Water monitoring : mapping existing global systems & initiatives : background document : prepared by FAO on behalf of the UN-Water Task Force on Monitoring, Stockholm, 21 August 2006

The long-term sustainability of water is in doubt in many regions of the world. Water use has been growing at more than twice the population rate, and a number of regions are already chronically short of water. Both water quantity and water quality are becoming dominant issues in many countries.
International coordination in monitoring the state of the world's water resources is necessary, in order to guide future investments and efforts in achieving these goals. Measuring the performance and impact of complex water-related programmes or initiatives is an essential task. Governments and donors are increasingly called to put in place a uniform and consistent system to monitor the impacts of water-related initiatives. A programmatic approach entails a continuous and ongoing process of aligning the programmes and expenditure allocations with intended outputs and outcomes, with regular midcourse corrections. Crucial in this process is mobilizing the required financial resources of donors and lenders, by showing them that the impact of water-related initiatives in poor countries can be reliably assessed and that their impact on human development and environment sustainability is notable.
Among the examples of consistent monitoring practices, that of the European Union emerges as a good practice. Having well understood the virtues of properly monitoring development policies, including in the domestic water sector, the EU features a long-established monitoring methodology and continuously assesses the results of the regional development policy, which would be worthwhile to adapt and adopt for use on a larger scale.
With definitions, findings and points of discussion.