What SDG6 is about: ‘sustainable management’ or ‘rational use’?

The paper describes the Global Water Partnership partner experience in the introduction of risk-based Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) into the Ukrainian water policy. We concluded that some proper ‘expressions’ and concepts have already been introduced into Ukrainian legislation, but not the accepted ‘meanings’ of such concepts as IWRM, Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and water security. The concept of ‘sustainable management’, in the Russian version of Water SDG6, is translated as ‘rational use’ but no one can explain why. We suggest that such a misunderstanding happened since Ukrainian decision-makers still perceive themselves only as water users who are not obligated to achieve any development goals. Therefore, they are quite comfortable with the existing normative approach to water management where the objectives are compliance with defined norms and ensuring water security, which is understood as an absence of any water risk solely to humans, rather than the environment at large. Keeping in mind that true science starts with measurable values, and recognizing that you cannot manage if you cannot measure, we propose to change this false understanding of water security and sustainability that is inherent in the outmoded concept of ‘rational use’. Such a shift is only possible by switching to a measurable goal-oriented approach and risk management in water policy.