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The document describes 'The Adaptive Watershed' (TAW), a training program structured into three themes: understanding the watershed and its people, making informed decisions for an adaptive plan, and committing to inclusive management. The program emphasizes a "plan–do–check–correct" approach to manage interlinked land, water, and human systems, specifically integrating climate change adaptation and gender equity. It aligns its objectives with four Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation), SDG 13 (climate action), SDG 5 (gender equality), and SDG 15 (life on land). The curriculum guides participants through mapping watershed resources, analyzing stakeholder power dynamics, identifying climate and non-climatic stressors, and developing SMART key performance indicators for monitoring and evaluation.

The document analyzes the impact of governance on the implementation of the Robust Decision Support (RDS) process in Colombia and Peru. While both countries have restructured their water governance to be more inclusive, different institutional barriers hindered the process: Colombia's Regional Autonomous Corporations (CARs) faced capacity constraints due to broad environmental mandates, while Peru's fragmented system of national approval and local implementation created coordination challenges and marginalized local technical staff. The authors recommend formal agreements to secure staff time and the direct involvement of national data agencies to improve the success of science-informed water policy.

Botswana faces significant climate risks, primarily driven by water scarcity and rising temperatures, which threaten its water, health, agriculture, livestock, and forestry sectors. While the country possesses higher adaptive capacity than its neighbors due to its development status and governance, the government has not yet made climate change a national priority. Consequently, there is a lack of guiding legislation, strategy, and dedicated adaptation funding. Most current adaptation efforts are integrated into larger regional projects rather than national initiatives, and civil society engagement remains limited.

The report examines the fragmentation of watershed data collection in Canada, where varying methodologies across municipal, provincial, and international borders hinder a coherent understanding of watershed health. Through webinars and workshops conducted by the Canadian Sustainability Indicators Network (CSIN) in 2014–2015, the report identifies key obstacles such as imbalanced institutional capacities and the lack of standardized guidance for indicator selection. It provides recommendations for improving indicator frameworks, including the integration of social and economic data, the use of metadata to enhance comparability, and the adoption of staggered reporting to make information more digestible. The document also notes a tension between the desire for national consistency and the risk of using a 'least common denominator' approach that may sacrifice local data resolution.

The report assesses climate change risks for the Mpanga River catchment, focusing on the AEMS-Mpanga hydroelectric plant and water supply for domestic, industrial, and agricultural use. It finds that energy production is more vulnerable than water supply, with potential annual welfare costs from electricity shortages reaching US$98 million by 2035-2040. While water shortages in the Rushango area could cause annual losses up to US$188,000, the energy sector's losses dominate. Adaptation measures, such as improved water resource regulation and catchment protection, are deemed cost-effective, requiring only marginal reductions in losses to yield positive returns. However, implementation is hindered by funding gaps, lack of political will, and poor river flow data.

Botswana faces significant water scarcity and rising demand, yet its water governance remains centralised with slow institutional reform. While the government has adopted Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) principles and developed an IWRM-water efficiency (IWRM-WE) plan, implementation is hindered by outdated legislation, such as the 1968 Water Act, and a lack of a formal water pricing policy. The document highlights a critical need to shift from supply-side expansion—such as the construction of dams and north-south water carriers—toward water demand management (WDM) to ensure long-term sustainability and financial viability.

The report details a USAID-funded project led by the Stockholm Environment Institute to integrate climate change considerations into Colombian water management. By deploying the WEAP modeling system and a participatory RDS process in the Otún, La Vieja, and Alto Magdalena watersheds, the program built technical capacity within regional environmental authorities (CARs) and academic institutions. Key findings include the critical role of páramo ecosystems in maintaining dry-season baseflows and the potential for hydropower development to disrupt downstream wetland dynamics in the Magdalena-Cauca basin. The project emphasizes moving from 'conscious incompetence' to 'conscious competence' in climate adaptation planning through institutional capacity building and the creation of a professional community of practice.

The 'Ríos del Páramo al Valle' project (2012-2015) focused on enhancing the adaptive capacity of Colombia's regional environmental authorities (CAR) in managing water resources under climate uncertainty. By implementing the Robust Decision Support (ADR) framework and the WEAP modeling system, the project provided technical tools and capacity building across several key basins: the Otún, La Vieja, Alto Magdalena, and the broader Magdalena-Cauca macro-basin. Key outcomes include the identification of basin-specific adaptation strategies—such as páramo conservation in the Otún and wastewater treatment in La Vieja—and the development of new WEAP functionalities to model floodplain dynamics and hydrological alteration. The project emphasized a gender-inclusive approach and the creation of a regional community of practice involving universities and government agencies like IDEAM to ensure the long-term sustainability of climate-informed water planning in Colombia.

The report examines the intersection of domestic law, international investment law, freshwater law, and human rights law in the context of large-scale agricultural investments in Africa. It highlights how foreign investors often secure formal statutory water rights through contracts and treaties that prevail over the informal customary rights of local communities. The document emphasizes the increasing pressure on water resources due to population growth and climate change, particularly in Southern and Northern Africa. It analyzes the role of river basin organizations, such as those for the Senegal, Niger, and Lake Chad basins, in managing transboundary water resources. The report concludes that host states must integrate these parallel legal regimes to ensure sustainable water management and protect the human right to water.

