March 2009
Original Articles
INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENTS IN THE WATER SECTOR
Alejandro Jimeneza,b and Agusti Perez-Foguetb
aIngeniera Sin Fronteras-Asociacin para el Desarrollo (ISF-ApD), Madrid, Spain; bDept Matemtica Aplicada III, ETSECCPB, Universitat Politcnica de Catalunya (UPC), Barcelona, Spain
Contact: Alejandro Jimenez | Email: alejandro.jimenez@isf.es
Abstract: This paper presents the main results of a detailed study carried out on Official Development Assistance (ODA) and international private investment in the water sector from 1995 to 2004. Publicly available datasets from the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), the World Bank, and the Human Development Reports were collected and stored in a database. ODA programmes were analysed individually to separate the water and sanitation subsectors. The study includes a comparative analysis of public and private international investment, focusing specifically on sanitation. It assesses the success of private participation in the sector and evaluates cross-cutting issues in ODA water programmes.
Pages: 1-14
https://doi.org/10.1080/07900620802573759
PRACTITIONER PERCEPTIONS OF SOCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL BARRIERS TO ADVANCING A DIVERSE WATER SOURCE APPROACH IN AUSTRALIA
Rebekah Brown, Megan Farrelly and Nina Keath
National Urban Water Governance Program, School of Geography and Environmental Science, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
Contact: Rebekah Brown | Email: rebekah.brown@arts.monash.edu.au
Abstract: Traditional urban water management systems are ill-equipped to address future challenges. Despite policy rhetoric supporting Total Water Cycle Management and the diverse water supply approach, there are many social and institutional barriers to effective implementation. A quantitative online survey with over 1000 practitioners in three Australian capital cities identified practitioners’ level of receptivity to the diverse water source approach, and their experience of the scope and priority of such barriers to their implementation. The analysis revealed a high level of practitioner support, yet a critical lack of institutional tools and incentives for supporting implementation. The paper provides a series of recommendations for addressing this issue.
Pages: 15-28
https://doi.org/10.1080/07900620802586090
REFORMING THE URBAN WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION (UWSS) SECTOR IN YEMEN
Barbara Gerhager and Anwer Sahooly
Yemeni-German Water Sector Program (GTZ), Technical Secretariat (TS)/Reform of the Institutional Framework in the Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Sector, Sana’a, Yemen
Contact: Barbara Gerhager, Anwer Sahooly | Emails: barbara.gerhager@gtz.de, sahooly@yahoo.com
Abstract: In the early 1990s, Yemen suffered from low service coverage and national tariffs that were too low to cover public expenditure, as well as an inadequate level of service provided by the centralized National Water and Sanitation Authority. In 1996, a reform study recommended that the UWSS sector should embrace a policy of decentralization, corporatization, commercialization, the separation of service delivery and regulatory functions, as well as public-private partnerships. The government approved this reform agenda as a Council of Ministers Decree in 1997. Awareness campaigns and consensus-building among stakeholders and political leaders and local demand supported the reform process. Currently, 95% of the total urban population related to utility towns is attended by independent utilities.
Pages: 29-46
https://doi.org/10.1080/07900620802573668
AGRICULTURAL WATER USE AND TRADE IN UZBEKISTAN: SITUATION AND POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF MARKET LIBERALIZATION
Iskandar Abdullaeva, Charlotte De Fraitureb, Mark Giordanob, Murat Yakubovb and Aziz Rasulovc
aCentre for Development Studies, Bonn, Germany; bInternational Water Management Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka; cTashkent Institute of Irrigation and Amelioration, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Contact: Iskandar Abdullaev | Email: i.abdullaev@uni-bonn.de
Abstract: The focus in Uzbekistan on cotton and its irrigation led to large increases in water use with significant downstream impacts, particularly on the Aral Sea. While agriculture is still heavily influenced by the state, Uzbekistan has become more integrated in the global economy since its independence. The major goal of this paper is to examine the interrelationship between agricultural policies and water use during the last 15 years and how moves towards freer markets, such as those which might occur under the World Trade Organization, may impact Uzbekistan’s water resources in the future. The results show that partial or full market liberalization may result in an increase in water use. However, the greater message is that non-water policies can have a major impact on water outcomes and therefore should be considered in any discussions of water sector reform.
