Environmental Flows in Water
Resources Policies, Plans, and Projects : Findings and Recommendations

The overall goal of the analysis
presented in this report is to advance the understanding and
integration in operational terms of environmental water
allocation into integrated water resources management. The
specific objectives of this report are the following: 1)
document the changing understanding of environmental flows,
by both water resources practitioners and by environmental
experts within the Bank and in borrowing countries; 2) draw
lessons from experience in implementing environmental flows
by the Bank, other international development organizations
with experience in this area, and a small number of
developed and developing countries; 3) develop an analytical
framework to support more effective integration of
environmental flow considerations for informing and guiding:
(a) the planning, design, and operations decision making of
water resources infrastructure projects; (b) the legal,
policy, institutional, and capacity development related to
environmental flows; and (c) restoration programs; and 4)
provide recommendations for improvements in technical
guidance to better incorporate environmental flow
considerations into the preparation and implementation of
lending operations.