Water for people.pdf - WHO Thailand Digital Repository

3 8 0 / 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 EGoverning Water Wisely for Sustainable Developmentresponsibilities and day-to-day duties of water rights allocation andadministration to stakeholder-elected catchment councils. Eachcatchment council is composed of sub-catchment councils,composed of local water user groups and associations. However,recent political instability in Zimbabwe is seriously threateningattempts to reform the water sector.The catchment is increasingly accepted as the appropriate scalefor water resource management. However, for it to be more usefulwould require overcoming certain obstacles. Strong sectoral or localinterests may secure water first. River basins do not always matchexisting administrative boundaries, which can make it more difficultfor riparians to solve common problems. Many local communitiesand civil society organizations are facing problems in mobilizingresources and the required human and institutional capacities. It isimportant that decentralization of water responsibilities to localcommunities or new catchment-based organizations be done in atransparent and participatory way to prevent powerful local groupsfrom claiming the entire water resource, further marginalizing poorpeople, women and other politically weak groups.It is further necessary that local catchment-based managementgroups respect the rights of other basin users downstream and,where appropriate, international river basin agreements.Public-private partnershipsThe ways in which various government agencies, civil societyorganizations, private firms and the market relate to each other iscrucial for effective public-private partnerships. Governance drawsexplicit attention to these relationships. Partnership formation canbring about substantial benefits. In cases where less public fundingis available for water-related initiatives, partners outside governmenthave sometimes contributed, through money or voluntary action, toexpediting activities that would otherwise have been difficult tosupport. In this manner, partnership arrangements have shown thatthey can help to maintain or to improve water services.The Ministerial Declaration at Bonn, 2001, encouraged privatesector participation. It also noted that this does not imply privateownership of water resources and that water service providersshould be subject to effective regulation and monitoring. Privatesector involvement in water may take many forms and is not new.At the most basic level, water service providers have always boughtin goods and services from the private sector, and governmentshave enlisted the private sector to assist in assessing and monitoringwater resources, for example in groundwater investigations. Inrecent years, the trend has been to give the private sector a largerrole in managing, operating and maintaining water and wastewatersystems. These may be broadly divided into the following:Box 15.7: Public-private waterpartnership in FranceIn order to meet their responsibilities in terms of waterservices, French communities are often organized intointer-municipality drinking water associations (67 percentof the population) and, more rarely, sanitation associations(16 percent of the population for water collection). Theyalso make use of public/private partnerships by delegatingoperation, maintenance and development of public potablewater and sanitation services to private companies (85percent of the population for potable water, 36 percentfor sanitation). However, they retain ownership of thesystem and the private service provider must return thenetwork in proper working condition at the end of thecontract period. This system allows a clear delineation ofroles and exchanges of experience, as private operatingcompanies manage the water services of many differentcommunities. Delegation is also favourable to efficiency,because of the technical expertise and the economicconstraints of the private companies.Source: Based on the Seine-Normandy Basin Agency (AESN), 2002. Prepared for theWorld Water Assessment Programme (WWAP).■ Divestiture of assets: this model has been used in England andWales. The private sector owns the infrastructure and isresponsible for planning and financing its development, as well asfor its operation and maintenance. The driver for privatization ofthe water industry in England and Wales was the need forinvestment, and the key to its implementation, a strong regulatoryframework. The water and wastewater companies are regulated byan economic regulator, the Office of Water Services (OFWAT),which has limited prices, the Environment Agency, which controlswater abstractions and wastewater discharges, and the DrinkingWater Inspectorate, which controls the quality of water supplied.■ Concessions: these are granted for the management, operationand development of systems for a limited period (usually abouttwenty-five years), but ownership of the infrastructure remainswith the government. This is the dominant system in France,where there is no regulator, but the interests of consumers arerepresented by the contract between the service provider andthe local government, which owns the assets (see box 15.7).Shorter contracts with minimal investment by the operator(leases) are sometimes employed.