The impact of climate change is increasingly important for the design, construction, and maintenance of water sector infrastructure. Average global temperatures are on the rise, causing cycles of extreme weather: droughts and flooding are becoming common; seawater levels are rising; and many locations are considerably drier, impacting water sources such as lakes and rivers.
... See More + Groundwater supplies are under stress due to decreasing precipitation rates and increasing extraction rates. Urban water systems must meet the demands of expanding industry needs and rapid population growth. Pollution adds to the growing threats to water resources, increasing treatment requirements for providing safe water to city residents. With two-thirds of the world's megacities located in regions that are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, urban water utilities are facing an increasing need to improve the management of water resources and associated infrastructure. Diversifying sources of water supply will become increasingly important whether through the construction of new storage facilities, the appropriate and sustainable extraction of groundwater, water trading or conservation, or the use of recycled or desalinated water. This water note, based on the input of 20 large utilities around the world presents the perceptions, experiences, and approaches to addressing climate related challenges of urban areas in developing, middle income, and developed countries.
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Tanzania initiated a forward-looking National Water Policy (NAWAPO-2002) to promote an integrated approach to water resources management and improve water supply and sanitation service (WSS) delivery in both urban and rural areas.
... See More + To do this, the Government initiated in 2004 a doubling of budget allocations to the water sector from $60 million to $120 million. It also has shifted the role of the Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MOWI), moving from central control of water projects to facilitating and funding projects and strengthening sector institutions and capacity at the national, basin, and local government levels. Much of Tanzania's capital budget goes to fund water supply infrastructure, largely driven by the focus on achieving the millennium development goals. Donors supply most of the capital funding and are coordinating funds through a Sector Wide Approach to Planning (SWAp) to maximize effectiveness. This public expenditure review focuses on the quantity and quality of Tanzania's public funding process to assess how well budget allocations for the water sector actually translate into better water and sanitation service delivery.
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The Sustainable Development Network (SDN) calls for elevating the environment into upstream processes such as policy, programmatic, and investment dialogue.
... See More + In its 2002 environment strategy, the Bank committed to use strategic environmental assessments (SEAs), an environmental planning tool for improving decision-making at the strategic level of decision-making, policies, legislation, strategies, plans, and programs (PLSPP), and as a process for improving public policy design and good governance of natural resources. SEAs share many concepts and characteristics as integrated water resources management (IWRM), the accepted paradigm for efficient, equitable, and sustainable management of water resources since the 1990s. IWRM recognizes the dual nature of the environment as both a water using sector and a provider of services that maintains water resources for all sectors. The overall goal of this report is to help water resources and environment professionals use SEAs to effectively implement the principles of IWRM. It recommends a framework for expanding use of SEAs to mainstream environmental considerations in water resources policy, legislative and, institutional reforms, planning and development lending decision-making as well as for enabling adaptation in the water sector.
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After a period of stagnation, the story of hydropower infrastructure is changing. Emerging global dynamics are recasting the role and value of hydropower in development, recognizing its potential contribution to a complex web of energy security, water security and regional development and integration.
... See More + In addition to bringing electricity to the 1.6 billion people who lack access, hydropower offers a hedge against volatile energy prices and can play an important role in energy trade and regional power pools. As a renewable energy resource, hydropower's dual role in climate change mitigation and adaptation is critically important.
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The template is a tool to assess the performance of an urban water supply and sanitation (WSS) service provide by taking into account the governance, policy, and management context it operates in.
... See More + The template complements extensive work done on comprehensive performance indicators through the International Benchmarking Network for Water and Sanitation Utilities (IB-NET). These metric indicators measure service coverage, efficiency, reliability, financial sustainability, environmental sustainability, and affordability to provide reliable data about the quality of WSS service and the performance of WSS service providers.
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In post-apartheid Johannesburg, South Africa, the city water authority had fallen into disarray (a common situation with urban services). In 2001, a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) emerged as a way to bring new expertise and efficiency to the delivery of public utility services, where a five-year management contract successfully restored services, built local capacity, and helped put Johannesburg Water on a solid footing.
