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Changing the behaviour of water users towards more sustainable practices is a necessary step in achieving water security. One way to promote such change is through economic instruments. Economic incentives involve the use of prices and other market-based measures to improve the way water is managed and used. They provide incentives to water users to use water carefully, efficiently, and in a manner consistent with the public interest. They have both positive and negative effects, rewarding users that recognise the true value of water and penalising profligate and anti-social use.

In order to achieve water security for an area, decision makers need to not only understand the physical resource itself, but also its surroundings and the possible impacts that their management decisions have on those surroundings. For that reason, a good planning process should include social, environmental, economic, and risk assessments.

According to the Dublin Water Principles, (1) water resources are to be firmly brought under the State’s function of clarifying and maintaining a system of property rights, and (2) through the principle of participatory management, the State asserts the relevance of meaningful decentralization at the lowest appropriate level. In other words, regulatory and compliance powers have, on the one hand, the responsibility to establish policies and regulations in relation to physical water resources, but on the other hand, also need to articulate how the people and institutions are in fact managing these natural resources.

In Marocco, rapid urbanisation has led to increased demands for quality and quantity of water resources. To meet the challenges posed by the growing water scarcity, Morocco has adopted an integrated approach to water resources management through mutually reinforcing policy and institutional reforms, including the adoption of a long term IWRM strategy. The key lesson is the importance of introducing economic incentives to water management. 

In the Danube hydrographic basin, agricultural practices continue to be the main source of water pollution. A pilot project “Best Agricultural Practices” was initiated focusing on e.g. nutrient management, conservation tillage and manure management. Awareness campaigns were initiated, training and education of farmers were emphasised. The key lesson is that these projects should be complimented by other technical and investment measures. 

Rapid urbanisation has led to widespread settlements of floodplains, resulting in widespread vulnerability of livelihoods. Since traditional approaches are no longer sufficient, a more integrated flood management approach was realised to adapt to changing social, hydrological, and environmental conditions along the nation’s major waterways. Furthermore, the Ministry of Water Resources prepared a national flood management strategy. The crucial lesson is that the key to flood risk management is learning to live with flood risks. 

Half of the land area of Tien Giang Province in Vietnam is exposed to annual floods and the other half to saline intrusion. Action was taken to formulate the National RWSS Strategy and efforts were made to make local communities aware of methods and approaches in harvesting water and well drilling that are cost effective and sustainable in their development. The key lesson is the value of appropriate planning prior to any project.

Clearing for logging, combined with expanding agriculture and palm oil plantations has led to increased flooding, and pollution of the Kinabatangan River due to pesticides and fertilizers. Working in partnership, the Sabah Wildlife Department and the WWF took action and have established the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary. The key lesson of this case is the value of starting with small-scale feasible projects before scaling up. 

The Chilika Lagoon was subjected to environmental degradation. Action was taken by the Chilika Development Authority through the application of GIS and remote sensing tools for monitoring and assessment of the lagoon, resulting in significant improvement of the ecological health of the lagoon. The key lesson learnt is how a clear understanding of the coastal process and the river basin is essential for restoration of a coastal wetland.