KEY CONTENT FROM INTERNATIONAL PANEL DISCUSSION

Policy Forum 2022 on Regional Cooperation for the Integrated Water Resource Management: Looking towards the Future

"Many projects are trying to force new approach. However, there are also many challenges.

First, comprehensive data collection into each analysis is a key. However, it is difficult, for example, to estimate the water retention capacity of a forest.

Second, the construction of the new huge reservoirs takes a long time to coordinate land use and to build consensus.

Third, therefore, priority is given to coordination with relevant governmental agencies and private operators with large-scale facilities This hinders effective public participation, especially in policy-making such as land use policy."

"Despite such challenges, experiences from the Yodo River give us some useful suggestions.

First of all, it is essential to share vision of a sound water cycle in order to facilitate a multi-stakeholder approach.

Second, early public participation into transparency can increase the feasibility of policy implementation.

Third, Information technology plays an important role in promoting nature-based solutions and infrastructure.

Finally, adaptive management is required."

Prof. Dr. Noriko Okubo Graduate School of Law and Politics Osaka University

"Our entire program rests on the fact that to better manage water resources, countries need to be monitoring those resources in a systematic and accurate way as a permanent government activity. Then, they have to link this water resource monitoring to transparent enforceable water allocation frameworks. So, once governments understand what sustainable water resource use is, then farmer’s irrigation scheme managers and water user associations can be supported to increase their productivity under this sustainable water resource limit."

"We do have a sustainable diversion limit and we are trying to operate under that limit.

Regional cooperation is a really core element of the program. Our philosophy is that when countries better understand the water resources that they have within their borders, they are then in a better position to discuss the shared water resources within neighboring countries.

Now, the regional cooperative platform will not in its initial stages focus on transboundary water sharing. Instead, it will focus on bringing countries together around this shared water scarcity challenges. Because we think that bringing countries together to discuss what is working, what is not, and what lessons are we learning around these challenges that are shared, is a really good way to start to facilitate the necessary dialogues around water. It's also important to note that the regional cooperation will also work in at minister level.

We want to work from the bottom up and the top down o make sure that there is strong policy buy in and commitment from the very highest levels of politics."

Ms. Louise Whiting Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

"If we even just use that word “participation. ” There's a real spectrum of what participation is and what is the promise of participation. Are you being informed? Are you being consulted? Do you actually have an opportunity to influence?"

"To me, we are trying to normalize the liberation. We are trying to normalize a high-quality conversation between lots of different actors that have a right to be involved. Why are we doing that? Because that's better than just leaving it to someone to make the call, or the minister, or someone else. So, we're trying to create a constructive engagement environment so that we can have informed negotiations. "

"Compared to 20 years ago, I think the understanding of the system is much greater than it was. But often it has been a different universe between water governance and electricity governance in the