompassing framework. This integration
typically includes cross-sectoral integration across different government Ministries, and different
countries for transboundary lakes.
Integration by Unification (Figure b)
Projects and programs that arise at different times of the planning horizon may be integrated byproviding a post-hoc unifying framework. This integration typically occurs when new or more refinedprojects and programs are being introduced within a particular lake basin resource development orconservation sector, while older ones are still functional, but beginning to be outdated, if neglected.
Integration by Broadening and Evolution (Figure c)Some project activities grow because of early successes, expanding their spheres of operation
either spatially or sectorally. The management scope for the North American Great Lakes, forexample, has expanded from control of point sources of pollution, to toxic contaminants, to invasive
species and, more recently, to non-point source pollution.

21

ILBM will Continue to Evolve as
Lake Problems Continue
Toward Achieving Greater Sustainability in Global Lake Basin Governance
ILBM as the Basis for Lake Basin Management Evaluation Tools
ILBM is not a prescriptive planning procedure. Rather, it is a compilation of the lessons learned
from lake basin management experiences globally, synthesized to address complex planning issues using a basin governance framework that reflects the unique features of the lentic waters
as lakes and reservoirs. Since it is a product of compilation and synthesis, ILBM will continue to
evolve as we continue to learn more from other lake basin management experiences, and fromother perspectives of governance that have not yet been adequately reflected. Continuous efforts will be needed to further expand, and refine, the concept of ILBM for it to have significant
impacts on the future of lakes and other waterbodies facing serious threats of degradation,
particularly from human activities within their basins.
There is no doubt that lakes, whether natural and artificial, are important for human development and well-being, as well as the preservation of sound, life-supporting ecosystems andbiodiversity on our planet. Their resource values are numerous and provide many uses of different values to humanity, making their protection and conservation of special importance value
to humanity. Nevertheless, lakes and their unique characteristics and values have not yet
received the attention they need because we are only now beginning to appreciate the complex
interactions between lakes and their surrounding drainage basins, the latter being the sourceof most of the problems threatening the sustainable use of lakes, and most of which are human-induced and, therefore, require human solutions. The concept of ILBM, even while still
evolving, provides a powerful concept and tool towards achieving this goal. We have learned
much, and we have much yet to learn about managing lakes and their resources for sustainable
use. Nevertheless, we are taking major steps in this direction. Indeed, as stated eloquently in
the World Lake Vision, the first of the ILEC efforts directed to the goal of integrated lake basin
management, “…if we are able to use lakes in a sustainable and responsible manner, there ismuch hope we can meet the needs of the human and natural communities that depend on themfor clean freshwater resources, the key to life.”

22ƋƗƗƓŝŒŒƚƚƚőƌƏƈƆőƒƕőƍƓŒƈƑŒƓƘƅƖŒƓŕŒƚƏƙŐƖŒƚƏƙŐƌƑƇƈƛ