LearnMore

https://www.ilec.or.jp/en/pubs

KEY MESSAGES
1

Only slightly less than one percent of the freshwateron the Earth’s surface globe is in a readily-usable
form, with more than 90% of it being in lakes andreservoirs.

2

Lakes are very vulnerable to human activities andtheir overall condition is deteriorating on a globalscale. It is clear that lake clusters around the world areexperiencing tandem threats to their Human Water
Security and Biodiversity values.

3

ILBM is the only conceptual framework reﬂecting thelessons learned from global lake basin managementexperiences and the unique features of lentic watersystems.

4Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) canbest manage lakes for sustainable ecosystemservices within an Integrated Lake BasinManagement (ILBM) framework for lake basins.
More broadly, the concept of IWRM translates toIntegrated Lentic – Lotic Basin Management (ILLBM).

For

Mainstreaming
Lakes
and otherLentic Water
Systemsin the Global Water Agenda
Linking Integrated Lake Basin Management (ILBM) and Integrated Water Resources
Management (IWRM) to Achieve Integrated Lentic – Lotic Basin Management (ILLBM)

Lakes as Essential Componentsof Global Water Resources
Only about two percent of all the earth’s water is freshwater,
with the majority of even this small fraction being locked up in
the form of icebergs and glaciers, or locked far undergroundbeyond easy reach. And it is estimated that more than 90
percent of it would be in natural and artiﬁcial lakes. Thoselakes provide many uses for sustainable human livelihoods
and economic development, while serving as essential
habitats for a great variety of ﬂora and fauna.

For Sustainable Managementfor Lake Ecosystems

Total water
Freshwater contentWhat is Integrated Lake Basin Management (ILBM)?

Location of Fresh water

ILBM is an approach for achieving sustainable management of lakes and reservoirs
through gradual, continuous and holistic improvement of basin governance, including
sustainable efforts for integrating institutional responsibilities, policy directions,stakeholder participation, scientiﬁc and traditional knowledge, technologicalpossibilities, and funding prospects and constraints.

Surface Water
Lentic Waters
Lotic Waters

Distribution of surface water

Source: I.A. Shiklomana, ‘Global water resources’ in Nature and Resources, Vol.26,No.3,1990

Distributionof the world’s water

Global Threats to Human Water Security
and Biodiversity

What is the ILBM platform Process?
ILBM Platforms is a virtual stage for collective stakeholder actions for improving the basin governance through ILBM. The
extension of the scope of application, from a basic ILBM framework to a cyclic process framework, is proposed inrelation to the conventional planning and implementation processes as follows.
More
Sustainable
2. Identify issues,
needs and challenges

Human water
security threats
High Low

Lakes are vulnerable, and their overall condition isdeteriorating. C. J. Vörösmarty et al. have highlighted theglobal threats to Human Water Security (HWS) and Biodiversity(BD). The geographic pattern in the ﬁgure illustrates large,
nearly contiguous blocks where the HWS threat, BD threat, orboth predominate. Much of the developed world faces thechallenge in reducing the BD threat and protecting
Biodiversity, while also maintaining established water services.
The developing world often illustrates tandem threats to HWSand BD, posing an arguably more signiﬁcant challenge.

Six Important Elementsof Effective Governance3. Seek ways to strengthen
the governance pillars

Biodiversity
threats
Low High

Prevailing Patterns of Threat to Human
Water Security and Biodiversity

Source: https://media.nature.com/full/nature-assets/nature/journal/v467/n7315/extref/nature09440-s1.pdf

Overlapping the HWS and BD threats map with the location of lakes and reservoirs, illustrating the transboundary lakes
in the Transboundary Waters Assessment Programme (TWAP) efforts, there are numerous regions with highly vulnerable
lentic-lotic water systems, identiﬁable as lake clusters.

5. Continue effort, eventually toreach the long-term goal

4. Assess the governanceimprovements
1. Acknowledge the state oflake basin

Illustration :Future

Governance Linkages Within and Beyond the Lake BasinILBM can address multiple different sectors and also various basin scales. The horizontal linkage becomes an issue inrelation to the involvement of multiple sectors within a particular lake basin. For the overall sustainability of lake basin
resources, these different frameworks must be interlinked in some manner. Regarding the vertical linkage the micro-,meso-, and macro-scale basin governance elements are linked through the hierarchical nature of politicaldecision-making and/or government bureaucracy rules.

Village LevelPlatform

State Level
Platform

Multiple ILBM Platforms
may be horizontal linked
within the same basin andacross different basins.

