Water Sector Reforms Research Articles

Water Pricing: Issues and Options in Turkey

Water pricing occupies a central place in water sector reforms. The paper discusses its global importance and analyses the existing institutions and legal frameworks for irrigation water pricing in Turkey. In view of the gradually expanding large irrigation infrastructure in the South-eastern Anatolia Project region of Turkey, it makes a case for the adoption of full organization and management cost recovery for irrigation water supplies and the establishment of a volumetric system of billing in place of the present crop and area system.

Water Pricing and Water Sector Reforms Information Study in Ghana

This study seeks to provide information on water pricing in Ghana. It looks at the experiences in water pricing practices, the problems and successes encountered in the country. It outlines the reforms instituted in the water sector for the provision and sustainability of urban, rural, and agricultural water supplies to address the problems. Also discussed are the institutional arrangements put in place to ensure the coordinated management of the country's water resources. Finally, the study makes suggestions on how the problems on water pricing can be effectively addressed particularly in ensuring consumer protection and investor interest with the obvious introduction of the private sector in the urban water service delivery.

Mainstreaming gender in integrated water resources management: the case of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe embarked on a water sector reform programme in 1995. Two goals of the water reform were to broaden women’s access to water and to enhance their participation in water management. This paper analyses how gender was addressed at the national and institutional levels and in the water reform process, paying particular attention on how strategic gender needs were addressed in the process and the resultant policies and Acts. The results show that although the government of Zimbabwe has made considerable progress in mainstreaming gender at the ministerial level, departments which are involved in the actual implementation of water programmes do not have clear gender policies. Therefore although gender equity was one of the main goals of the water reform, most poor women and men were not involved in the consultations. Consequently neither the new Water Act nor the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) Act addresses gender in explicit terms. Strategic gender needs are not addressed at all. It is recommended that all institutions in the water sector, including NGOs, should have clear gender policies, include a gender perspective in their organisation culture and practices and address strategic gender needs through training, education and supporting productive use of water.

“Water Sector Reforms”—A Framework for Collective Action

“Water Sector Reforms”—A Framework for Collective Action

The challenge of integration in the implementation of Zimbabwe’s new water policy: case study of the catchment level institutions surrounding the Pungwe–Mutare water supply project

Integrated water resources management (IWRM) is viewed by policy makers and practitioners as facilitating the achievement of a balance between water resource use and resource protection, and the resolution of water-related conflicts. The IWRM approach has found particular use in the new water policies of Southern African countries such as Zimbabwe, where water scarcity, after the land question, is perceived to be a major threat to political, economic, social, military and environmental security. Ultimately, IWRM is seen as providing a framework towards ensuring broader security at the local, national, regional and global levels. However, the pilot phase implementation of the new water policy in the various regional countries has revealed that although the legal and institutional frameworks have been put in place, the implementation of the IWRM approach has tended to be problematic (J. Latham, 2001; GTZ, 2000; Leestemaker, 2000; Savenige and van der Zaag, 2000; Sithole, 2000).This paper adopts a case study approach and empirically examines the institutional challenges of implementing the IWRM approach in the post-pilot phase of Zimbabwe’s new water policy. The focus is mainly on the institutional arrangements surrounding the Pungwe–Mutare Water Supply Project located within the Save Catchment Area in Eastern Zimbabwe. The major findings of the study are that, while there persist some problems associated with the traditional management approach, there have also emerged new challenges to IWRM. These mainly relate to the transaction costs of the water sector reforms, institutional resilience, stakeholder participation, and the achievement of the desired outcomes. There have also been problems emanating from unexpected political developments at the local and national levels, particularly with regard to the government’s “fast track” land resettlement programme. The paper concludes that there is a need for a more rigorous effort towards integrating the management of water resources by the catchment level institutions.

“Getting the Pipe Laid is One Matter and Getting the Water Flowing through the Pipe is Another”: User Views on Public-sector Urban Water Provision in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Ghana and India

The arguments for a more market-oriented approach to urban water provision and their implications for user-provider relationships are reviewed. It is argued that, although there are convincing reasons for adopting a more demand-oriented approach than traditional in the urban water sector, a pure market orientation is inappropriate, infeasible and insufficient. Consequently, means of ascertaining user preferences are needed that are alternative or additional to the consumption choices of individual purchasers. Alternative ways of assessing user views are reviewed. Selected findings relevant to the water sector reform agenda from qualitative studies in four countries are presented. These focus on the choices made by users in the light of restrictions on the availability of piped supply, their perceptions of the services provided, their identification of desirable improvements, and their attitudes towards private-sector participation and increased cost recovery. It is concluded that information collected through qualitative methods (focus group discussions) can usefully complement quantitative information in ascertaining user views on water supply arrangements.

Water policy in southern Africa: A brief synopsis of some of the macro driving forces

The water sector reforms that are underway in many parts of southern Africa are a manifestation of a global phenomenon. This is rooted in the human response to the undesirable consequences of development, and seeks to introduce the notion of sustainability into the modern development discourse. This has given rise to an academic discipline that is known as political ecology, which seeks to understand the political construction of environmental knowledge. As it is currently formulated, political ecology is highly Eurocentric, meaning that African scholars should become engaged in its intellectual development. This political ecology discourse is relatively new in southern African academic circles, and can be helpful in explaining dynamics that are shaping the World Water Vision, Global Water Partnership, World Commission on Dams and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, all of which are relevant in the contemporary water sector.