Do under-performing water utilities need to adapt to climate change? Experience from Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Abstract

Climate change raises particular challenges for under-performing water and sewerage utilities. A recent review for the World Bank explored some of the likely impacts of climate change on utilities in the Eastern Europe and Central Asian region. Climate change is likely to have serious implications for the region's water resources particularly because of the increasing incidence of severe precipitation events (floods and droughts). However the review found that the investment requirements needed simply to sustain service levels and reach remaining unserved customers may be a more pressing challenge. This finding is likely to be equally relevant in many other regions. The review concluded that: future investments should focus on systems which are as flexible and decentralized as possible; ongoing efforts to strengthen utility operations should not be abandoned; and greater investment should be made in technical training and capacity building to meet the challenges of the future