Integrated urban water management relies on data allowing us to analyse, understand and predict the behaviour of the individual water cycle components and their interactions. The concomitant monitoring of the complex of urban water system elements makes it possible to grasp the entirety of relations among the various components of the urban water cycle and so develop a holistic approach to solving urban water problems.

This publication is geared towards improving integrated urban water management by providing guidance on the collection, validation, storage, assessment and utilization of the relevant data. The first part describes general principles for developing a monitoring programme in support of sustainable urban water management. The second part examines in detail the monitoring of individual water cycle components. Two case studies in the final part illustrating attempts to deliver an integrated monitoring system help demonstrate the fundamental principles of sustainable urban water management elaborated here.