1. Inception Phase

2. The Inception Phase : Water resources planning are often triggered
by specific management problems such as
Water supply reliability or the threat of water quality deterioration.
Which parts of the WRS are studied and
under what conditions follows primarily from the objectives of the study (and from the available budget, data, and time).
However, these can change during a study.

3. The Enabling Conditions
In order to successfully carry out a good planning study certain conditions should be met.
Most of these conditions are external to the project activities.
This means that they should have been set before the planning exercise starts.

4. The Enabling Conditions
Enabling environment at national level:
national water legislation and national policies that guide the planning process and enables enforcement.
Institutional framework:
existence of water institutions at national and regional level with qualified staff;
in case of river basin studies, existence of some kind of river basin organization (RBO) at river basin level.
Management instruments:
availability of data, information, and tools that enables informed decision making.

5. Setting Up the Stakeholder Involvement Process
Which stakeholders to involve and how will depend on the specific
basin and the issues to be addressed.
In general two categories of stakeholders can be identified:
the people and organizations that will be affected by the plan; and
the people and organization that are needed to implement the plan.
In some cases a stakeholder analysis might be needed to determine the best stakeholder involvement process.

6. Defining Analysis Conditions
The base year for the study:
the most recent year for which basic data on the present situation is available;
The time horizon(s) for the study:
this may include short term (e.g., 5 years), medium term (e.g., 20 years) and long term (>25 years);
The discount rate to be applied in the economic analysis:
taken as specified by (e.g.) the Ministry of Finance or Economic Affairs, or by the financier of the planned investments (AFD, World Bank and EU);
System boundaries of NRS, SES— the components and the level of detail that will be included:
e.g., will the coastal zone be included in a river basin study?
are the results to be presented at local government unit level?
Time periods based on within- and over-year variability of systems processes and inputs
Scenario assumptions concerning factors external to the WRS, such as the growth of population, food and energy consumption and prices.
System assumptions. These concern factors internal to the WRS, such as the response of crop production to improved cultivation practices, or the effectiveness of price incentives on per capita water consumption. These system assumptions can be subject of additional (sensitivity) analysis.
Data, time, and budget constraints. Studies have to be executed within constraints of available data, time, and budget.

7. Objectives and Criteria
An essential activity is the translation of general objectives into operational objectives that can be quantified.
Objective 1: Provide safe water and sanitation for the people;
% people access to safe drinking water;
% people access to sanitation facilities;
Objective 2: Increase food production;
Irrigation area (ha);
Number of animal water points (#);
Objective 3: Support economic sectors;
Water supplied to mining (% of demand);
Water supplied to industry (% of demand);
Hydropower generated (MWh);
Objective 4: Protect the Environment;
Protected watershed area (km2);
Number of springs/sources protected (#);
Objective 5: Decrease vulnerability to floods and droughts;
Vulnerability to floods—average damage ($/year);
Vulnerability to droughts—average dam- age ($/year).
Objctive 6: Feasibility of implementation:
– Required investments ($);
– Benefit/Cost ratios