Transboundary Water System and Lake Linkages

Horizontal Linkage Must Exist Amongthe Micro-Scale Basin Within a Meso-Scale Basin

District Level Platform

Platforms may be Verticallinked through governmental
hierarchy
Vertical Linkages of Lake Basin GovernanceLakes as Essential Componentsof Global Water Resources
Only about two percent of all the earth’s water is freshwater,
with the majority of even this small fraction being locked up in
the form of icebergs and glaciers, or locked far undergroundbeyond easy reach. And it is estimated that more than 90
percent of it would be in natural and artiﬁcial lakes. Thoselakes provide many uses for sustainable human livelihoods
and economic development, while serving as essential
habitats for a great variety of ﬂora and fauna.

For Sustainable Managementfor Lake Ecosystems

Total water
Freshwater content

What is Integrated Lake Basin Management (ILBM)?

Location of Fresh water

ILBM is an approach for achieving sustainable management of lakes and reservoirs
through gradual, continuous and holistic improvement of basin governance, including
sustainable efforts for integrating institutional responsibilities, policy directions,stakeholder participation, scientiﬁc and traditional knowledge, technologicalpossibilities, and funding prospects and constraints.

Surface Water
Lentic Waters
Lotic Waters

Distribution of surface water

Source: I.A. Shiklomana, ‘Global water resources’ in Nature and Resources, Vol.26,No.3,1990

Distributionof the world’s water

Global Threats to Human Water Security
and Biodiversity

What is the ILBM platform Process?
ILBM Platforms is a virtual stage for collective stakeholder actions for improving the basin governance through ILBM. The
extension of the scope of application, from a basic ILBM framework to a cyclic process framework, is proposed inrelation to the conventional planning and implementation processes as follows.
More
Sustainable
2. Identify issues,
needs and challenges

Human water
security threats
High Low

Lakes are vulnerable, and their overall condition isdeteriorating. C. J. Vörösmarty et al. have highlighted theglobal threats to Human Water Security (HWS) and Biodiversity(BD). The geographic pattern in the ﬁgure illustrates large,
nearly contiguous blocks where the HWS threat, BD threat, orboth predominate. Much of the developed world faces thechallenge in reducing the BD threat and protecting
Biodiversity, while also maintaining established water services.
The developing world often illustrates tandem threats to HWSand BD, posing an arguably more signiﬁcant challenge.

Six Important Elementsof Effective Governance3. Seek ways to strengthen
the governance pillars

Biodiversity
threats
Low High

Prevailing Patterns of Threat to Human
Water Security and Biodiversity

Source: https://media.nature.com/full/nature-assets/nature/journal/v467/n7315/extref/nature09440-s1.pdf

Overlapping the HWS and BD threats map with the location of lakes and reservoirs, illustrating the transboundary lakes
in the Transboundary Waters Assessment Programme (TWAP) efforts, there are numerous regions with highly vulnerable
lentic-lotic water systems, identiﬁable as lake clusters.

5. Continue effort, eventually toreach the long-term goal

4. Assess the governanceimprovements
1. Acknowledge the state oflake basin

Illustration :Future

Governance Linkages Within and Beyond the Lake BasinILBM can address multiple different sectors and also various basin scales. The horizontal linkage becomes an issue inrelation to the involvement of multiple sectors within a particular lake basin. For the overall sustainability of lake basin
resources, these different frameworks must be interlinked in some manner. Regarding the vertical linkage the micro-,meso-, and macro-scale basin governance elements are linked through the hierarchical nature of politicaldecision-making and/or government bureaucracy rules.

Village Level
Platform

State Level
Platform

Multiple ILBM Platforms
may be horizontal linkedwithin the same basin andacross different basins.

Transboundary Water System and Lake Linkages

Horizontal Linkage Must Exist Amongthe Micro-Scale Basin Within a Meso-Scale Basin

District Level Platform

Platforms may be Verticallinked through governmental
hierarchy
Vertical Linkages of Lake Basin GovernanceLearnMore

https://www.ilec.or.jp/
en/pubs

KEY MESSAGES
1Only slightly less than one percent of the freshwateron the Earth’s surface globe is in a readily-usable
form, with more than 90% of it being in lakes andreservoirs.

2Lakes are very vulnerable to human activities andtheir overall condition is deteriorating on a global
scale. It is clear that lake clusters around the world areexperiencing tandem threats to their Human Water
Security and Biodiversity values.

3

ILBM is the only conceptual framework reﬂecting thelessons learned from global lake basin management
experiences and the unique features of lentic water
systems.

4

Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) canbest manage lakes for sustainable ecosystemservices within an Integrated Lake BasinManagement (ILBM) framework for lake basins.
More broadly, the concept of IWRM translates toIntegrated Lentic – Lotic Basin Management (ILLBM).

For

Mainstreaming
Lakes
and other
Lentic Water
Systemsin the Global Water Agenda
Linking Integrated Lake Basin Management (ILBM) and Integrated Water Resources
Management (IWRM) to Achieve Integrated Lentic – Lotic Basin Management (ILLBM)