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EXIS 264 No. of Pages 6

The Extractive Industries and Society xxx (2016) xxx–xxx

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The Extractive Industries and Society

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/exis

Original article

Catchment-based water management in the mining industry:

Challenges and solutions
Nadja C. Kunz*
Swiss Federal Institute for Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), Überlandstrasse 133, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history:
Received 6 March 2016 The mining industry’s aspirations towards a catchment-based water management approach have
Received in revised form 27 October 2016 similarities with the concept of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) which has been
Accepted 27 October 2016 committed to by many governments around the world. However IWRM has proved challenging to
Available online xxx implement in practice. This paper considers the question: Which challenges are mining companies likely to
face when implementing a catchment-based approach at a mine site level? Drawing on lessons from the
Keywords: IWRM literature, it is argued that three coordination challenges must be overcome: fit, horizontal
Governance interplay, and vertical interplay. The problem of fit arises because the boundaries of mining leases do not
Collaboration
align with water catchments, necessitating collaboration between companies to manage cumulative
Cumulative impacts
impacts. Problems of horizontal interplay arise because mining sites are typically one of several water
Water stewardship
Private sector users within a catchment, requiring that they liaise with diverse stakeholders to understand the multiple
values provided by water. Problems of vertical interplay arise across organizational levels and require
alignment between corporate and site priorities. Drawing on examples from Australia, Mongolia and
Germany, each coordination challenge is described, mechanisms for overcoming each challenge are
discussed, and the paper concludes with future research directions.
ã 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction Water Stewardship Framework (ICMM, 2014b) which encourages

In 2015, the World Economic Forum ranked water crises as the
top global systemic risk in terms of impact (World Economic
Forum, 2015). Historically, mining companies had limited engage-
ment in water management and policy, primarily negotiating with
governments to secure access to the water needed for operations
(Kunz and Moran, 2014). However the responsible use and
management of water are now a crucial component of sustain-
ability strategy and a key performance indicator within sustain-
ability reports (BHP Billiton, 2012; Rio Tinto Alcan, 2011).
Most of the water goals currently articulated by mining
companies focus on eco-efficiency initiatives within the mine-
lease boundary, e.g. reducing the overall volume of freshwater
consumed and increasing the use and reuse of low quality water.
However, there is growing pressure for companies to adopt a
proactive role in addressing water management challenges beyond
their operational fence line (Barrett, 2009; Kemp et al., 2010; Kunz
and Moran, 2014). This is most recently reflected in ICMM’s 2014
* Current address: Adjunct Fellow, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University
of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia.
E-mail address: nadjakunz1@gmail.com (N.C. Kunz).
member companies to “Understand the social, cultural, economic
and environmental value of water at the catchment scale to identify
material water stewardship risks and provide context for corporate
and operational water management”. The adoption of a “watershed”
or “catchment-based” approach is also promoted by business
associations, NGOs and UN agencies beyond the mining industry
(IPIECA, 2013; UN Global Compact, 2011; WBCSD, 2013).
While these aspirations represent a positive step towards
greater accountability by mining companies on water issues,
challenges may be faced when implementing a catchment-based
approach at the mine site level. In particular, there are similarities
with the concept of Integrated Water Resources Management
(IWRM), which has been committed to by many governments
around the world (Pollard and du Toit, 2008; Sullivan, 2014).
However, despite its international prominence, critics contend that
IWRM has not been implemented effectively (Biswas, 2008; Hering
and Ingold, 2012; Rahaman and Varis, 2005).
In this paper, I argue that similarities between the mining
industry’s aspiration towards a catchment-based approach and
those of IWRM suggest that analogous coordination challenges
could be faced as well as resolved in implementation. An agenda

