Water for people.pdf - WHO Thailand Digital Repository

3 3 2 / M A N A G E M E N T C H A L L E N G E S : S T E W A R D S H I P A N D G O V E R N A N C ERecognizing and Valuing the Many Faces of Waterenvironmental dimensions, which are often interdependent. For example,the social value of water for ‘health’ has economic returns because apopulation in good health is more productive. Similarly, the environmentalvalue of water has obvious economic and social implications. Suchinteractions can be characterized within three main clusters.■ Water is a vital common resource as it covers basic human needsand is required to sustain most life support systems.■ Water, in its productive capacity, helps to maintain economicactivities and it has a fundamental role in managing other resources.■ Water provides both use and non-use benefits; it can generatetaxes, derive products for consumption and help createemployment of various kinds.A recent survey by Buckley (1999) revealed that out of seventy-fivewater supply and sanitation projects financed by the World Bank andcompleted during 1990–97, only 33 percent were providing sustainableservices. The remaining systems were reported to be unsustainablebecause of deficient operation and maintenance (O&M) and poormanagement. Country reports compiled by the United NationsDepartment of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) as part of theWorld Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) further confirmthat there is a growing cost of water services and only rarely is itconsidered as a value-free resource. For example, Japan’s traditionallyvested water rights became subject to a permit system in the 1960s,as illustrated in box 13.5. In other words, a resource unsustainablymanaged is a resource spent. The Heads of State in the MillenniumDeclaration (UN, 2000) stated their resolve to ‘… stop theBox 13.5: Water rights – valuing water and historical background in JapanWater resources in Japan are very tight as a result of meetingthe copious demand of a large population. In order to copewith the limited resources, the water of Japan’s rivers has,throughout history, been dominated by a large number ofriver users with vested water rights. These rights weregenerally founded and consolidated on customary practices,regional agreements and voluntary conciliation playing aprimary role in the settlement of disputes so as to avoiddrawing public authorities into the conflicts. Under theseconditions, water rights evolved in a long historical process assubstantive social rights. The agricultural interests with theircustomary right of water use accounted for almost the entireamount of water used from the major rivers around 1870.The hallmark of this custom-based system of water usewas that it tried to regulate disparate instances of wateruse. On the larger scale of the river basin as a whole,however, water used in the upper reaches was repeatedlyused and reused in the lower reaches of the river.Irrigation ponds had a function of extending water use bycollecting, storing and adjusting the water. In this way, awhole system in river basins maximized possible repetitionof water use. The system was developed over the years toprovide secured water availability when there was enoughtechnology to increase the flow volume. The system wasorganized on the principle that old water rights hadpriority and that owners of established water rights wouldhold on to their rights with tenacity.In the 1960s, the Japanese economy took off at arapid pace. The explosive expansion in water demandcould not be coped with. Since the demand for urbanwater, including drinking (household supply) water andindustrial water, rose on a dramatic scale, water resourceissues suddenly rose to prominence. Based on thisconsideration, the River Law, which controlled the riveradministration in Japan, was revised in 1964, and all waterrights became subject to a permit system. However, thecustomary rights of the past were subject to the permitsystem authorizing the use of water under the sameconditions as before. In order to create new potentials forwater use through the construction of water resourcedevelopment facilities such as dams, it has therefore beennecessary to seek conciliation with these vested interestsand file applications for development projects asconstituting a new water right.The river administrator has sought equitable, efficientand sustainable water use with respect to the historicalbackground. To achieve sustainable water resourcedevelopment and utilization, it is important to examine allpossible measures, including water pricing, in order toidentify the best strategy that fits local conditions orhistorical backgrounds.Source: Prepared for the World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) by the NationalInstitute for Land and Infrastructure Management (NILIM) and Ministry of Land,Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT) of Japan, 2002.