Avoiding disasters: The role of systems analysis and an integrated approach in water resources development

Sustainable development of the earth's limited water and land resources is of paramount importance, because of rising populations and often conflicting demands for these resources. Enormous capital investment has been made in developing these resources, but now there is irrefutable evidence that such developments have led to major resource degradation. This includes problems of soil-waterlogging, land and water salinisation and damage to ecosystems. This paper describes some of these developments and argues that an intergrated approach firmly based upon systems analysis is necessary to avoid mistakes of the past and to promote informed use of these essential resources in the future.