... See More + The management contract for water supply and sanitation services in Johannesburg, South Africa presents an entirely different perspective. The municipal government implemented the PPP as an interim measure, part of a program specifically designed to improve the efficiency of municipal public services. While an experienced international operator was brought in, the aim of the PPP was not to transfer management to a private concessionaire for the long run. Instead, the goal was to establish a viable, corporatized public water utility by leveraging the expertise of an experienced private operator for a number of years.
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The study objectives were designed to enhance the state's capacity to assess long-term effects of drought and increase resilience to drought risks at state, district, and community levels.
... See More + The process for development of study objectives featured extensive consultation with affected sectors, and with state and national programs that aim to address the effects of drought. The study aimed to: (i) develop a framework for simulating long-term impacts of drought in drought-prone areas and at state levels; (ii) conduct risk assessments of the impacts under different scenarios; and (iii) assist the Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP) in development of a strategy for adapting to frequent drought and water deficits. During the study, a model was developed as a powerful tool for thorough drought risk assessments and for investigation of risk coping strategies and climate scenarios on crop yield and production. The model was calibrated using local farming practices and crop selection (that is, rice, maize, jowar (sorghum), sunflower, and groundnut,) in the eight selected districts. The report presents results at the district level. Challenges in determining the economic impacts included: the slow onset of droughts that spread over long periods and large areas; the significant indirect losses; the need to link local impact analysis with statewide analysis; and the linkages between the different sectors and subsectors of the economy, the flow of goods and services and employment.
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Environmental flows are central to equitable distribution of and access to water and services provided by aquatic ecosystems. They refer to the quality, quantity, and timing of water flows required maintaining the components, functions, processes and resilience of aquatic ecosystems that provide goods and services to people.
... See More + They are fundamental for sustainable water resources development, benefits sharing, and poverty alleviation. Nonetheless, water resources development planners have often overlooked environmental flows or addressed them inadequately. This two-part report, based on the Bank's economic sector analysis, shows their central importance for Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) and presents data, findings, and recommendations, based on in-depth case study analysis, to help make environmental water allocation an integral part of IWRM.
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Located in the heart of Mali, the Office du Niger (ON) is one of the oldest and largest irrigation schemes in Sub-Saharan Africa. The French, who began the scheme in 1932, planned on developing about 1,000,000 hectares (ha) over a period of 50 years.
... See More + The scheme did not provide the expected resources for cotton and rice farming, and a major source of exploitation of farmers. Change began in the 1980's with Government/donor led reforms that resulted in dissolving the monopoly power of ON and increasing citizen participation in its management. This report provides the context and details on how the government of Mali became committed to reform of the ON, an irrigated rice scheme. The government's decision is presented as the outcome of a series of small power shifts triggered by pro-reform players. Reform advocates played a key role, and identified opportunities and applied their skills to tilt the power balance between agency and farmers to further goals of sustainability and partnership. Initial steps for reform had a significant impact, as they raised yields and farmer incomes in a single season. Coalitions grew into partnership institutions that became effective enough for government to consolidate them into a legal and financial framework. This case study serves as an illustration of how the World Bank and other donors can help governments turn public irrigation systems into financially sustainable operations.
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Since 1990, many national and local governments in developing countries have contracted with private companies to operate or manage their water utilities under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) contracts.
... See More + The assumption was that the private sector will improve utilities by bringing in new capital, raising the level of staff expertise, and making operations more cost-effective and efficient. More than 260 PPP contracts have been signed to provide water services in more than forty developing countries. The recourse to private operators has been accompanied, however, by a good deal of controversy. Several high profile contracts, such as in Buenos Aires, were cancelled in recent years following conflicts between the public and private partners. This has raised doubts about the suitability of PPPs to help improve water services in developing countries. Yet, there has been only little objective data available in the literature about the performance of PPPs, and the resulting debate has been based more on ideology than fact. This study attempts to redress the shortage of information by examining, through objective indicators, the actual performance of PPPs in developing countries over the last fifteen years. It collected data from as many as 65 PPP projects, representing a served population of about one hundred million people half of the urban population served at one point in time since 1990 by private water operators, and 80 percent of the population served by a private operator for more than 3 years and under a contract signed before 2003.
