A Review of IUWM Approach to Address Urban Water Challenges Faced by a Developing Country

Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM) has gained worldwide popularity for improving urban water supply systems through a more coordinated, responsive, and holistic approach. While urban water supply systems worldwide face many common challenges, developing countries like India face distinct challenges. These include high dependence on external water sources, interstate water conflicts, intermittent supply, inadequate infrastructures, and financial constraints. Moreover, the performance of the IUWM approach to the challenges varies locally. Insights from cities that have implemented IUWM can provide valuable lessons for improving India’s urban water supply system. This paper’s novelty lies in identifying distinct challenges faced by developing regions and analysing how IUWM can be tailored to address them, highlighting its feasibility, benefits, and implementation hurdles. Firstly, the study presents a content analysis of scientific literature on urban water supply system challenges worldwide, especially in India. Secondly, it examines the potential of IUWM reported worldwide. IUWM typically requires system planning and design, decision-support tools, and effective management. However, no universal solution exists as IUWM focuses on context-specific local-based solutions rather than one-size-fits-all. Despite its potential benefits such as ensuring reliable, robust, and self-sufficient urban water supply systems, implementing IUWM in India presents challenges. These include infrastructure financing, implemented scheme management, cost recovery of innovative designs, coordination between several decision-makers, and social acceptance. Finally, the paper highlights the need for future research on IUWM approach to address challenges specific to Indian urban water supply systems.