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Water in the 21st Century : Imperatives for Wise Water Management
Future Water Resource ProjectsNew projects for dams, water storage, irrigation, drainage, flood protection, and water supply will continue to be needed in many countries where the basic water requirements for people have not yet been met. Sustainability criteria will predominate in decision making and particular emphasis will be given to environmental and social values. Increasingly, these projects will be financed with private sector participation where possible, and a wider range of stakeholders will be invited to participate in the process. Before deciding to invest in new storage and conveyance infrastructure, water planners will consider using existing infrastructure to meet the demands through reallocation of the available water among users, taking advantage of the greater efficiency offered by improved technology and the opportunities for recycling water. Major obstacles to the rational reallocation of water among users, however, are the legal and regulatory constraints on water transfers and, in many countries, the complex systems of water rights that inhibit the free movement of water as an economic good. An additional constraint is the lack of detailed understanding of the actual amount of water needed for various processes. Because of their scale and the need to safeguard national and regional concerns above local interests, flood control and flood protection projects represent a special case in which private investment is unlikely to displace government funding. However, the desire to secure higher levels of flood protection must be balanced against the effectiveness of nonstructural alternatives (such as planning and building controls, enhancing wetlands, providing means for evacuating persons and livestock, flood-proofing of essential infrastructure, and improving flood warning systems), which are less expensive and which do not disturb the river system and its aquatic ecology. The potential exists in most countries for greater use of flood damage insurance. Properly managed, this would avoid the cost escalation of disaster rehabilitation and flood protection. Modern approaches emphasize balanced structural and nonstructural measures within an integrated and comprehensive plan for management of natural resources in the river basin. For flood protection and all future projects using and controlling freshwater resources, the operational guidelines and procedures need to be adjusted to account for greater variability in climate as a result of global warming. This could add considerably to their costs. Irrigation and drainage projects have accounted for about 10 percent of the total lending of the international financing agencies, and such financing has been the most important factor behind the rapid expansion in irrigated agriculture since the 1960s. As shown in the figure, ADB's lending for irrigation and drainage for the past three decades represents 33 percent of the $15.7 billion in total lending for water projects. In many cases, the irrigation schemes have performed well below expectations. Yet, the same agencies have repeatedly supported programs for rehabilitation and improvement of physical infrastructure, often ignoring the institutional and statutory obstacles to more responsive service provision and sustainable operation. In response to growing competition for the available resources, both financial and physical, many countries are now tackling the challenge of policy and institutional reforms to achieve integrated water resource management and sustainable operation and maintenance of their irrigation schemes. Creation of incentives for more efficient allocation and delivery of water is now urgently needed throughout Asia and the Pacific. First, user charges must be levied. These should be fair, consistently applied, and set at levels that not only distinguish different uses but also ensure access for disadvantaged groups (especially the poor, and among the poor women). All users in the river basin must be included in any system of water charging. Second, the conditions for trading of water rights should be created. This requires clear definition of water rights, a condition that does not yet exist in most countries. In a complementary manner, greater control of the operation and maintenance of irrigation schemes needs to be given to the users. The current global commitment of financial resources for all water-related infrastructure is estimated to be $80 billion annually. For water supply and sanitation alone, an annual investment of about $70 billion would be required over the next 10 years. Although official development assistance will continue to provide an important part of the necessary resources, the private sector will be called on increasingly. ADB's lending for water-related operations in 1999 totaled $1.24 billion (25 percent of total lending), an indication of the importance attached to water sector operations. Nevertheless, this represents only a small part of the total need.
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