Pages: 47-63
https://doi.org/10.1080/07900620802517533
ECONOMIC COSTS OF WATER-RELATED HEALTH PROBLEMS IN MEXICO: DEFICIENCIES IN POTABLE WATER SERVICES AND THE COSTS OF TREATMENT OF DIARRHOEAS
Boris Marañón Pimentel
Third World Centre for Water Management, Atizapan, Mexico
Email: bolin88@servidor.unam.mx
Abstract: The paper provides a quantitative estimate of the economic costs of the health problems, especially diarrhoea, attributable to deficiencies in potable water services in Mexico. It is argued that more financial resources should be allocated to improving and extending potable water and sanitation, lack of which are the principal causes of diarrhoeas.
Pages: 65-80
https://doi.org/10.1080/07900620802602087
FISHERY AND FISHCULTURE CHALLENGES IN LITHUANIA
Juozapas Vycius and Algirdas Radzevicius
Hydraulic Engineering Department, Lithuanian University of Agriculture, Kaunas-Akademija, Lithuania
Contact: Juozapas Vycius | Email: juozapas.vycius@lzuu.lt
Abstract: This paper focuses on the development of fishery and fishculture in Lithuania. It provides a brief review of fishery evolution in the Baltic Sea and World Ocean and focuses on Lithuania’s inner waters, with a particular emphasis on fishculture in Soviet (1945-90) and post-Soviet (1990-2007) Lithuania. Data for the paper were obtained from statistical yearbooks, state and enterprises’ reports, direct contact with institutions and personnel and field survey work. During the Soviet period, more than 20 large state fishculture enterprises were established, each with 500-1000 ha of fishponds. These enterprises also owned 4000-7000 ha of farmland, which were used for rearing ducks and geese, stockbreeding and arable farming. In the Soviet period fishculture was a profitable business because it was partly subsidized by the state and the cost of energy and fish fodder were artificially low, not corresponding to their real value. After Lithuania declared its independence, state support of fishculture ceased, fishponds were privatized and the costs of energy and fodder increased significantly. As a result, fishculture enterprises barely manage to survive in free market economic conditions. Energy costs can be up to 50% of the fishculture enterprises’ expenditure. Therefore, it is necessary to look for methods to improve fishculture practices in Lithuania.
Pages: 81-94
https://doi.org/10.1080/07900620802576240
TRANSACTION COSTS IN WATER MARKETS IN THE HEIHE RIVER BASIN IN NORTHWEST CHINA
Junlian Zhang, Fengrong Zhang, Liqin Zhang and Wei Wang
College of Resources and Environment Science, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
Contact: Junlian Zhang | Email: Junlian88@sohu.com
Abstract: This paper identifies and analyses the transaction costs involved in the implementation of a tradable water right system in the Heihe River basin in northwest China. Both primary and secondary data were used to achieve the objectives. The results indicate that water markets in the Heihe River basin are not popular. However, transaction costs were not the primary source of market dysfunction. In some cases transaction costs were high enough to block water trading while in other cases transaction costs were very low and insufficient to limit the emergence of water markets.
Pages: 95-105
https://doi.org/10.1080/07900620802517541
LIMITATIONS OF THE HYDRAULIC IMPERATIVE: THE CASE OF THE GOLAN HEIGHTS
George J. Nasr
Lebanese University, Faculty of Engineering, Roumieh, Lebanon
Email: george.j.nasr@gmail.com
Abstract: Water management in the Levant often focuses on a ‘hydraulic imperative’. This was recently illustrated by the peace discussions between Israel and Syria, with their emphasis on the Golan’s water. Such a focus limits policy makers to a purely hydrological perspective, and leads to a focus on securing water access and controlling ‘hydrostrategic territories’. This excludes or underestimates other salient issues, and disregards potentially useful managerial-technical solutions. For any peace settlement to be sustainable, a more comprehensive approach is needed, unbound by the single-issue ‘hydraulic imperative’ to better take into account the multifaceted aspects of the water.
