Final Programme Beyond the River - World Water Week

Thursday 24 August
Workshop 3
Economic Instruments
Convenor: Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI)
Co-convenors: Third World Centre for Water Management, International Water Resources Association (IWRA) and
the Water and Sanitation Programme-South Asia (WSP-SA)
Workshop Discussion Entry Points
Decisions about water supply and other water services have
to a large extent been guided by administrative principles
and procedures. The actual performance of these principles
and procedures has generally not been scrutinised.
Similarly, the way that water is used and wastewater is
treated, reused or disposed has similarly not been subject
to systematic enquiry. With mounting competition for
water between sectors and various development objectives
and with serious risks of water and environmental degradation,
the interest in the use of incentives and sanctions to
promote best practice and performance has increased. In
addition, the heavy financial investments that are required
in connection with the building and maintaining of water
structures make economic instruments important.
Combining administrative and economic instruments
Obviously, it is necessary to have legal and administrative
procedures in water management. But how can these
formal management procedures best be combined with
formal and market based economic instruments?
Economic instruments, social justice
and environmental sustainability
There has been a lingering fear that introduction of economic
instruments will put the poor at a disadvantaged
position. Similarly, the assumption that environmental
values are hard to quantify and tend to be overlooked in
water management has been a barrier to the introduction
and use of economic instruments. To what extent
can these kinds of assumptions be validated? If so, what
policy measures can be used to rectify any undesirable
bias in the outcome economic instruments?
Costs and effectiveness in a time perspective
Are economic instruments cost effective? That is, are expenses
and efforts for their introduction and continuous
functioning commensurable with the outcome? What is
the time perspective for an effective use of economic instruments?
Wednesday
August 23
Thursday
24 August
Friday
25 August
Programme Thursday 24 August, 09:00–15:00 Folkets Hus, Room 300
Chair: Mr. Aly Shady, IWRA
Co-Chair: Dr. Anna Jonsson, Linköping University, Sweden
Rapporteur: Dr. Olli Varis, Helsinki University of Technology
Commentator: Ms. Cathrine Revels, WSP
09:00 Introduction by Chair
09:10 The Potential Role of Economic Instruments for Enhanced
River Basin Management. Dr. Claudia Ringler, Research
Fellow, Environment and Production Technology Division,
International Food Policy Research Institute (Invited Speaker)
09:35 Assessing Benefits and Costs for Sustainable Water Management:
The Case of Spain, Dr. José Albiac, Researcher, Agricultural
Economics Department, Government of Aragon, Spain
(Invited Speaker)
10:00 Follow-up Questions
10:15 Rational Pricing of Water as an Instrument of Improving
Water Use Efficiency in the Agricultural Sector: A Case Study
in Gujarat, India. Dr. Katar Singh, India Natural Resource
Economics & Management Foundation
10:30 Coffee Break
11:00 Discussion
11:15 Meeting Human and Environmental Water Needs:
Groundwater Mitigation Banking in the Deschutes Basin,
Oregon, United States. Mr. Brett Golden, Deschutes River
Conservancy, USA
11:30 Strategies for Improving Performance of Water Resources
Schemes – An Experience of Maharashtra State – India.
Mr. Suresh Sodal, Mumbai Water Resources Department, India
11:45 Follow-up Questions
12:00 Lunch
13:30 Decoupling the Subsidy for Water Pumping: The Mexican
Case. Ms. Sara Avila, National Institute of Ecology, Mexico
13:45 Follow-up Questions
14:10 Commentator’s Response
14:25 Dialogue and Conclusions
53
Saturday
26 August
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