BOOK
Managing Water for All
(2009)
Additional Information
Book Details
Abstract
Part of OECD Water Resources and Sanitation Set - Buy all four reports and save over 30% on buying separately!
Water is a key prerequisite for human and economic development, and for maintaining ecosystems. However, billions of people lack access to water and sanitation services, mainly due to poor governance and inadequate investment and maintenance. The situation is becoming more urgent due to increasing pressure, competition and even conflict over the use of water resources. The OECD has been working over the last two years to address these challenges. The results are summarised in this report, which emphasises the economic and financial aspects of water resources management and water service provision, the need for an integrated approach (including governance considerations) to address these complex policy challenges, and the importance of establishing a firm evidence base to support policy development and implementation.
This report examines: strategic financial planning for water supply and sanitation that balances the key sources of revenues for the water sector – the “3Ts” of taxes, tariffs and transfers; the design and implementation of water pricing strategies that balance financial sustainability with other policy objectives; recent developments in private sector participation in the water sector; and trends and the future outlook of water use in agriculture. It considers both developing and OECD countries and offers concrete recommendations and checklists for action. The report is an invaluable resource for policy makers, academics, NGOs and all others interested in the challenges facing the water sector today.
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cover\r | Cover | ||
| Table of Contents | 7 | ||
| List of Abbreviations and Acronyms | 11 | ||
| Executive Summary | 13 | ||
| The benefits of strategic financial planning for water supply and sanitation | 14 | ||
| Tariffs: reconciling different policy objectives | 16 | ||
| How to best harness the capabilities of public and private actors for water supply\rand sanitation services | 17 | ||
| Economic instruments to promote sustainable water use for agriculture | 18 | ||
| Notes | 19 | ||
| Introduction | 21 | ||
| Overview | 21 | ||
| Structure of the report | 21 | ||
| Notes | 22 | ||
| Chapter 1:\rSetting the Stage | 23 | ||
| The economic backbone of water policies | 24 | ||
| The economic nature of water services | 24 | ||
| Water: a resource to be managed and a source of services that come at a cost | 26 | ||
| Financing water services: an essentially political issue | 27 | ||
| Selected pitfalls of financing for water services | 28 | ||
| Current water policy challenges | 31 | ||
| Water scarcity and possible consequences and responses | 32 | ||
| Current status and future prospects | 32 | ||
| Possible policy responses | 34 | ||
| Access to water supply and sanitation in developing countries | 35 | ||
| Rehabilitation of water supply and sanitation in OECD countries | 38 | ||
| The evolution of the policy debate | 38 | ||
| The evolution of the international consensus on water-related issues | 38 | ||
| Moving the dialogue forward: this report’s value-added | 40 | ||
| Notes | 41 | ||
| Annex 1.A1:\rProjected Expenditures on Water and Wastewater Services | 42 | ||
| Annex 1.A2:\rA Brief History of International Conferences on Water | 43 | ||
| References | 45 | ||
| Chapter 2:\rFinancing Water and Sanitation Services: Key Challenges and the Way Forward | 47 | ||
| Financing water supply and sanitation: redefining the perspective on the problem | 48 | ||
| Strategic financial planning: policy options to reduce costs | 49 | ||
| Reducing costs: improve the efficiency of operations | 49 | ||
| Revising investment plans and adapting service levels | 51 | ||
| Strategic financial planning: policy options to increase revenue from the 3Ts | 54 | ||
| Increasing revenues: tariffs | 55 | ||
| Different cost recovery mechanisms for different water services | 56 | ||
| Affordability constraints | 56 | ||
| Process matters: gradual tariff increases | 58 | ||
| Increasing revenues: taxes | 58 | ||
| Increasing the supply of finance: transfers (i.e. ODA) | 61 | ||
| Policy dialogue on WSS financing: good practices from OECD and developing countries | 65 | ||
| Informing policy choices: the value of strategic financial planning | 65 | ||
| Making strategic financial planning work: basic principles from lessons learned | 66 | ||
| Actors and stakeholders | 66 | ||
| Process | 67 | ||
| Analytical base | 67 | ||
| Capacity | 67 | ||
| Role of donors\r | 68 | ||
| Notes | 68 | ||
| References | 70 | ||
| Chapter 3:\rWater Services: The Central Role of Tariffs | 73 | ||
| The 2007-08 OECD survey: main trends and data limitations | 74 | ||
| Tariff level data and their interpretation | 76 | ||
| Tariff structures: definitions and recent trends | 78 | ||
| Pricing “water”: the challenge of multiple objectives | 79 | ||
| Pricing as a cornerstone of a sustainable cost recovery strategy … | 79 | ||
| … but also so much more, and therein lies the challenge | 80 | ||
| Choices concerning policy objectives | 82 | ||
| Implications for water pricing | 82 | ||
| Tariff structures to address the policy trade-offs | 83 | ||
| Financial sustainability vs. economic efficiency: the “hidden” trade-off | 83 | ||
| Financial sustainability and affordability: how to achieve both through tariffs and other measures | 85 | ||
| The importance of objective measures of affordability | 85 | ||
| Affordability for society as a whole vs. affordability for vulnerable groups | 85 | ||
| Affordability needs to be assessed locally | 86 | ||
| Achieving both financial sustainability and affordability: tariff structures andother measures | 90 | ||
| Pricing sanitation and wastewater management: a special challenge | 92 | ||
| Notes | 94 | ||
| Annex 3.A1:\rComparison of Data from GWI Surveys and the World Bank IB-Net Database for EECCA Countries and BRIICS | 96 | ||
| Annex 3.A2 Criteria Matrix for Assessment of Tariff Structures | 100 | ||
| References | 102 | ||
| Chapter 4:\rBeyond Money: The Roles of Governments and Private Actors in Water Services | 105 | ||
| Trends in private sector involvement in water supply and sanitation: new actors, new responsibilities | 107 | ||
| The emerging diversity of the private sector | 107 | ||
| Poor risk management reduces sector financing | 109 | ||
| Government responsibilities: the need for clarity | 113 | ||
| Public sector as the enabler: commitment, consistency of policy and capacities at all levels | 113 | ||
| Developing high-quality regulation | 114 | ||
| Beyond public and private roles: the key elements for successful private sector participation | 117 | ||
| Co-operation between the public and private sectors | 118 | ||
| Responsiveness to needs and leveraging public participation | 120 | ||
| Private responsibilities: the elements of responsible business conduct | 120 | ||
| Notes | 122 | ||
| References | 124 | ||
| Chapter 5:\rManaging Water Resources in the Agricultural Sector | 127 | ||
| Recent trends and outlook | 129 | ||
| OECD policy experiences and options for sustainable water resource management in agriculture | 135 | ||
| 1. Recognising the complexity and diversity of water resource management in agriculture | 135 | ||
| 2. Reforming institutional systems for water management in agriculture | 137 | ||
| 3. Ensuring charges for water supplied to agriculture cover delivery costs3 | 138 | ||
| 4. Enhancing agriculture’s resilience to climate change and climate variability impacts | 140 | ||
| 5. Improving policy integration between agriculture, water, energy and environment policies | 141 | ||
| 6. Addressing knowledge and information deficiencies to better guide water resource management | 143 | ||
| Notes | 145 | ||
| References | 146 |