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Most of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) cannot meet current water demand. Many countries face full-blown crises, and the situation is likely to get even worse.
... See More + Estimates show that per capita water availability will be cut in half by 2050, with serious consequences for aquifers and natural hydrological systems. Demand for water supplies and irrigation services will change as economies grow and populations increase, with an attendant need to address industrial and urban pollution. Some 60 percent of the region's water flows across international borders, further complicating the resource management challenge. Rainfall patterns are predicted to shift as a result of climate change. The social, economic, and budgetary consequences of these challenges are enormous. The supply of drinking water could become more erratic, necessitating greater reliance on expensive desalination technologies, and increasing drought would require emergency supplies brought by tanker or barge. Service outages would put stress on expensive network and distribution infrastructure. Unreliable sources of irrigation water would depress farmer incomes, economic and physical dislocation would increase with the depletion of aquifers and unreliability of supplies, and local conflicts could intensify. All of this would have short- and long-term effects on economic growth and poverty, exacerbate social tensions within and between communities, and put increasing pressure on public budgets.
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Water projects in developing countries are inaugurated with great fanfare by the governments, lenders, and sponsors that make them possible; the projects' results, however, don't always receive the publicity of groundbreaking ceremonies.
... See More + This study reports the findings of a multi-country research project intended to discover how such rural water supply (RWS) systems actually perform. Its emphasis was on how performance was affected by post-construction support (PCS) to communities after project completion. Information was collected from households, village water committees (VWCs), focus groups of residents, system operators, and key informants in rural communities in Bolivia, Ghana, and Peru. Approximately 10,000 individuals registered their opinions. The great majority of the systems were found to be performing well; the factors influencing their sustainability should help policy makers, investors, and managers around the globe who plan rural water systems.
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Interest in environmental health has increased in recent years, largely because the most vulnerable groups remain disproportionately exposed to and affected by health risks from environmental hazards.
... See More + More than 40 percent of the global burden of disease attributed to environmental factors falls on children below five years of age, who account for about 10 percent of the world's population. Children are especially susceptible to environmental factors that put them at risk of developing illness early in life. Malnutrition is an important contributor to child mortality; malnutrition and environmental infections are inextricably linked, but these links have been forgotten or neglected by policy-makers. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently convened an expert panel, which concluded that about 50 percent of the consequences of malnutrition are in fact caused by inadequate water and sanitation provision and poor hygienic practices. Recent recognition of environmental linkages with malnutrition highlights the urgent need to develop a spectrum of interventions to reduce exposure to environmental risks.
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China's water resources are scarce and unevenly distributed. It has the sixth largest amount of renewable resources in the world, but a per capita availability that is only one-fourth the world average and among the lowest for a major country.
... See More + The country is under serious water stress, and its problems are made more severe by the fact that resources are unevenly distributed, both spatially and temporally. Per capita water availability in northern China is less than one-fourth that in southern China, one eleventh of the world average, and less than the threshold level that defines water scarcity. A monsoonal climate also means that China is subject to frequent droughts and floods, often simultaneously in different regions, as precipitation varies greatly from year to year and season to season. The complexity of water resource management in China requires a transition from a traditional system with the government as the main decision making entity toward a modern approach that relies on a sound legal framework, effective institutional arrangements, transparent decision making and information disclosure, and active public participation. This will require that laws are straightforward and not contradictory, with mechanisms and procedures for enforcing them. It also should entail the creation of a new multi-sectoral state agency tasked with overseeing water management policy at the national level.
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Western and Central Africa have lengthy experience with public-private partnerships (PPPs), both for water supply and for combined power and water supply utilities.
... See More + Cote d'Ivoire's successful PPP dates from 1959, and, over the last two decades, as many as 15 out of 23 countries in the region have experimented with PPPs. Eleven PPPs are studied here, and detailed performance indicators are reported for six large cases-Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Gabon. These PPPs all have had at least four years of private operation. Through its successes and failures, the Western and Central African experience offers interesting lessons for other developing countries on how to improve the quality of urban water supply services, increase the efficiency of operations, and establish the financial credibility of the sector.
