Americas ok.indd - World Water Council

704th World Water ForumInstitutional and legal framework. The institutionalframework for water management is continuallyevolving throughout the region and there is no onemodel that could be qualified as regional. The regionis extremely heterogeneous and each country haseither maintained traditional institutional frameworksfrom the 1940-1980 era, introduced models based onsuccessful European examples or adapted new modelsto national characteristics. The challenge facing theregion is in determining the value of investing in newapproaches that address changes in the national,regional and global context as opposed to retaininghistorical institutional frameworks and, if these areretained, what conditions are required to ensure these areappropriate for accommodating new legislative measures.Decentralization has had mixed success. The degree ofdelegation of some functions related to this responsibilityvaries from country to country in the region and whetherthe country has a central or a federal structure. Mostcountries, however, consider water as a strategic resourceand thus, central governments retain the responsibilityfor its administration and conservation. What has beendelegated almost universally to local governments ormunicipalities is the responsibility for providing basicservices such as water supply and sanitation. Somecountries have delegated these responsibilities sincethe 1940s and others have just recently done so. Somelocal governments have been very successful in carryingout this responsibility and some have not. What hasbecome general is the increasing recognition of the needto ensure such measures are supported through localadministrative and financial capacity building, with somefunctions, such as technical assistance or in some casesregulation, retained by central government. Governancestructures ensuring effective mechanisms for participationand empowerment of civil society is another key factorand significant progress has been made in Latin Americaand the Caribbean, even in countries where watermanagement has been traditionally viewed as hierarchicaland pyramidal. However, participation in decision-makingremains a challenge, especially when traditionally excludedgroups such as women and indigenous populationsare concerned. Although there are exceptions, that theseefforts have been more successful in decentralizing the“voice” but not as much in decentralizing the “vote” inwater resource management issues.The region has displayed significant interest inmodernizing existing legal frameworks, especially in LatinAmerica with most countries having initiated programs todevelop, modify or modernize existing water legislation. Allof these developments have displayed mixed results. As aresult, important questions have been raised as to why thishappens, what constitutes a “good law”, the purpose oflegal reforms, how they should be implemented and whatconditions are required for successful implementation.Financing infrastructure. Despite economicdisparities throughout the region, financing for thedevelopment and maintenance of infrastructure isa common problem. Governments are increasinglypromoting private sector involvement in the financingof water projects although emerging trends suggestthat public funds or funds from project beneficiarieswill still be needed to ensure viability of many projects.This accompanies a shift in trend from financing largeinfrastructure projects toward small infrastructureprojects, and financing the more “soft” componentsof water resources development, as well as the trendtowards exploring alternative energy sources, such assolar and wind. Although important and complementary,these sources are not yet considered viable substitutes