Releasing the Pressure

This policy brief from the Stockholm Environment Institute and UNEP argues that traditional measures of 'water productivity' are too narrow because they often focus solely on agricultural output (e.g., 'crop per drop') while ignoring the essential role of landscape ecosystem services. The document advocates for an integrated water resource management (IWRM) approach that balances agricultural needs with the maintenance of natural water storage and ecosystem functions to ensure long-term sustainability and human well-being.

• Current definitions of water productivity are often too narrow, focusing primarily on single-sector gains—typically in agriculture—which can lead to an imbalance with landscape ecosystem services. This 'crop per drop' approach frequently neglects the water required to sustain non-agricultural ecosystem services, which can negatively impact the production of these services across various landscapes.
• Water management strategies that mimic natural water storage (such as recharging groundwater or using local materials for irrigation canals) are preferable to 'concrete' storage. Mimicking nature ensures that water is not exclusively appropriated for agriculture, thereby sustaining downstream and groundwater ecosystems and avoiding issues like habitat change, falling groundwater tables, and regional conflicts between upstream and downstream users.
• Case studies demonstrate the trade-offs and synergies in water management. In India's Kothapally watershed restoration project, groundwater recharge nearly doubled and soil loss decreased by over 75%, but streamflow out of the watershed dropped by more than half, harming downstream users. In Zambia's Barotse floodplain, ecosystem services provided significantly more subsistence income (over 70% from fish catch and grazing) than crop production (15%), highlighting the high value of protecting wetland functions.
• Integrated water resource management (IWRM) can be an effective tool for managing ecosystem services by coordinating across basins and sectors to create win-win synergies. However, IWRM has spatial and temporal limits; it can manage river network flows but cannot manage global-scale phenomena such as the carbon cycle.

APA

Keys, P., & Barron, J. (n.d.). Releasing the Pressure. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Air-land-water-resources/SEI-UNEP-PB-Releasing-the-Pressure.pdf

Chicago

Keys, Patrick, and Jennie Barron. Releasing the Pressure. Stockholm Environment Institute, n.d. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Air-land-water-resources/SEI-UNEP-PB-Releasing-the-Pressure.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Keys |first1=Patrick |last2=Barron |first2=Jennie |title=Releasing the Pressure |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Air-land-water-resources/SEI-UNEP-PB-Releasing-the-Pressure.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{keysndreleasing, author = {Keys, Patrick and Barron, Jennie}, title = {{Releasing the Pressure}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Air-land-water-resources/SEI-UNEP-PB-Releasing-the-Pressure.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }