Towards sustainable development of still water resources

Evidence suggests a net decline in the quality and quantity of still waters over most of the developed world. A strategy predicated on merely ‘sustaining’ them as isolated resources is ultimately unsustainable. True sustainable development takes account of the ecological, social and economic values of still waters within the context of living catchments. Catchment management has begun to move thinking about water management ‘upstream’, towards causes and integrated solutions, rather than local amelioration of ‘downstream’ effects. Application of systems thinking, which focuses on holistic dynamic systems and the factors that influence them, offers a powerful means to extend this ‘upstream’ thinking. This includes, as an important component, a movement towards cyclical resource utilisation and away from linear flows based on a mine-use-dispose ethos. ‘The Natural Step’ presents a generic yet science-based framework to support decision-makers across the diversity of sectors of society that influence the water cycle, and which ultimately affect still waters. It is rooted in systems thinking, taking the biospheric system of matter and energy cycling as its frame of reference, yet presents these as simple and readily-comprehensible "rules" that are powerful through their very simplicity and generic applicability. Application of ‘The Natural Step’ systems thinking to complex and diverse problems affecting still waters offers high-level insight, comprehensible to decision-makers in all sectors of society, which may potentially lead to cost-effective and sustainable solutions.