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Bridging Troubled Waters: Assessing the World Bank Water Resources StrategyUNDP-World Bank technical paper—A Guide tothe Formulation of Water Resources Strategy (FAO1995)—was seen as an end in itself. As with theStrategy’s implementation plan, there was nofollow-through in the Bank to make the guidelinesfully operational or to assess the internal resourcesrequired to implement the guidelinesthrough lending or nonlending interventions.The Bank Is Poorly Organized toImplement the Water StrategyIn 1995 the operational Regions reverted to atwo-tier system with country management unitsdirectly supported by sector management units.The sector units functioned like the old technicaldepartments, providing specialist staff to respondto a country director’s needs—despite thefact that water knows no borders. Most sectorunits are large (70 to 120 staff) and structuredsuch that water resources management cannotbe treated in a holistic manner. Urban water supplyis separated from rural development (andthus irrigation and drainage), and in some Regionsfrom environment and social development.In addition, demand for sector support isunpredictable because it is controlled by budgetaryprovisions from the country units, and thecontinuity of staff involvement cannot be guaranteed.Until 1999 the Africa and MNA Regionswere the only ones with a functioning water resourcesmanagement unit capable of deliveringa regional approach. Since then, all Regionshave begun to set up regional water teams, andall have lead water specialists/advisors.Strategic leadership for water resources managementremains fragmented within the Bank.Rural development (including irrigation andrural water supply) and the environment areunder the vice-president for Environmentallyand Socially Sustainable Development Network(ESSD). Urban water and sanitation (WSS) isunder the vice-president for Private Sector andInfrastructure Network (PSI), primarily to reflectthe Bank’s strategy of encouraging privatizationof public sector activities, such as watersupply and sanitation. The division of waterrelateddevelopment into two separate organizationalunits may promote other Bank policystrategies (privatization), but specific Bank policyobjectives that require a holistic approach—such as implementation of its water Strategy—get lost by subdivision.Councils and Sector Boards within ESSD andPSI differ in their effectiveness on water issues.Both sector boards have produced a series of performanceimprovement plans focused on the efficiencyof their operations. The Urban WaterSupply and Sanitation Board has been developinga coherent plan to improve the efficiency ofits operations and water service delivery function.But the same is not true of the Rural SectorBoard. Under this board, water-related operations—eventhough they account for half itslending—are only part of a mandate that spansa complex of 16 rural development activities. Asa result, managerial guidance and oversight onwater development get lost in bigger rural developmentissues. It was only in the spring of2000 that a new Water Resources ManagementGroup was formed under ESSD to address this.It is too early, however, to judge the effectivenessof this new set-up and the way that energy,environment, infrastructure, rural development,and WBI training will be coordinated.One possible solution for better water servicedelivery in the rural sector is to focus exclusivelyon the efficiency and sustainability ofwater delivery in the same way that urban watersupply concerns itself only up to the householdtap. The delivery systems for urban water andfor irrigation and drainage are both capitalintensive,with similar economies of scale, organization,subsidies, and financial viabilityissues. In irrigation, this would require full attentiononly up to the bulk delivery and salespoint—where farmers’ water user groups wouldthen take responsibility for further managementand allocation. Indeed, there may be a case forgreater involvement of PSI staff in Bank effortsto reform public sector irrigation agencies to capitalizeon their expertise in unbundling complexpublic sector utilities. That would focus attentionon getting water delivery right and make utilitiesfinancially viable. It could also focus theattention of irrigation staff on improving themanagement of water below the utilities’ deliverypoint and strengthening the linkages betweenirrigated agriculture and rural development.38
Improving Bank Management and Internal IncentivesBankwide thematic groups that focus on thewater service sectors have been successful atknowledge management, particularly in watersupply and sanitation. There is some crosscoordinationamong the various thematic groupson subsectoral issues, and Bankwide discussionto advocate the case for holistic water resourcesmanagement is just beginning, aided by theBank-Netherlands Water Partnership. But theknowledge function is now seriously erodedby recent budget cuts in the Bank.But Successful Institutional ApproachesAre EvolvingDespite the fragmented approach in the Bank,there have been successful examples wherewater resource issues were treated in a holisticmanner, with the encouragement and activesupport of the regional management. None,however, has been institutionalized. And they dependheavily on unpredictable non-Bank budgetarysupport and the use of consultants.The African Water Resources ManagementInitiative unit, set up in 1995, is the only selfcontainedunit in the Bank that has performedas anticipated in the recommendations for implementationof the Strategy. It is a “bottom-up”initiative led by staff with the ability to organizeand attract non-Bank staffing and funding resources.Not dependent on budgetary supportfrom Bank country lending programs, the initiativehas considerable flexibility in choosing priorities.This obviously works, since it is gainingstrength from partnerships with stakeholders tomeet borrowers’ demand for assistance in formulatingtheir water strategies across sectoralboundaries.The comprehensive approach has also madeit possible for the Bank to influence almost allthe key national and international water resourceschallenges in the Region, including riverbasin management. It is still too early to evaluatethe full impact of the initiative, but substantialincreases in Bank budgetary support bythe Africa Region clearly indicate management’srecognition of its positive role.In MNA, a sector manager attracted enoughstaff to one of the sector units to maintain a regionalinitiative on comprehensive water policyreform. But as in the Africa Region, the waterservice sectors remain split under separate sectorunits, and MNA staffing and funding arrangementsmake it difficult to respond to regionalwater challenges in a timely and comprehensivemanner.Staff Resources Are Stretched Too ThinlySince 1993, there has been a substantial increaseof specialist staff in natural resources and environment,a modest increase in water supplyand sanitation, but a substantial decrease in irrigationand hydropower. There has also beena substantial decrease in senior technical staff,primarily due to retirement.The results of an OED survey (Annex G)show that Bank staff clearly believe they lack thefunds and personnel to carry out the Strategy(figure 5.1). Few internal incentives favor thelong-term, comprehensive, cross-sectoral viewrequired for water resource management.Strongly favored is the project-oriented enclaveapproach that focuses on service delivery.Staffing needs and recruitment are contentiousissues, with most staff believing that the Bankhad made little effort to quantify staffing at theregional and sectoral levels or in the networks.Inadequate recruitment of new staff is a significantconcern, as is the loss of skills to implementthe Strategy—a view not shared byless-experienced staff.External Stakeholders Also SeeProblemsNGO interviews also raise some serious questionsabout the perceived barriers to successful Strategyimplementation: “The high degree of internaldisagreement over fundamental aspects of thepolicy, such as whether to adopt a comprehensiveplanning approach, coupled with a lowlevel of interest in the policy shown by water projecttask managers, indicates that without concertedefforts by concerned governments andNGOs, the policy and its new approaches are fragileand may never be fully implemented.” Fromthis and other evidence, the NGOs expressed concernthat “the pressure to lend . . . has not beenremoved and continues to work against aspectsof the water policy that recommend greater39
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WORLD BANK OPERATIONS EVALUATION DE
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OPERATIONS EVALUATION DEPARTMENTENH
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Bridging Troubled Waters: Assessing
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AcknowledgmentsThis report examines
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ENGLISHFOREWORDThe comprehensiveapp
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Forewordated in early 2000 withinth
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ForewordENGLISHand regional capacit
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AnnexesT able E.1V ariables in Data
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ANNEX F:RESETTLEMENT IN BANK WATER
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ANNEX G:WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
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AnnexesFigure G.1Staff Questionnair
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ANNEX H:THE DIFFICULTIES OF INTEGRA
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Annexesactivities. To mitigate thes
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