Private Enterprise and Financial Markets > Environment
Integrated Water Resources Management
Water is a vital resource for human survival and economic development; as populations and economies grow, water demand increases while the availability of the resource remains constant. Shortages engender water use conflicts, both in terms of quantity and quality. There is considerable variation across countries in laws and institutions related to water, and planning and project implementation ability is not uniform. Therefore the Eighth General Increase in the Financial Resources of the Bank calls for guidelines that are flexible enough to be tailored to different situations involving institutions, legal instruments, and the technical means to achieve an integrated approach to planning that considers all sources and uses of water in a given basin.
The primary activity of the Division in this area is to encourage a comprehensive approach to water resources management activities, when warranted by the characteristics of the problem. The integrated management of other resources in the watershed, such as soil and vegetation, is included, as is beneficiary participation.
Efforts will be directed toward supporting water resources planning, policy making and management through development of a Bank strategy that considers several issues associated with the core problem of developing multiple sources and managing multiple uses (municipal, industrial, irrigation) of water so that, over time, more efficient water resource supply systems and use patterns emerge, while maintaining or improving ambient water quality. One consideration is the identification and preparation of water resources project investments (potable water supply, sewerage, wastewater treatment, irrigation, etc.) that are efficient (net benefit maximizing) or at least cost effective (cost minimizing), and that consider non-monetized impacts under a multiple objective framework. Better use and quality of water resources might also be obtained through reduction of water system losses, optimal water pricing or marketing policies, privatization, decentralization, effluent discharge regulation, water quality monitoring and enforcement, soil and water conservation programs, non-point source pollution control, and water and soil conservation measures.
