Water management in much of the world is at a critical juncture. Even when it has to fulfil an essential role in promoting development and reducing poverty at the national and sub-national levels, water is often scarce, polluted, mismanaged, misgoverned, and poorly allocated. A main handicap has been that water management has often been considered an end unto itself rather than a means to an end, that end being to achieve overall development, economic prosperity, improvement of quality of life, and environmental conservation.
By Cecilia Tortajada, Chapter of the book: International Development: Ideas, Experience, and Prospects, edited by B. Currie-Alder, R. Kanbur, D. M. Malone, and R. Medhora, 2014, Oxford University Press, New York, pages 448-462. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199671656.001.0001