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The handwashing handbook advocates handwashing-with-soap programs to fight the spread of disease. It covers the following components: laying the foundation for a National Handwashing Program; understanding the consumer; and implementing the program.
... See More + The handbook explains how to research consumer needs, communicate with target audiences, design appropriate and appealing messages, and implement a multi-channel promotional program. Handwashing with soap can dramatically reduce the leading causes of child mortality. The vast majority of child mortality occurs among the world's poorest populations in low and middle-income countries, with diarrhea and respiratory infections responsible for two out of three deaths. Handwashing with soap interrupts one of the main transmission routes of diarrhea, respiratory infections, skin infections and trachoma. Soap plays a key role in stopping transmission; just washing with water has little or no effect. Studies have shown that handwashing with soap can reduce diarrheas incidence by almost half and respiratory infections by a third.
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Reliable supplies of water for agriculture have helped meet rapidly rising demand for food in developing countries, making farms more profitable, reducing poverty, and helping vast regions of the world develop more dynamic and diversified economies.
... See More + Can these successes be sustained with demand for food rising and water resources waning? That is the challenge now facing policy makers, planners, and practitioners in agricultural water management (AWM), as well as their allies in the World Bank and other development organizations.
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Brief 47931 APR 01, 2009
Ward, Christopher ; Dargouth, Salah ; Minasyan, Gayane ; Gambarelli, GretelDisclosed
Increasing agricultural production is necessary to feed growing populations, raise the incomes of poor farmers, and boost national export revenues.
... See More + But in poor, water-scarce areas of the world, it is impossible to raise production without first finding ways to get more out of limited supplies of water, the ultimate scarce resource. Increasing the efficiency with which water is used is one of the chief goals of agricultural water management (AWM). Continual improvements in the efficiency of water use depend on close monitoring and careful evaluation. But despite the scale and scope of AWM projects around the world, and their criticality to global efforts to reduce rural poverty and increase food security, the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of AWM projects need considerable improvement. The report stressed the need for greater emphasis on outcomes and impact measurement in project design. It also concluded that the effective implementation of projects was routinely compromised by inadequate supervision. M&E is strongest when there is a participatory quality to data collection and evaluation, so that stakeholders are invested in the project's successful implementation and aware of its successes and failures.
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The note proposes a methodology for assessing the accountability framework of an urban water supply and sanitation (WSS) sector that it defines as the set of actors, mandates, contractual arrangements between actors, and instruments used by actors to implement their mandates.
... See More + The accountability framework focuses on the five key functions of the urban WSS sector that are policy formulation, asset management and infrastructure development, service provision, financing, and regulation of the service. The note recommends that particular attention be paid to incentives, either productive or counterproductive, that could influence the performance of the WSS service. It also suggests identifying vested interests likely to be affected by reforms, with a focus on those engaged in fraud and corruption, as they could actively lobby against reforms which, if successfully implemented, would affect their revenues. The note focuses primarily on the provision of official piped WSS service, but it also recognizes that when a central service provides limited coverage or poor performance it can forfeit its monopoly status, whereupon alternatives to the piped WSS service often play an important role. The note also stresses the need for identifying weak links of the accountability framework as they could encourage fraud or corruption. The note finally summarizes best practice for setting WSS tariff levels and structures and for designing subsidies that reach those who need them.
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How can the world grow more food, increase incomes, reduce poverty, and protect the environment with growing numbers of mouths to feed and increasingly constrained resources?
... See More + A big part of the answer lies in better management of agricultural water. Agricultural water management (AWM) encompasses irrigation on both a large and small scale, drainage of irrigated and rain fed areas, watershed restoration, recycling of water, rainwater harvesting, and better in-field water management practices. There is considerable scope for improving returns on water from agricultural use. The key economic challenge is to set up an incentive framework that encourages efficient water use and profitable high value agriculture. Evidence indicates that such a framework improves efficiency and accountability, raises productivity, and promotes sustainable and environmentally responsible resource use. At the same time, irrigation schemes pose a financial challenge: to recover costs at a rate sufficient to finance services to farmers. The broad challenge is to encourage both large- and small-scale private investment.
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