Pages: 107-122
https://doi.org/10.1080/07900620802517608
VALUATING THE RECEIVING WATERS OF URBAN WASTEWATER SYSTEMS THROUGH A STAKEHOLDER-BASED APPROACH
Stefanos Xenariosa,b and Kostas Bithasa
aDepartment of Economic and Regional Development, Panteion University, Athens, Greece, and International Water Management Institute, New Delhi, India; bInternational Water Management Institute, New Delhi, India
Contact: Stefanos Xenarios | Email: sxenarios@cgiar.org
Abstract: The valuation of ecological services in European aquatic ecosystems is increasingly deemed to be an essential element for the integrated management concept pursued by the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC). However, the assessment methods are often doubted for their objectivity and transparency when based on the elicitation of stated preferences. The current research attempted to explicitly focus on the biases linked with the stakeholders participating in assessing methods operating with stated preferences. The most significant stakeholder groups were classified in three broad teams of Experts, Decision Makers and Affected Professions. The three teams’ preferences were in turn assessed in economic and non-economic terms for the accentuation of the high fluctuation among the findings, and the threatening biases emerged in the sourcing of stated preference methods. The wastewater treatment plant in Athens, Greece and Saronikos Bay offered a sound case study.
Pages: 123-140
https://doi.org/10.1080/07900620802517582
UNDERSTANDING THE WATER CRISIS IN NORTHERN CHINA: WHAT THE GOVERNMENT AND FARMERS ARE DOING
Jinxia Wanga, Jikun Huanga, Scott Rozelleb, Qiuqiong Huangc and Lijuan Zhanga
aCenter for Chinese Agricultural Policy (CCAP), Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resource Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; bFood Security and Environmental Program, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University, USA; cDepartment of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, USA
Contact: Jinxia Wang | Email: jxwang.ccap@igsnrr.ac.cn
Abstract: The overall aim of this paper is to attempt to discover the true facts in order to ascertain whether or not there is a water crisis in China, and if there is, to identify the responses of the different stakeholders—government water officials, community leaders and farmers. In order to achieve this goal, several specific objectives are pursued. First, the paper evaluates the status of China’s groundwater economy, examining whether or not the groundwater table is systematically falling. Second, in the parts of China that face a water crisis (or potential crisis), the paper documents the regulations and policies that the government—both local and regional—have implemented and discusses whether they have been successfully implemented. Third, it describes how farmers have responded to the water crisis and tries to assess whether or not their roles have helped alleviate the water scarcities or exacerbated the crisis. To meet these objectives, two large field surveys are used that cover seven provinces in northern China. The findings demonstrate that, although the water table is not falling everywhere in northern China, there are still a substantial number of communities that appear to be facing a water crisis. When there is a water crisis, the data show that the government in China has begun to make a number of policy responses, but the implementation is not always effective. Where water is becoming scarce, farmers and community leaders have also responded in numerous ways. However, farmers do not necessarily respond in ways that effectively save water, mostly because they do not always have incentives to do so. With good incentives, the research shows that they do save water. Hence, the government cannot ignore the way that farmers respond. Indeed, good policy needs to use this responsiveness to reduce the adverse effects of water scarcities and encourage conservation.
Pages: 141-158
https://doi.org/10.1080/07900620802517566
PRINCIPLES OF TRANSBOUNDARY WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AND GANGES TREATIES: AN ANALYSIS
Muhammad Mizanur Rahaman
Water and Development Research Group, Water Resources Laboratory, Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo, Finland
Email: muhammadmizanur@gmail.com
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to analyse the coverage of the principles of transboundary water resources management in two key bilateral treaties in the Ganges Basin. The treaties are the 1996 Mahakali Treaty between Nepal and India and the 1996 Ganges Water Treaty between India and Bangladesh. The study reveals that both treaties incorporate several internationally recognized transboundary water resources management principles, e.g. the principle of equitable and reasonable utilization, an obligation not to cause significant harm, principles of cooperation, information exchange, notification, consultation and the peaceful settlement of disputes. The presence of these internationally accepted principles in these two treaties offer plenty of common ground, which could serve as guidelines to promote sustainable water resources management throughout the región.
Pages: 159-173
https://doi.org/10.1080/07900620802517574
CONGRESS REPORT »
2nd China Water Congress 2008, Beijing, China, 14-16 May 2008
CONGRESS REPORT »
13th IWRA World Water Congress, Montpellier, France, 1-4 September 2008
BOOK REVIEW »
Clean, Green and Blue: Singapore’s Journey Towards Environmental Sustainability, edited by Tan Yong Soon, Lee Tung Jean and Karen Tan, Singapore, Institute of Southeastern Asia Studies, 2009