Policy Analysis for strategic choices in integrated water management

The Northwestern part of Overijssel in The Netherlands is an area where water management is characterised by various interrelated and often conflicting functions. To safeguard a sustainable use of water in this area, decisions have to be made. However, these decisions involve large amounts of complex and uncertain information. Using models and decision-methods, this information can be made available and understandable, in order to support decision-making and help water authorities to choose those measures that best meet the policy objectives. In this paper the usefulness of these models and decision methods, combined in an integrated decision support system, and the sensitivity of the decision support system, is discussed.