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Multipurpose river basin development typically involves the identification and use of both structural and nonstructural measures designed to increase the reliability and decrease the cost of municipal, industrial, and agriculture water supplies, to protect against droughts and floods, to improve quality quality, to provide for commercial navigation and recreation, to enhance aquatic ecosystems, and to produce hydropower, as appropriate for the particular river basin.

“Today, a simple turn of the tap provides clean water—a precious resource. Engineering advances in managing this resource—with water treatment, supply, and distribution systems—changed urban life profoundly in the 20th century, virtually eliminating waterborne diseases in developed nations, and providing clean and abundant water for communities, farms, and industries.” So states the US National Academy of Engineering on its selection of water supply systems to be among the top five greatest achievements of engineering in the twentieth century. But providing everyone with clean tap water, especially in urban areas, has yet to be achieved, even in developed nations. The world’s population is growing by about 80 million people per year, and is predicted to approach 10 billion by 2050. Over 50% of people on our planet today live in urban areas and that percentage will grow. As populations continually move to cities for improved economic opportunities and a higher standard of living and as cities merge to form megacities, the design and management of water becomes an increasingly important part of integrated urban infrastructure planning and management.

Water resources planning and management issues are rarely simple. Projects focused on addressing and finding solutions to these issues are also rarely simple. These projects too need to be planned and executed in ways that will maximize their likelihood of success, i.e., will lead to useful results. When decision-makers and other stakeholders disagree over what they want, and what they consider useful and helpful, the challenge facing project planners and managers is even more challenging.