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2016.10.012
2214-790X/ã 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Please cite this article in press as: N.C. Kunz, Catchment-based water management in the mining industry: Challenges and solutions, Extr. Ind.
Soc. (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2016.10.012
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for future research is outlined, highlighting key research questions
to address.
2. Coordination challenges associated with IWRM
The importance of adopting an “integrated” approach to water
management was recognized as early as 1977 during the UN
Conference on Water in Mar del Plata, Argentina (Rahaman and
Varis, 2005). However, it was not until 1992 that IWRM gained
prominence in the international community as part of the Rio de
Janeiro Summit and the Dublin Conference (Gallego-Ayala, 2013).
During the Dublin conference, four guiding principles were
developed which strongly influenced the future evolution of the
IWRM concept (Rahaman and Varis, 2005):
- Principle one recognized fresh water as a finite, vulnerable, and
essential resource, and suggested that water should be managed
in an integrated manner.
- Principle two suggested a participatory approach, involving
users, planners, and policymakers, at all levels of water
development and management.
- Principle threerecognized women’s central role in the provision,
management, and safeguarding of water.
- Principle four suggested that water should be considered as an
economic good.
Today, the most common definition for IWRM is that proposed
by the Technical Advisory Committee of the Global Water
Partnership – “a process which promotes the coordinated develop-
ment and management of water, land and related resources, in order
to maximize the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable
manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems”
(GWP-TAC, 2000) – which was promoted during the Johannesburg
World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 (Rahaman and
Varis, 2005). As a result of these and subsequent international
conferences, many governments around the world have strategi-
cally incorporated some IWRM concepts as part of their national
and regional strategies (Pollard and du Toit, 2008; Sullivan, 2014).
However, there have been strong criticisms of the IWRM-based
approaches, including their failure to define exactly what needs to
be integrated and to establish the scale at which action should
focus (Hering and Ingold, 2012; Kunz and Moran, 2014).
To be successful, some have argued that IWRM-based
approaches must overcome three coordination challenges (Horle-
mann and Dombrowsky, 2012; Moss, 2004, 2012): (1) problems of
fit (managing water resources within river basins); (2) problems of
horizontal interplay (integrating between the different sectors
which use water); and (3) problems of vertical interplay
(coordinating across administrative levels). These problems are
discussed in turn below.
The problem of fit arises because political boundaries rarely
align with physiographic features (Bréthaut and Pflieger, 2013;
Horlemann and Dombrowsky, 2012; Liefferink et al., 2011;
Sullivan, 2014). For example, Mongolia has 29 river basins and
the majority transverse provincial borders. Many decisions about
water-related issues are made within provincial boundaries
leading to fears of negative externalities at the basin scale
(Horlemann and Dombrowsky, 2012). “Externalities” arise when
an institution causes unintended consequences (either harm or
benefit) to others beyond their region of accountability (Moss,
2004). Examples of harm could include water pollution or aquifer
depletion; a benefit may entail an increase in water availability due
to investment in regional infrastructure. Moss (2012) discusses
two models used to address these problems related to fit: (1) a
“hard” solution involving the establishment of a new, centralized
river basin commission (RBC) with extensive executive power; or
Please cite this article in press as: N.C. Kunz, Catchment-based water management in the mining industry: Challenges and solutions, Extr. Ind.
Soc. (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2016.10.012
(2) a “soft” solution whereby procedures are developed for already
established institutions to reach agreement with one another. An
example of the former is the Murray Darling Basin Authority which
manages water resources across five states and territories in
Australia (MDBA, 2015). An example of the latter is the
implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) in
Germany wherein river basin management is achieved through a
formalized process of negotiation between the country’s 16 state
jurisdictions (Moss, 2012). Although these models address some of
the problems of fit, they face a challenge because they lack the
legitimacy and authority of democratically elected bodies of
government, decreasing their ability to achieve effective outcomes
(Moss, 2012). In Australia, progressively “harder” institutional
responses were implemented in an effort to improve water
governance of the Murray Darling Basin. In the 1990s, Australian
state and territory governments (via COAG, the Coalition of
Australian Governments) negotiated “soft” intergovernmental
agreements on water reforms, including commitments to change
policies around water trading and pricing (Connell and Grafton,
2011). However the implementation of these reforms was poor,
leading to gradually “harder” responses, first through the
establishment of the National Water Initiative in 2004, and later
by the Water Act in 2007 that explicitly stipulated establishment of
a Murray-Darling Basin Plan (Connell and Grafton, 2011).
Problems of horizontal interplay arise between institutions at
the same level; for example, between different water-using sectors
such as agriculture and industry, or between the administrative
offices responsible for water quality and quantity management
(Moss, 2012). This is evidenced in Mongolia and Australia. In the
former, at least six different ministries have some accountability
over water-related issues (Horlemann and Dombrowsky, 2012). To
address the problem of horizontal interplay, Mongolia established
a National Water Committee (NWC) to coordinate activities
between ministries (Horlemann and Dombrowsky, 2012). Similar-
ly, the National Water Commission in Australia led the implemen-
tation of water reform on issues of national significance including
achieving sustainable water use in over-allocated or water stressed
systems, expanding trade in water rights and better managing
urban water demands (Australian Government, 2015). However, as
with RBCs, water commissions can face challenges to influence the
ministries and associated government agencies which hold formal
decision making authority (Horlemann and Dombrowsky, 2012).
Their effectiveness is further constrained by their reliance on
government funding. In Australia, changes in government priori-
