Concept for a Watershed Risk and Sustainability Assessment Methodology

Increasing water stress in many parts of the world affects communities, businesses and ultimately entire economies, threatening their sustainable development. Against this backdrop, the Federal German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) funded the six-year African Water Stewardship Initiative (AWSI) programme which was implemented by GIZ. The AWSI had the goal to increase the capacity of water users to adapt to effects of climate change through the participation of the private sector in the reduction of shared water risks. However, at the time, there was a lack of credible tools and approaches for assessing such shared water risks at the watershed level.

In this context, GIZ contracted adelphi to develop the basis for an internationally recognized methodology for the assessment of shared water risks. This methodology comprised a set of tools and training programmes for the participatory assessment and evaluation of risks. The output of the project was a review and evaluation of existing approaches and tools on this subject. On this basis, GIZ developed an appropriate watershed risk and sustainability assessment methodology that helps to trigger collective action and validates agreed actions and measures. As part of this, quantification approaches for water risks at the watershed level and the assessment of costs and benefits of risk mitigation options played an important role in the review.