Water

Water Champion Maria Sevilla on Decentralized Wastewater Management: Big Results from Small Solutions
From “I don’t care” to “I care and I pay,” Liloan’s populace changed their views when dealing with water pollution in their coastal town. A decentralized wastewater treatment facility solved the problem, and drastically improved the town’s health, sanitation, and tourism situations. “But we only keep the ends if we sustain the means,” says Liloan Mayor Maria Sevilla, hence the town’s dedicated pursuit of cost recovery measures to sustain the facility’s operations.

Australia: Squeezing Wine from Wastewater—Lessons in Reuse
Wine from wastewater doesn’t exactly sound palatable but wastewater is what grape growers in South Australia used when their groundwater and soil started drying up, leading to declining crop yields and property values. They soon discovered that the right treatment, regulatory framework, tariff structures, and financing partners can transform wastewater into safe and affordable irrigation water.

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People’s Republic of China (PRC): Private Funds for Cleaner Water
PRC’s need to manage its wastewater grows more urgent each day. The country’s 11^th Five-Year plan includes the ambitious target of constructing wastewater treatment plants throughout the country, a bold move requiring an estimated US$30 billion in investments. Can PRC rely on its experience with private sector partners to meet this target?

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Philippines: Smart Sanitation Cleans Liloan’s Coast
Sublime beaches used to attract tourists to Liloan, a small town in Cebu Island-until the coastal waters turned dangerously dirty due to wastewater being discharged straight into the sea. A decentralized wastewater treatment facility saved the coast from pollution before it was too late. But can the town sustain this solution to their sanitation problem?

ADB’s New Facility to Raise $100 million for Water
A new Water Financing Partnership Facility (WFPF), approved by ADB in December 2006, seeks to raise $100 million in grant cofinancing by 2008 to support the Water Financing Program 2006-2010. Roughly 70% of the resources will support country-based demonstration projects, and 30% for knowledge, capacity development, innovation services, collaboration with civil society, and regional cooperation.

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ADB, UN-HABITAT Strengthen Partnership for Urban Poor
ADB and UN-HABITAT signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen its partnership to increase investments in water supply and sanitation for Asia’s urban poor. The partnership, which carries the Water for Asian Cities Program, will extend to 2011, as grant funds double to $20 million from the $10 million committed in 2003 when the partnership began.

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NARBO Concludes 4th Water Rights and Allocation Workshop
The Network of Asian River Basin Organizations’ fourth thematic workshop on water rights and water allocation was held in January in Japan. Earlier workshops were held in Viet Nam, the Philippines, and Thailand in 2005-2006. The workshops discussed problems, causes, solution strategies, and country action programs to address water rights and water allocation challenges in Asia. A knowledge product will be prepared to disseminate the outcomes.

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ADB VP Calls for Strong Leadership, Better Governance on Water Management
“When people speak about a water crisis, it is in most cases a crisis of water governance,” says ADB Vice-President Khempheng Pholsena at the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit in January. Pholsena called for strong government leadership and healthy stakeholder participation through Integrated Water Resources Management to ensure progress and improved governance of Asia’s water sector.

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India: Water Utilities to Collaborate on Benchmarking
ADB and the Government of India have begun a benchmarking program for 30 selected water utilities in the country. The program aims to facilitate the design and implementation of urban projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. An inception workshop was held in Chennai, and a concluding workshop is scheduled in May.

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Indonesia: ADB to Strengthen Traditional Water User Groups in Aceh
“We are very proud to have been entrusted to rehabilitate a section of our irrigation scheme,” says Hazairin, Head of Putra Baruna water users associations in Aceh. A $31.5 million ADB grant for rehabilitating irrigation systems in Aceh and Nias following the 2004 tsunami will directly involve communities through water users associations to ensure local ownership.

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Indonesia: ADB Funds Water Quality Study in West Tarum Canal
Urbanization has brought pollution to the Citarum River Basin and its tributaries. ADB is funding a water quality management study in the basin’s West Tarum Canal, which provides 80% of Jakarta’s freshwater supply. ADB’s Christopher Morris says, “The government is now taking a basin-wide approach to improving water and natural resources management in the Citarum basin.”

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Philippines: $42.8 Million Assistance Package to Help Improve Marine Resources and Coastal Livelihoods
A $33.8 million loan and a $9 million grant from ADB will help safeguard the Philippines’ fragile marine ecosystem by improving coastal resource management and boosting fisherfolk’s livelihoods. ADB’s M. Jamilur Rahman says, “The project will directly address threats to major coastal ecosystems to improve fishing catches in the coastal waters and address environmental degradation.”