ties have resulted in funding cuts to key water and climate change
programs, which could intensify water security concerns in future
(Hannam, 2016).
Problems of vertical interplay arise across institutional levels –
e.g. between local, municipal and national governments (Horle-
mann and Dombrowsky, 2012). According to the principle of
“subsidiarity”, decisions within a political system should be dealt
with at the lowest level possible and should only be delegated to
higher levels if it will lead to more effective outcomes (Jordan and
Jeppesen, 2000). While this appears to be a sensible approach for
optimizing the use of resources, implementation is not this
straightforward in practice because it can be “difficult to
differentiate the costs and benefits of acting at different levels”
(Jordan and Jeppesen, 2000). Furthermore, when managing
environmental issues such as water systems, there can be a strong
argument for delegating responsibilities to high administrative
levels in order to avoid “externalities” (i.e. unintended impacts on
others beyond their accountability) at the basin scale (Horlemann
and Dombrowsky, 2012). One such example is evidenced by the
Australian water reforms described earlier that represent a gradual
shift of power away from states and territories and towards
national government.
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3. Implementing a catchment approach within the mining
sector: an analytical framework for identifying challenges and
solutions
The mining industry aspires to a catchment-based approach
along the lines of the IWRM “soft” solutions whereby industry
associations such as the ICMM are encouraging companies to
integrate best practice guidelines into their water management
strategies. I therefore hypothesize that analogous coordination
challenges could be faced during implementation. Research into
the communication structures between employees within mining
companies has already revealed evidence of silos across organiza-
tional departments and management levels, posing an issue for
achieving system-wide efficiencies in whole-of-site problems
including water (Kunz, 2013; Mitchell et al., 2014). This challenge
is likely to intensify beyond the mine lease boundary because the
water balance becomes more complex and the stakeholders more
diverse. The problems of fit, horizontal interplay and vertical
interplay offer a valuable lens for identifying potential coordina-
tion challenges faced by internal mine lease and external stake-
holders as well as how one might develop mechanisms to
overcome them.
3.1. Catchment approaches in the mining sector and the problem of fit
The problem of fit arises because mine lease boundaries do not
align with the boundaries of water catchments (Fig. 1). Research
has highlighted the cumulative impacts that manifest at regional
scales due to multiple mining operations (Boutilier and Black,
2013; Franks et al., 2010, 2013; Porter et al., 2013; Sonter et al.,
2013). For example, in their study of coal mining regions in
Australia, Franks et al. (2010) concluded that “the compounding
impacts of multiple mining operations have stretched environmental,
social, human and economic systems and rendered conventional
mine-by-mine governance approaches ineffective”.
A solution to addressing cumulative impacts in the mining
context is to ensure that management interventions focus on the
appropriate system boundary – i.e. with an emphasis on receiving
entities (e.g. surface water, groundwater) rather than individual
projects (Franks et al., 2013). As an example, Table 1 compares
traditional responses for managing water quality with emerging
best practice in the Australian context. Data availability represents
a significant challenge for quantifying and managing cumulative
impacts within resource regions. For example, Franks et al. (2010)
found that proponents faced challenges in assessing the cumula-
tive impacts of multiple coal mines because data were either not
available, or datasets were incomparable. In such circumstances, it
is incumbent on governments to establish regional databases and
consistent reporting guidelines. Industry associations such as
ICMM might also play an important role in establishing reporting
guidelines for voluntary disclosure by companies. The Minerals
Fig. 1. The problem of fit arises because the boundaries of water catchments do not
align with mine lease boundaries.
Please cite this article in press as: N.C. Kunz, Catchment-based water management in the mining industry: Challenges and solutions, Extr. Ind.
Soc. (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2016.10.012
3
Council of Australia’s Water Accounting Framework, which was
developed to improve the consistency of water accounting and
reporting by the Australian minerals industry (Danoucaras et al.,
2014), provides one such example.
3.2. Catchment approaches in the mining sector and the problem of
horizontal interplay
The problem of horizontal interplay arises because mining sites
are only one of several types of users within a water catchment,
and their actions are regulated by governments. Mining sites must
therefore engage with other sectors including communities,
indigenous communities, civil society, and regulators to under-
stand and manage their impacts on surrounding water systems
(Barrett, 2009) (Fig. 2).
The mining industry has a poor history of external engagement
with stakeholders and mining-community conflicts have contin-
ued rising over the last decade (Hodge, 2014). A recent review of 50
company-community conflicts within the industry identified
environmental issues as the most common proximate, i.e. “those
that the parties to conflict presented as the central issues in dispute”
(Franks et al., 2014). Project delays owing to conflicts result in
substantial costs which in some cases have been estimated at US
$20 million per week in net present value terms (Franks et al.,
2014). Multi-stakeholder platforms offer a means for improving
collaboration and may involve different configurations of industry,
government and civic society actors (Boutilier and Black, 2013;
Kunz, 2014; Porter et al., 2013). A major challenge for these
platforms is to establish legitimacy of the regulatory regime, with
research suggesting that regimes have higher legitimacy if they
involve shared responsibility between at least two sectors
(Boutilier and Black, 2013).
3.3. Catchment approaches in the mining sector and the problem of
vertical interplay
The problem of vertical interplay arises due to a disconnect
across organizational levels (e.g. CEO to operator) such that
corporate water strategies are often not well implemented at the
mine site level (Ringwood, 2006). Fig. 3 suggests that this problem
would also manifest at higher organizational levels, and anecdotal
discussions with representatives from industry associations
confirms this suboptimal outcome does come to pass.
There are two potential solutions to addressing the problem of
