A new policy brief on a multiple-use approach to meeting the water needs of poor communities has been published in the IWMI Water Policy Briefing series. ‘Taking a multiple-use approach to meeting the water needs of poor communities brings multiple benefits’ has been produced by the International water Management Institute (IWMI), the Global Water Partnership (GWP) and IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre. Drawing on outputs from the PRODWAT thematic group and others, the brief argues that “poor people need and use water for a wide range of essential activities, including earning much-needed incomes,” and that “deliberately making provisions for these multiple uses of water when designing and managing water-supply and irrigation schemes could greatly reduce poverty, increase gender equity, and improve health - at little additional cost.” The brief nicely sets out what multiple-use approaches are, and the benefits.