Assessment of Institutional and Asset-Related Functions in the Urban Water Sector in Libya

Abstract

The total urban water supply in Libya is about 600 million cubic meter per year, of which more than 90% came from groundwater. Surface water resources are minimal and Libya relies on wells, desalination and transported water for urban water supply. Transported water supply is essentially targeted towards the agricultural sector; however, the share of the urban sector has been increased to cope with increasing demand. This paper focuses on the organization of urban water sector with regards to institutional level and asset level, trying to high light the problems facing urban water sector and proposes solutions. In addition to the newly re-established Water and Wastewater Company, there are six main players in the urban water sector today that duplicate institutional and asset-based functions. Three of them deal with supply side (Desalination Company, Water Authority, and Man-made River Authority) and the other three deal with demand side (Ministry of Utilities, Project Execution Authority, and Environment Authority). After assessing the current situation of the urban water sector mainly around organizational consideration, one can conclude that in terms of institutional setup there is no clarity around supply/demand decisions. On the asset-related side, water and wastewater operations have been confused by frequent re-organizations. Apart from fragmentation, overstaffing of Water and Wastewater Company is significant, especially in light of the level of service provided to consumers. In order to build a professional urban water sector, in terms of institutional and asset-related levels, clear key functions for both levels have been proposed.