A resilience-based framework for attuning integrated water resources management strategies in social-ecological systems of river basins

Recognizing water systems as social-ecological systems is essential for achieving effective Integrated Water Resources Management. Integrating this holistic approach with resilience management enhances the capacity of these systems to withstand climate and economic shocks. Despite the emergence of several resilience frameworks, few offer precise methodologies for practical implementation at the river basin scale. This study develops a novel framework, Resilience-based Integrated Water Resources Management (RESIWRM), that integrates ecological and evolutionary resilience principles with common-pool resource management to advance water governance. RESIWRM focuses on three key strategies: preventing threshold crossings, avoiding adaptive cycle traps, and preparing for soft landings. Its pilot implementation in Iran's Qaresou River Basin demonstrated the framework's capability for basin conceptualization as a multi-layered social-ecological system, highlighting the role of resilience assessment in identifying destabilizing factors and governance mismatches, emphasizing the importance of participatory self-organization and intersectoral governance, and promoting a shift from fixed policies to adaptive actions. These insights provide valuable guidance for policymakers and practitioners in developing diagnostic assessments and structured resilience management, paving the way toward sustainable river basin governance in the face of future uncertainties.