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IWRM Workshop 1: Measuring the Performance of RBOs and River Basins

Introduction

• Welcome to all participants and a special welcome to the RBOs who join NARBO for the first time: Yellow River Conservancy Commission, Vu Gia–Thu Bon in Viet Nam, Chu-Talas in central Asia, Baitarani RBO being established in India’s Orissa State, several new Indonesian RBOs, and other new NARBO members.
• Let us remind ourselves of NARBO’s objective: to introduce IWRM in basins, to develop capacity of RBOs, and to improve water governance.
• How well are we doing? What is the performance of RBOs in their work to introduce IWRM in their respective river basins?
• All RBOs in NARBO are committed to introducing IWRM in their basins.
• ADB has pledged to help introduce IWRM in 25 river basins in the Asia-Pacific region (see http://www.adb.org/Water/WFP/basin.asp).
• We want to know how well we are doing, because we all want to be successful.
• When NARBO launched its performance benchmarking service in August 2005, 11 RBOs signed up immediately. We then decided to pilot in 4 RBOs first and learn lessons from these before expanding to others. That is the reason of today’s workshop.
• For reference: the RBOs that announced their interest in 2005 included the Jasa Tirta 1 and 2 RBOs in Indonesia, as well as the Balai PSDA for the Jragung-Tuntang and the Jeneberang RBO. In Korea, K-Water for the Geum river basin. In the Philippines, the Laguna Lake Development Authority. In Sri Lanka, the Mahaweli Authority. In Thailand, the Bang Pakong and Ping river RBOs, and in Viet Nam, the Red and Dong Nai river RBOs.

What IWRM is, and what it is not

• IWRM is not an end in itself, and it is not a magical mantra. It is an approach that can deliver better results in solving actual water management problems in river basins, and improve basin performance, with a triple bottom line of achieving economic, social, and environmental objectives.
• IWRM is not static, it is more like an art of managing change in the river basin. Drivers of change are many, and include population growth, economic development, urbanization, dietary changes affecting water use for producing meat products, and climate variability and change. These are formidable challenges, to be sure! The next 15 years may see changes in water management we could not imagine before.
• Challenge = opportunity. There is no need for doomsday thinking. There probably will not be wars about water. Good water management is possible! Asia has tremendous knowledge and experience. We need to work hard and well, and we need the support of leaders of government, private sector and civil society. And we need to get better at making the ministries of finance and planning our partners and friends. We need to learn to speak their language and understand how they think.
• Dynamics + drivers + opportunities >>> Vision! We can achieve results by patient and persistent incremental improvements, flexibility and continuous learning.

RBO Performance Benchmarking

• Each RBO is different, no one model fits all situations. But RBOs across the region face many common issues, challenges, and can share solution strategies.
• What are the old and new paradigms for doing better? Old: ask an expert for review. Often expensive, and the report mostly ends up on the shelf because the RBO didn’t “own” it. New: do self-assessment (needs tool) and invite peer review. Take the drivers seat and take charge of the journey!
• Performance benchmarking is now increasingly used for public sector organizations in developing countries, including in the water sector (RBOs, utilities, apex bodies, others).
• So what is RBO Performance Benchmarking about? It starts with clarifying your RBO’s vision and mission. Then it looks at key performance dimensions. In doing to, the RBO is in the drivers seat. If you get a positive result, it is great to show your boss, and it is a great encouragement to staff! How about if the result is below expectation? Well, you received good guidance from comparison by peers, you know where you have to work harder and better, and you have a good justification to ask your boss for more resources.
• Summing up: doing performance benchmarking for your RBO is a win-win proposition!
• For a report on the results of the pilot testing of the RBO performance benchmarking and peer review, we will listen this morning to Arlene Inocencio of the International Water Management Institute, who has guided and facilitated the process.

Basin Performance Benchmarking

• RBO performance benchmarking tells us how well the RBO is doing. But how about the basin itself? How can we measure the actual achievement of IWRM? How can we tell the ministries of planning and finance which basin is doing better than others, and which ones need more investment?
• Basins are different, and so are the problems that need to be addressed and the solutions that will help. But, again, there is much that can be learned from comparison.
• To help RBOs and governments start such analysis, ADB identified 25 important elements of IWRM (http://www.adb.org/Water/WFP/basin-elements.asp), and prepared a generic roadmap for introducing these IWRM elements in the basin, with a score of 1-100 (http://www.adb.org/Water/WFP/basin-roadmap.asp). Refer to the NARBO GM Study Visit handout to see the application for Bengawan Solo river basin, where the RBO gave the basin a self-assessment score of 58.
• A new methodology for basin performance indicators has been developed in collaboration with Kei Saiki of the University of Tokyo and tried out in the Citarum river basin in Indonesia and Laguna de Bay Lake in the Philippines. Listen to the presentation by Christopher Morris, who supervised Mr. Kei Saiki’s assignment.
• IWRM is our goal, and understanding IWRM means knowing where and how to invest in the river basin, over the short, medium and long term! Invest in infrastructure, and invest in capacity development for effective water resources management and water services.

Facilitated discussion

• After the two presentations, we will hear more experiences and views from a distinguished panel of RBO leaders, peer reviewers, and specialists, facilitated by Ian Makin. Participants in the audience can contribute to that discussion!
• We will finish this morning’s workshop with short take-away messages (sound-bytes) from the panelists, a summary of reflections from the discussion, and some thoughts for reporting the way forward to the General Meeting tomorrow.

Dear Participants!

• You are the jury, you are the peers, you are the drivers of the process of introducing IWRM in your respective basins. Let us study the roadmap together, make sure our cars are in top condition, and that we have enough provisions with us, and a good navigator. And then… enjoy the journey, keep an open mind, keep learning!