Water use since the dawn of human history has increased steadily, and the current trend is no exception. For many reasons it would be a difficult task to alleviate the water crisis significantly in many parts of the world within a reasonable timeframe. Environmental and social aspects of water development have become important factors to consider in recent decades, but many serious methodological and operational constraints have to be overcome before environmentally-sound water management can become a reality. There are many fundamental problems with the environmental assessment procedures. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the present status of operationalizingthe concept of sustainable water developmentin the real world.