Water resources management : a World Bank policy paper

Water is an increasingly scarce resource needing careful economic and environmental management. This paper describes the new World Bank policy relating to water resources management. Three problems in particular need to be addressed according to the authors: a. fragmented public investment programming and sector management, that have failed to take account of the interdependencies among agencies, jurisdictions, and sectors; b. excessive reliance on overextended government agencies that have neglected the need for economic pricing, financial accountability, and user participation and have not provided services effectively to the poor; and c. public investments and regulations that have neglected water quality, health, and environmental concerns. It is suggested that to manage water resources more effectively, a balanced set of policies and institutional reforms should be sought that will both harness the efficiency of market forces and strengthen the capacity of governments to carry out their roles. The new approach proposed by the World Bank has at its core the adoption of a comprehensive policy framework and the treatment of water as an economic good, combined with decentralization of management and delivery structures, greater reliance on pricing, and fuller participation by stakeholders. These ideas are in line with the Dublin Statement (1992) from the International Conference on Water and the Environment as well as with Agenda 21 from the 1992 UNCED Conference.