vertical interplay. First, intermediary brokers can be used to
coordinate across organizational levels. For example, within the
broader field of organizational strategy, it is argued that middle
management should act as “linking pins” to connect the priorities
of operators (at the tactical level) with the interests of their
superiors (who focus on strategy) (Shi et al., 2009). Second, water-
related priorities should be delegated to an appropriate organiza-
tional level (also consistent with the concept of subsidiarity which
was discussed earlier). Kunz et al. (2013) explored the challenge of
implementing an integrated water strategy on a mining site and
found that water issues were often not matched at the appropriate
decision making level. This stemmed from one of two (incorrect)
assumptions: (1) all water issues are simple and can be delegated
to the environmental officer (resulting in “overwhelming compli-
catedness”) or (2) all water issues are complex and need to be
delegated to high levels (resulting in the “holism panacea”). It is
therefore important that mining companies explicitly acknowl-
edge that water is not strictly an environmental issue, but can also
have much broader social and production implications (Collins and
Woodley, 2013; Kemp et al., 2010; Kunz et al., 2013). Responsibility
can then be appropriately delegated to the appropriate organiza-
tional level/department to ensure effective management.
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Table 1
Examples of traditional vs. emerging approaches to addressing the cumulative impacts on water quality at the local catchment scale. Reproduced from Franks et al. (2013)
with permission.
Traditional responses
Regulators set limits on the amount and quality of water that can be discharged off- Comprehensive research is undertaken into the capacity of the catchment to absorb
site, based on established standards and the demands of other water users and discharges under different conditions
stakeholders
Mines design and manage operations to meet license conditions
Individual mines may take additional action to present/minimize off-site water Mines and other major industries in the catchment agree – or are required – to
discharges, depending on corporate policy drivers and local circumstances
Fig. 2. The problem of horizontal interplay arises due to the need for mining sites to
liaise with communities, civil society, and regulators.
Fig. 3. The problem of vertical interplay because the priorities at the mine site may
conflict with priorities at higher organizational levels.
4. Discussion and conclusion
To summarize, Fig. 4 presents a conceptual diagram to illustrate
how the problems of fit, vertical interplay and horizontal interplay
may arise during the implementation of catchment-based water
strategies within the mining context. Table 2 summarizes how
each coordination challenge is faced, describes potential
Please cite this article in press as: N.C. Kunz, Catchment-based water management in the mining industry: Challenges and solutions, Extr. Ind.
Soc. (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2016.10.012
Emerging practice
There is engagement between regulators, local mines and regional stakeholders
(including water users) to establish a process, standards and criteria for regulating
the timing and scale of discharges across the catchment
manage discharges in accordance with this regime
Regional level, multi-stakeholder, collaborative mechanisms are established to
oversee and monitor the operation of the scheme
mechanisms for overcoming it, and poses a set of questions to
guide future research.
The problem of fit results in two research questions. First, when
developing a catchment-based water strategy, mining sites and
companies must decide on an appropriate system boundary that is
relevant to their local context. The ICMM’s “practical guide to
catchment-based water management for the mining and metals
industry” (ICMM, 2015) suggests that “A catchment-based approach
to managing water resources looks at activities and issues in the
catchment as a whole, rather than considering different aspects
separately . . . ” However this provides little guidance to mine site
managers regarding which water-related impacts they should
quantify. For example, it would be impractical for a mine site
operating within the Murray Darling Basin (which is 26 times the
size of Switzerland) to attempt to satisfy stakeholder concerns
across the entire basin. This may also be unnecessary if the site is a
relatively small user of water within the region and there is high
water availability, because corporate social responsibility efforts
would perhaps be more meaningfully directed towards other
priorities. Placing appropriate boundaries on catchment-scale
strategies is therefore crucial (Kunz and Moran, 2014). The second
research question relating to the problem of fit is for companies to
consider how they could best collaborate to contribute towards
catchment-scale water management. A particularly exciting
direction would be to investigate the drivers and constraints for
companies to share water data with public institutions responsible
for regional water and land planning. A lack of data availability,
particularly relating to future hydroclimatic variability, can be a
major constraint for negotiating basin-wide water allocation plans,
e.g. as is exemplified in the case of Australia’s Murray Darling
(Connell and Grafton, 2011; Kiem, 2013; Wei et al., 2011). Mining
companies typically have extensive water monitoring networks for
both surface and groundwater, and can thus have the potential to
play a crucial role in improving regional understanding about the
quality and quantity of available water resources. The World
Economic Forum et al. (2016) recently recognized data sharing as
an opportunity for mining companies to contribute to Sustainable
Development Goal 6, which focuses on improving access to clean
water and sanitation.
The problem of horizontal interplay results in two research
questions. First, research should consider which organizational
forms would maximize the legitimacy of private sector efforts
towards catchment-based water management. This is especially
important when companies are operating in contexts with weak
institutional capacity, such that they may inadvertently find
themselves responsible for water protection and provision that
should ideally be the responsibility of nation states (Hepworth,
2012; Kunz and Moran, 2014). As mining operations are
increasingly moving into the developing world on account of
steady declines in high grade minerals deposits in the US and
Europe (ICMM, 2014a), this issue is likely to become increasingly
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Fig. 4. Conceptual diagram demonstrating how the problems of (1) fit; (2) vertical interplay; and (3) horizontal interplay may arise when implementing catchment-based
water strategies within mining sector.

