Catalog

	Table of Contents
p. 6 of 13 BACK | NEXT I. The Context II. The Need For a Comprehensive Water Policy III. The Policy A. An Overview B. National Policies and Reforms C. Water Resource Management D. Improving Water Services E. Conserving Water F. Promoting Regional Cooperation G. Fostering Participation H. Improving Governance IV. The Policy and ADB's Poverty Reduction Strategy V. Getting the Policy to Work

Water For All: The Water Policy of the Asian Development Bank : III. The Policy

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C. Water Resource Management

River Basin Planning and Management

28. In the past, few projects were derived from a comprehensive water resource strategy. Even fewer took account of other water uses in the project area. The emphasis was mainly on the productive use of water resources, with little attention paid to managing the resources themselves. To meet the increasing challenges of water scarcity, pollution, and degradation of watersheds and ecosystems, water and related resources need to be managed in an integrated manner. Integrated water resource management (IWRM) is a process to improve the planning, conservation, development, and management of water, forest, land, and aquatic resources in a river basin context, to maximize economic benefits and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital environmental systems. The IWRM addresses quantity and quality concerns for surface and groundwater, and opportunities for their conjunctive use. It is typical for IWRM to be undertaken in a river basin context because river basins or, in some cases, groundwater basins, form the natural unit to manage water resources. ADB will help DMCs introduce the IWRM and undertake comprehensive water resource assessments in river basins as a basis for future water investment projects. These assessments will enable a better understanding of the links between water and land use, the environment, and sustainable development.

29. Based on the IWRM approach, ADB will support the decentralization of planning, development, and management of water and related resources to levels that respond best to river basin boundaries, groundwater aquifers, or hydrological regions. To ensure effective IWRM, river basin organizations need to be established with monitoring and regulation from higher levels. River basin management concerns need to be matched pragmatically with the requirements of local government jurisdictions through stakeholder consultation. ADB will support the development of structures that respond to these needs.

30. To implement the IWRM, ADB will support the establishment of river basin organizations (both formal and informal) to facilitate stakeholder consultation and participation, and to help improve planning, information gathering, monitoring, and advisory services to local and national authorities. The basin organizations will help prepare and maintain basin profiles with information on water demand and uses, and approved planning directions and standards. Community involvement in resource monitoring and management will be organized on a river basin basis.¹² Legally authorized institutions need to be established to provide bulk water supply to local subsector service providers; ADB will provide technical assistance to help establish such institutions.

Water Allocation

31. Reallocation of water among competing uses is rapidly becoming a common challenge in the region. This impacts most on the poor who are insufficiently empowered to claim water rights. ADB will encourage DMCs to adopt participatory and negotiated approaches for water allocation. It will support the evolution of water allocation through markets of transferable water rights once the necessary policy, legal, and institutional frameworks for the IWRM in a river basin context have been put in place. Regulatory agencies will be helped to develop water rights in a manner that protects the rights of the poor to equitable water services. Until such time as transferable water rights are properly developed, ADB will support the introduction of systems of water entitlements, or usage rights, as currently contemplated in Sri Lanka and Viet Nam.

Environmental Protection and Social Measures

32. ADB will adopt a cautious approach to large water resource projects---particularly those involving dams and storage---given the record of environmental and social hazards associated with such projects. All such projects will need to be justified in the public interest, [and all government and nongovernment stakeholders in the country must agree on the justification]. and stakeholders must be provided with the opportunity to comment on the justification with their views considered. The ADB will promote the informed participation of government, civil society, and other stakeholders in the country in an open and inclusive manner towards this end.¹ Where the risks are acceptable and ADB’s involvement necessary, ADB will ensure that its environmental and social impact assessment procedures are rigorously applied. Any adverse environmental effects will be properly mitigated, the number of affected people in the project area will be minimized, and those adversely affected will be adequately compensated in accordance with ADB’s policy on involuntary resettlement. ¹³ In line with its energy sector policy,¹⁴ ADB will continue to extend its support for technically and economically feasible hydropower projects that form part of a country’s least-cost energy development plan, provided their environmental (including impact on fisheries) and social effects can be satisfactorily managed in accordance with ADB policies.

33. Water quality is an increasingly acute concern in most DMCs and one that ADB shares. The effects of water pollution are mainly felt at the local level and particularly affect the poor. To help stakeholders address water quality issues, ADB will support water quality investment programs that focus on four existing gaps: (i) knowledge development of the impact of human activities on water quality, and of water quality requirements for ecosystems, including determination of water quality thresholds; (ii) management of land conversion, including protection of catchments and wetlands, which are the natural filters in many aquatic systems, and pollution prevention at source; (iii) improving water management to reduce the inefficient use of water, excessive water abstraction, and groundwater pumping leading to salinization; and (iv) reducing pollution by urban and industrial users, through on-site or combined wastewater treatment and reuse, and improved farming practices. The introduction of wastewater discharge permits and effluent charges as part of water rights administration will be encouraged.

34. Watershed and wetland protection is an integral part of water resource management in a river basin context. The maintenance of critical watersheds is part of ADB’s policy on forestry,¹⁵ which emphasizes the need to set aside old-growth forests for conservation and watershed protection. ADB will pursue the protection and rehabilitation of degraded forestlands. To rehabilitate watersheds, ADB encourages the involvement of local communities and NGOs. Wetlands have important functions in the river basin, including flood alleviation, groundwater recharge, water quality improvement, ecosystem maintenance, and biodiversity conservation. ADB will promote wetland conservation and improvement in a river basin context.¹⁶

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