JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY WATER RESEARCH & EDUCATIONUCOWR Exploring the Government, Society, and Science Interfaces in Integrated Water Resource Management in South Africa

Most modern approaches to water resource management acknowledge that the entire river basin or catchment should form the basic management unit if water resources are to be managed effectively and effi ciently. In addition, since surface and ground water are inextricably linked via the hydrological cycle, it is also logical for water resource managers to seek to manage all forms of water as a single resource within the management unit. These two technical principles form the foundation for integrated water resource management (IWRM), and it is widely accepted that if they are implemented effectively, the outcome should be prudent water resource management within the river basin (Biswas et al. 2005). Another important component of the IWR