Table 2
An overview of how the three coordination problems of fit, horizontal interplay and vertical interplay can be faced in the mining context, potential mechanisms for
overcoming these problems, and questions for future research.

Coordination How it is faced Mechanisms for overcoming Questions for future research
challenge
Problems of fit Company boundaries do not align with Management interventions should focus on the Which system boundary should be used when
watershed boundaries, necessitating receiving entity (i.e. where the problems manifest) developing a catchment-scale water strategy?
consideration of “cumulative impacts”. rather than individual projects (where the problems How might companies best coordinate and/or
originate). collaborate to contribute to catchment-scale
management, e.g. through sharing water data?
Horizontal Industrial water users must coordinate Multi-stakeholder platforms are needed to encourage Which organizational forms would maximize the
interplay with governments, civil society in order cooperation between companies. legitimacy of private sector efforts towards
to achieve catchment-scale goals. catchment-based water management?
What should be the role of governments and other
actors in facilitating coordination between
companies?
Vertical Many companies encounter challenges in Establish intermediary brokers to coordinate across Which organizational level (from business
interplay implementing corporate water and institutional levels. associations to a mine site operator) should be
sustainability strategies at an operational Water issues should be matched to the appropriate responsible for which aspect of a catchment water
scale. institutional level. strategy?

pertinent in future. The second research question considers how to Acknowledgements

improve the role of governments and other actors in ensuring
collaboration between companies – for example, how could
government capacity be strengthened to enforce collaboration
and data sharing around water issues that are known to have
catchment-scale impacts?
The pertinent issue for addressing the problem of vertical
interplay is to consider which organizational level – from business
associations such as the ICMM to the mine site operator – should
be responsible for which aspect of a catchment water strategy.
Research that gives explicit consideration to this issue would play
an important role in assisting business associations and corporate
offices to provide sufficient resourcing and support at lower levels
of implementation.
In summary, the mining industry’s aspiration towards a
catchment-based approach represents a positive step towards
greater accountability by mining companies on water issues.
However it is important that this approach is operationalized to
allow practical implementation at the mine site level. Identifying
the challenges that governments have faced in implementing
IWRM provides a valuable starting point for hypothesizing about
implementation hurdles that may also be faced by mining
companies.
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2015
Sustainable Development Indicators in the Mining Industry confer-
ence, held in Vancouver, Canada (12–15 July 2015). I would like to
thank the anonymous reviewer for their encouraging comments. I
am also grateful to Carol Bond for her constructive feedback on an
earlier draft.
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