The overall goal of this report is tohelp water resources and environment professionals withinthe Bank and client countries use strategic environmentalassessment (SEA) to effectively implement the principles ofintegrated water resources management (IWRM). The reportcontains four elements: (1) a review of SEA support forIWRM; (2) an analysis of 10 case studies and four waterpolicies; (3) an in-depth pilot study of water sector reformin a developing country; and (4) a framework for enhancingthe use of SEAs in integrated water resources management.This SEA provides important lessons on the usage of SEArather than on the technical aspects of conducting them. Itillustrates how an environmental instrument can be used tofurther development and poverty alleviation as well asenvironmental protection by putting its findings andrecommendations in terms that are meaningful to politiciansand senior decision makers. This includes use of economicand financial arguments and linkages to national goals suchas poverty reduction and millennium development goals(MDGs). It also illustrates the importance of buildingsupport among a wider constituency than just the lead agencyand working patiently over a number of years to implementreforms. The influence of an SEA can be felt a number ofyears as opportunities arise to implement components of areform program. Finally, it clearly illustrates that an SEAneed not be costly or time consuming to be influential if itis focused on the core questions, builds a constituency, andpresents its findings in a way that is relevant to decision makers.
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