The FAO-ESCAP pilot project on national water visions. From vision ...

<strong>The</strong> key objectives of the vision are as follows:
• Water for people: all have access to safe, adequate and affordable water supply, hygiene and
sanitation.
• Water for food and rural development: provision of sufficient water that will ensure national
food security and promote rural development.
• Water for economic development: provision of sufficient water to spur and sustain economic
growth within the context of a knowledge-based economy and e-commerce.
• Water for the environment: protection of the water environment to preserve water resources
(both surface and groundwater) and natural flow regimes, biodiversity and the cultural
heritage, and mitigation of water-related hazards.
2. Driving forces in the water sector
As a result of the visioning exercise, a number of driving forces were identified which are expected to
greatly affect the water sector scenario in the first quarter of the 21 st century. <strong>The</strong>se can be categorized
under demographic, social, economic, environmental and technological, and governance headings.
<strong>The</strong> three demographic driving forces identified are: (a) continued population growth, (b) rapid
urbanization and (c) migration patterns. <strong>The</strong>se will have broad implications, including increased
demand for municipal water, expansion of irrigated agriculture to produce more food, conversion of
agricultural land for urban and industrial expansion, and pollution of water resources by urban,
industrial and agricultural wastewater discharges.
Lifestyles and cultural preferences and prevalent poverty will continue to be an important social
concern affecting the sector. Affluence increases water consumption, often to the point of overuse.
<strong>The</strong> driving forces in the economic setting are the adoption of market-based economic policies, the
availability and condition of water, and industrialization. <strong>The</strong>se will lead to further pressure on water
resources due to increasing demand for industrial use and increasing water pollution due to industrial
effluents.
In the environmental arena, the driving forces expected to affect the sector include: (a)
overexploitation and/or pollution of surface and groundwater, (b) the decreasing integrity and health
of aquatic ecosystems and (c) climatic changes. <strong>The</strong> most powerful trend, however, is the increasing
public concern over environmental degradation; it will contribute an important and useful perspective
to the process of decision-making in resource development and management.
<strong>The</strong> technology identified as having great potential impact on the water sector relates to efficient
water use and distribution, to water pollution, and to the selection of drought-, pest- and salt-resistant
crops that are expected to reduce water usage and, subsequently, enhance water availability. This will
include water reuse and water-recycling technology and the use of renewable energies in the water
sector.
<strong>The</strong> driving forces related to governance include institutional and legal reforms and stakeholder
participation in the process of decision-making in water resources management. This will also include
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National water visions in Southeast Asia