Water for Development and Development for Water: Realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Vision

The inclusion of the Water Goal in the United Nations 2015 Development Agenda recognizes that water is at the heart of all aspects of sustainable development rather than being secondary to other sectors, where it risked becoming neglected and therefore no-one's responsibility. It puts water management firmly in the hands of the water and water-using sectors. This paper suggests that for all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be successful, a major shift in conceptual thinking about water management is needed. It must be recognized that there is no single approach for sequencing portfolios of investment to improve water security and that a high degree of flexibility will be needed to embrace the unique economic, social and environmental circumstances that will determine a nation's pathway towards water security and prosperity. Above all, governments must accept and embrace interconnectedness and take an integrated approach to water management. But the big question now facing many countries is how to best put an integrated approach into practice.