Evaluation of the water resource plans in Turkey based on sustainable water management principles

With increasing water scarcity, pollution, and other water-related ecological degradation, water reservoirs and their sustainable development are getting more attention in terms of planning and management. Turkey being under threat of water scarcity has faced ecological degradations in the water basins. Over the last years, Turkey initiated a comprehensive process of planning for the watershed protections following international agreements. This article aims to evaluate the water resource planning approach and management modifications in Turkey according to sustainable development principles. Therefore, it analyzes two main planning projects related to the water resources, including the environment plan and protection plan. In this work, the implementation structures of the two plans are assessed based on the primary factors and sub-factors of sustainable water resource management. As case studies, plans of five drinking water resources were evaluated in terms of their management strategies. The results show that the aspects of environmental pollution and stream health, administrative cooperation, economic restriction, activities determination in the protected zones, and sustainable agriculture have been addressed by plans’ strategies and requirements. However, some other aspects of sustainability such as land-use assessment, finance allocation, social rights, user and academicians’ participation, life pattern studies were underestimated in the implementation plans proposed for the water resource protection in Turkey. This work empathizes on providing connectivity between water basin management as a sector with the land-use planning and socioeconomic sectors and considering a specific position for water sustainability in plans objectives of national, regional, development, and spatial plans.