Thematic paper 3: Urban-rural tensions - Groundwater Governance

Peri-urban slums areas are frequently neglected by city planners. Most are unregulated and poorly serviced, andwater quality degradation due to uncontrolled disposal of industrial, domestic and human waste is widespread. Themajority of large cities enjoy the benefits of at least some water and sanitation infrastructure in their central areas,and in many cases, this is being improved and expanded by private companies or public utility commissions (PUCs),both of which can expect significant cost recoveries in the form of tariffs or taxes. Peri-urban slums seriously lackcomparable infrastructure and services and are frequently forced to use water sources that are unsafe, unreliableand sometimes difficult to access on a regular or continuous basis. Sanitation, where available, tends to be limitedto latrines that are often shared with so many others that access and latrine cleanliness is difficult. Unsafe drinkingwater and inadequate sanitation have dire implications for human health, particularly the health of children and theelderly.As a further complication, urban encroachment onto fertile agricultural areas inevitably leads to the decline and/ordisplacement of peri-urban farmers who find that the scarcity of farmland is matched only by the scarcity ofaffordable freshwater for irrigation. In response, the peri-urban farmer often turns to urban wastewater (bothtreated and untreated) as the only reliable means of irrigating crops and maintaining a livelihood. Wastewater flowsare typically more reliable than freshwater sources and are rich in the nutrients required for the cultivation of highvaluecrops. Unfortunately, the widespread use of wastewater has obvious implications for the edibility of cropssold at the market; moreover, the use of wastewater for irrigation seriously threatens the potable quality of shallowgroundwater supplies. Authorities are also concerned that the seemingly beneficial, environmentally “green”, re-useof wastewater presents obstacles to installing wastewater treatment plants.Assessing the risks associated with wastewater use is often difficult, as any enforcement of water quality standardsis often complicated by ambiguous lines of authority; for example, should standards be enforced by health,agricultural or water supply and sanitation agencies? Consequently, its use is largely unregulated. A nationwidesurvey in Pakistan (WWAP, 2006) showed that approximately 25% of all vegetables are irrigated with untreatedurban wastewater and that such vegetables, usually cultivated close to the urban markets, were considerablycheaper than the vegetables imported from more remote regions of Pakistan (Ensink et al., 2004). Similarly, 60% ofthe vegetables consumed in Dakar, Senegal are grown within the city limits using a blend of groundwater anduntreated wastewater (Faruqui et al., 2004).2.4 The role of policy reformsIt would be remiss to evaluate global efforts to supply water to rapidly growing cities without considering the majorreforms of water service that have taken place across the world during the past 20 years or more, primarily theresult of various political and economic pressures. Prior to the 1990s, water industries in most countries operated asnational monopolies. Since then, many countries have moved to introduce “decentralised” systems of water service,often with varying degrees of success. For example, several Asian countries, including Indonesia, Pakistan and thePhilippines, embarked upon radical decentralization programmes (WWAP, 2009) and, in many Latin Americancountries (e.g. Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Panama and Peru) national monopolies were sub-divided into hundredsof municipal providers as part of a wider process of devolution across all areas of government. Rapiddecentralization also took place in Eastern Europe and Central Asia following the political turnaround that devolvedresponsibilities to lower tiers of government. However, the “purse strings” have stayed mainly at the central level, aproblem that is not uncommon for countries that choose to decentralize and devolve. In Africa, where only Tanzaniaand Ethiopia have chosen to decentralise rapidly, Ethiopia is running into problems because the transfer ofimportant decision-making responsibilities to district and village levels has not been followed by the transfer offunds for capacity development.In general, decentralization has not been a considered response to the specific water sector problems, but is morethe consequence of wider national reforms. As a result, local governments often found themselves responsible forproviding water service while lacking the capacity to deliver. Private sector involvement has had limited success. Inlarger urban centres this has been primarily for political reasons, while in smaller cities and rural areas, economic14