Institutional Arrangements and Planning Approaches for Efficient and Effective Water Management

Michael RousePast President

International Water Association (IWA)

Introduction to Topic 4.2, and to Session 4.2.1

World Water Forum, Istanbul

17 May 2009

Topic 4.2: Water as a Government Priority – a critical issue

• It is essential that Governments place water sanitation and hygiene policy as a high priority – every year over 4 million people die from diarrhoeal disease – but also without fundamental public health care, children cannot gain access to education and medical care is ineffective

• Essential that it is seen as part of the overall plan for economic and social development

• How can this be achieved?

Some other key questions• The water cycle ensures that water is always

available but its distribution is uneven geographically and there are competing users - How can the benefits be shared equitably?

• How can risks to health be managed?

• Public participation is essential – how can recognition be given to the need for openness and transparency

• What does this mean for water governance and planning systems? What are the critical regulatory roles?

Investment • Booz Allen (2007) estimated infrastructure

investment worldwide for the period 2005-2030– Power US $9 trillion– Transport US$ 9.4 trillion, but – Water US$ 22.6 trillion

• Much of this on refurbishing existing infrastructure – where access is being reduced

• How will this investment be financed, planned, managed and paid for?

• How can the investment be used wisely to achieve improved sustainable access to safe water and dignified sanitation?

25 year Investment in Water Infrastructure

Area US$ trillion

Middle East 0.9

Africa 1.1

US/Canada 6.5

South America /Latin America 7.4

Europe 9.1

Asia/Oceania 15.8

TOTAL 22.6

SessionsThe topic has been designed to consider those key questions in five sessions:1. The Big Picture on Planning and Governance

2. Regulation for water and sanitation

3. River basin management in federated countries

4. Risk management to protect health

5. Public participation - openness and transparency

•Session 6 will aim to bring all aspects together to provide recommendations on ‘Institutional Arrangements and Planning Approaches’

This Session: Session 4.2.1 Planning and Governance

• The Session is in two parts

• Part 1 Planning and Governance – which will take us up to the break period

• Part 2 Institutions and Law – which will be introduced by Martin Walshe who will chair the session after the break

Governance and Planning • It can be argued that the main obstacle to progress

is not finance but poor governance and planning

• This part of the session considers what constitutes effective governance and planning

• We begin with presentations on– Planning for Rural Water Supplies Michael Rouse

– An African Perspective –Tefera Goudeneh

– IWRM and National Development Planning- Ali Kerdany

– Governance Systems for flood management-Geert Teisman

– Water resource and national planning in Brazil- Luiz Firmino Martins Pereiro

• Then the Panel and you will be in open debate on the issues

Planning Rural Water Supplies

Michael RouseInternational Water Association (IWA)

(Distinguished Research Associate,

University of Oxford)

(Independent International Advisor)

Session 4.2.1 WWF Istanbul

17 May 2009

Structure of Presentation• Introduction• The top down / bottom up dilemma• An outline of the approach• Key players• The Obligated Entity• The Planning Coordinator• Important Information• All levels of administration have a role to

play

Introduction

• The approach has been developed in India but the principles are widely applicable

• This presentation should have been made by Nick Pilgrim from WSP in Delhi who has project managed these developments, and who has brought together a number of aspects into a coherent approach

• I begin with the history of top-down and bottom-up approaches

Introduction

• The approach has been developed in India but the principles are widely applicable

• This presentation should have been made by Nick Pilgrim from WSP in Delhi who has project managed these developments, and who has brought together a number of aspects into a coherent approach

• I begin with the history of top-down and bottom-up approaches

Top-down and bottom-up• The top-down centralised approach adopted in the

last century was successful in giving good coverage of water supply infrastructure in India– But there has been ‘slippage’ on access with many

systems not being maintained, and there are significant water quality problems

• The Demand Responsive Approach in which communities design systems, thus taking greater ownership, has not provided the solution due to inadequate consideration of technical and financial support systems for the longer term

• The WSP project aims to address these deficiences

Context of Work

• The work takes place within the broader context of India’s new National Rural Water Supply Programme and Guidelines

• The main case study is being led by the Department of Rural Management, State Government of Sikkim, with technical support from WSP-SA. It is a major part of implementing the National Guidelines in Sikkim

Overall Structure

District Planning Coordination and Regulation Unit

Training Modules on Planning and

Monitoring

Planning/ Regulation

Service agreement Operator – required to

deliver to service agreements

Gram Panchayat -Water Service

Obligated Entity

Training and Capacity Building

State Training Institute

State – Policy and Finance

National Government - Guidelines

The Key Players

District Planning Coordination and Regulation Unit

Gram Panchayat -Water Service

Obligated Entity

Operator – required to deliver to service

agreements

Training Modules on Planning and

Monitoring

Planning/ Regulation

Service agreement

Training and Capacity Building

State Training Institute

State – Policy and Finance

National Government - Guidelines

‘The Obligated Entity’• Gram Panchayat have responsibility (often delegated to

Village Water and Sanitation Committees) for service delivery - whether they employ their own operator or contract out the function

• They have to– Arrange training (with their State Training Institute)– Monitor operational performance, including drinking

water quality– Determine priorities for service development, and

agree improvement programmes with District– Negotiate and agree subsidies and water charges with

District – Implement improvement programmes

Planning Coordinator• Manage planning process

• Provide standard templates to capture basic information in technical surveys, drinking water safety plans, and improvement bids

• Assess improvement proposals from GP, and arrange approval of agreed programmes and associated finance

• Monitor improvement programmes, provide support as necessary and report

• Once system established, introduce benchmarking to facilitate learning from ‘best in class’

Important Information• Technical Surveys

– Identify or update the basic information on the system and as far as possible its performance

• Operating Plans– A list of tasks to be carried out by the GP operator

or an operating contractor

• Drinking Water Safety Plans– Operating plans for drinking water safety

determined through a risk management approach

• Improvement Proposals– Priority items captured from the above documents

All levels have a part to play• National – guidelines

• State – policy and finance

• State Training Institute

• District – coordination and management of the planning process

• District – support to GP

• Gram Panchayat – responsibility for delivery

• Commitment needed at all levels

Reporting

• WSP-SA propose to publish a report later this year as a World Bank Water Sector Board ‘Water Working Note’