The report uses the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) tool to project that Uganda's total water demand will increase from 408 million cubic meters per year (MCM/y) in 2010 to 3,963 MCM/y by 2050. Under a 'business as usual' scenario, total unmet demand is expected to rise from 3.7 MCM/y to 1,651 MCM/y. The estimated economic cost of these shortages in 2050 is 14,558 billion shillings (US$5.5 billion), though this could be ten times higher if income elasticity is considered. The most significant losses are anticipated in the Lake Victoria, Albert Nile, and Lake Kyoga watersheds. The report also highlights the impact of extreme events, noting that droughts in 2005-06 and 2010-11 caused losses of US$250 million and US$1,174 million, respectively. Proposed adaptation measures, including water harvesting, increased supply for production, and Integrated Water Resources Management, are found to be economically viable, with some generating a 10% rate of return even with minimal reductions in damage.

The report investigates water constraints in the Berg Water Management Area (WMA) and Saldanha Bay, South Africa. It finds that traditional linear planning—based on generalized growth percentages—fails to account for the 'stepped' water demand of large industrial projects, potentially leading to supply shortfalls between 2017 and 2019. The document argues for a 'smart' allocation model that links water productivity (GDP/jobs per drop) to resource allocation and explores a Water Exchange Network (WEN) to reduce freshwater intake by up to 15% through industrial water cascading. It also highlights that high salinity in the Berg River poses a significant operational cost and production risk to the steel processing industry in Saldanha.

The report highlights Lake Winnipeg's extreme vulnerability to upstream pressures due to its very low volume relative to its massive drainage basin. It argues that managing the lake in isolation is insufficient and recommends a transboundary, basin-wide framework that treats land as 'ecological infrastructure.' By implementing distributed storage and wetland restoration, the region can mitigate floods, capture nutrients, and buffer against climate change while supporting hydroelectric generation. The document draws on case studies from the Columbia River and Murray-Darling basins to illustrate how integrated water resources management (IWRM) and ecosystem services can balance competing economic and environmental needs.

The report examines the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus in Latin America and the Caribbean, highlighting how the region's reliance on natural resources creates critical trade-offs. It argues that while LAC is resource-abundant, fragmented governance and climate change threaten security. The document proposes a framework for action based on infrastructure, information, institutions, and investment to transition toward climate-compatible development.

The document advocates for 'no and low regrets' investments in the Caribbean water sector, which provide benefits regardless of climate change uncertainty. It highlights Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and the CCORAL platform as key tools for identifying and implementing these resilient strategies across policy, legislative, planning, budget, and project levels.

The report assesses South Africa's water-stressed environment, highlighting the dominance of agricultural water demand and critical challenges such as non-revenue water losses and a severe shortage of technical skills. It details the governance roles of the Department of Water Affairs and various grants available for municipal infrastructure. In the Western Cape, the report identifies specific projects like the Berg River Improvement Plan and various wastewater treatment plant upgrades as key areas of activity and private sector opportunity.

The report examines the water-energy nexus, focusing on the trade-offs associated with hydropower and bioenergy. It highlights the role of hydropower in grid stability and the water-intensive nature of bioenergy feedstock, while emphasizing the need for integrated water management and strict sustainability criteria for private sector investments, particularly in developing countries.

The document describes the complex network of national and regional institutions managing water in Colombia, highlighting the role of the IDEAM and the Corporaciones Autónomas Regionales (CARs). It identifies critical gaps in water resource knowledge—specifically regarding supply, demand, and quality—that hinder effective decision-making. To address these, the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) proposes the ADR (Robust Decision Making) process and the WEAP tool, which utilize the XLRM framework to model various climate and socio-economic scenarios, thereby supporting more robust adaptation strategies and reducing potential conflicts in water management.

The document details Rwanda's strategic approach to climate-compatible development, highlighting the 2011 Green Growth and Climate Resilience Strategy (GGCRS) and the establishment of FONERWA, the largest demand-based climate fund in Africa. It emphasizes the integration of climate goals into national development plans like Vision 2020 and EDPRS 2, and the importance of national ownership in managing climate finance.

The National Water Resource Strategy (NWRS2) outlines a comprehensive plan to manage South Africa's scarce water resources sustainably and equitably. It prioritizes water allocation reform to redress historical imbalances, emphasizes water conservation and demand management (WCWDM) to reconcile supply and demand, and proposes a significant institutional realignment, including the establishment of nine Catchment Management Agencies and Regional Water Utilities. The strategy addresses critical challenges such as climate change, water pollution, and infrastructure backlogs, while estimating a total sector investment requirement of R700 billion over ten years.

The National Water Resource Strategy 2 (NWRS2) addresses South Africa's status as a water-stressed country by prioritizing equitable water allocation, sustainable resource protection, and the implementation of water conservation and demand management (WCWDM). It proposes a shift from traditional engineering solutions toward a 'water mix' including groundwater, desalination, and water re-use to meet growing demands from the energy, mining, and agricultural sectors. The strategy details a significant institutional realignment, including the establishment of nine Catchment Management Agencies (CMAs) and Regional Water Utilities, and estimates a total sector investment requirement of R700 billion over ten years.