B4n SEA practice in water management
Ross Marshall, Environment Agency, UK
Sibout Nooteboom, DHV, The Netherland
Key issues to be addressed
Position Paper:
Water is a “hot” topic around the world. Its management, allocation and quality are vital for life and often form one of the most complex decision-making processes in national frameworks. The rise in environmental concerns, coupled with increasing social and economic pressures, provides a critical challenge to sustainable development, and a fertile area in which SEA can operate to promote equitable and strategic decision-making. There are a multitude of reasons why SEA will become increasingly important in this area
The objective of this workshop is to compare national approaches to the application of SEA in water management, in particular water supply management and flood risk control. We invite papers on the application of elements of SEA, for example: assessment studies and public participation in specific water catchments, tidal and coastal areas, and notably on how SEA can characterize the “problem” and water issues involved; SEA and management policies/plans/programmes for catchment areas; strategic choices made in water management and the role of SEA in making these choices; how SEA promotes debate; implications for sustainable development; and lessons to be drawn from SEA for other catchments
We are particularly keen to include contributions from professional water sector managers who have sought to utilize participative decision-making methods in their work, with or without the application of SEA, where it has resulted in strategic environmental decisions being made that are of interest to more general SEA practitioners. By specifying a preferred paper outline, we hope that comparable lessons can be drawn about what has worked in practice and how SEA can be successfully integrated within water management