Water for people.pdf - WHO Thailand Digital Repository

R E C O G N I Z I N G A N D V A L U I N G T H E M A N Y F A C E S O F W A T E R / 3 2 7alternative sources of inferior quality (river water may be a freelyavailable source for bathing and laundry), and social factors. It isthus important to distinguish between the value of water, which ismeasured in terms of its benefit to the beneficiaries, the price ofwater (the charges to consumers) and the cost of supplying thewater (the capital and operating costs of the works needed toabstract, treat and transfer the water to the point at which it isused). When aiming to meet the needs of the poor at affordableprices and to recover the costs of water supplies through tariffs, itis important to consider that water should not be sold at a priceabove the value placed on it by potential consumers. It will benecessary to adopt policies that provide an appropriate level ofservices to reconcile the need for equating water costs and priceswith its value to the beneficiaries.This chapter on water valuation has been prepared in thecontext of both developed and developing countries with the hopeof helping to achieve internationally agreed targets such as thosecited above. Examples have been drawn from as many differentcountries as possible to provide a global flavour to the effort. Theconcerns of individual countries have been recognized, with hopesthat the allocation, demand management, water rights andpricing/subsidies being planned or implemented take dueconsideration of and help to achieve internationally agreed targets.The Value of Water: Definitions andPerspectivesA controversial issueA long-standing debate on how to value water has led to recognizingthe need to have a clear analysis of what this means. Growth inpopulation, increasing costs of water service delivery, changingconsumption preferences, deterioration of water quality, dwindlingsupply and increasing realization of the opportunity cost of water aresome of the ‘eye-openers’. Most of these issues are discussed atgreater length in other chapters of this report. However, a cleardefinition would advance the concept of valuing water both as aneconomic good and in terms of its social impact, which would thenreflect better on the existing reality and promote resource equity.Controversy in valuing water using a pure market approach hasoriginated from two sides: affordability by the poor and themarginalized, and externalities associated with the implementation ofthe fourth Dublin principle (cost recovery or other measures).It is widely recognized that water has traditionally beenregarded as a free resource of unlimited supply with zero cost atsupply point and at best, water users have been charged only aproportion of the costs of extraction, transfer, treatment andBox 13.2: Dreamtime and water in Aboriginal AustraliaAustralia is the driest inhabited continent on Earth. Thebulk of the landmass is arid, most of it deserts, withextreme climatic conditions and little permanent surfacewater. The Aboriginal people occupy the whole territory,but the desert populations, in particular, have made wateran intrinsic part of their culture.The Aborigines have developed an intricate theory oftheir country’s physical features, encompassing deepspiritual and mythical aspects. The foundation of thistheory is the Tjukurrpa (the Dreamtime), which is acontinuum wherein ancestors, animal or human, createdthe landscape through their actions.The Dreamtime is part of an oral tradition, carried fromgeneration to generation through stories and songs. In allof these, the relationship to water sources is fundamental.All water sources, whether permanent or intermittent,secret or public, were made by ancestors as they travelledand remain as living proof of their eternal presence. Forthat reason, water is very often the focus of sacred sites,some accessible to all group members, some reservedexclusively for youth, some for men and women’s law andceremonial business. These sites are primarily creeks,waterholes, springs and wells found throughout thedesert, some of which are seasonal and others of whichare ‘living water’, that is, permanent springs imbued withthe life force of the ancestors.Through the Dreamtime, the Aboriginal people identifyplaces as part of their being with stories, and themythological aspect of water is woven together with themany levels of understanding of the environment that theAboriginal people possess. Water is the foundation of theAboriginal people’s beliefs. It is the physical manifestationof the process of creation itself, of the ancestors, and assuch it is a sacred and protected element.Source: Prepared for the World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) byUNESCO, 2002.