Sustainability Indicators in Practice

5 Measuring Indicators For Sustainable River Basin Management

Dorice Agol

5.1 Introduction

River basins are complex socio-ecological systems that reflect interactions between humans and their environment as well as multiple interests and activities. Subsequently, sustainable river basin management calls for an integrated approach requiring a balance between social equity, economic efficiency and environmental sustainability (e.g.Gallego-Ayala and Juízo 2012). This is to maintain the various ecosystem services that river basins provide, which range from provision of water supplies for domestic, hydropower and irrigation to regulatory, supporting and cultural/aesthetic benefits (Grossman, 2012; Comino et al., 2014; Fu et al., 2014). However, experiences ...