Understanding how river basins respond to socio-economic shifts, water scarcity or competition for water between different users?

Benchmark Basins are IWMI's field laboratories. Each Benchmark site serves the dual role of research and capacity building with local partners. Each basin is a partnership between IWMI and a range of local authorities, including ministries of water and agriculture, national research and university communities, environmental groups, NGOS, and - as relevant - local communities.

Partners come together to study the Benchmark Basin's hydrology, its institutional arrangements for managing water and land, socio-economic conditions, and health and environmental factors. This data is collected and analyzed to present a dynamic portrait of the basin's natural resources management profile, as it evolves.

Activities & objectives

Current Benchmark Basins:

• Ruhuna - Sri Lanka
• Rechna Doab (Indus River sub-basin) - Pakistan
• Olifants - South Africa