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Advantages and Barriers
PRINCIPLES FOR 21ST CENTURY WATER
MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING
New principles for water management and
planning must be adopted. These principles began to be defined
nearly 20 years ago at the groundbreaking conference on water
at Mar del Plata, Argentina, and they have been further
developed and refined at several important meetings since that
time. Significant advances were made at the 1992 Dublin
conference in preparation for the Earth Summit in Rio de
Janeiro. Below, we summarise and elaborate on four principles,
which should be used to guide water decisions into the next
century.
Rather than continuing to search for more
and more water to meet the anticipated demands, it is time
that we adopt the idea that water is a finite and vulnerable
natural resource and that excessive withdrawal from natural
water bodies is exponentially costly and is likely to cause
considerable harm to ecosystems’ functioning and downstream
areas generally (Gleick et al. 1995, Postel 1996, Heyns et al
1997). Rather than thinking in terms of augmenting supply by
increasing rate of withdrawal, we -- as society, communities
and individuals -- must decide what we want to do with the
amounts that can feasibly be developed.
Identify and meet basic human and ecosystem
water needs.
Among the concepts raised nearly 20 years
ago during the 1977 Mar del Plata conference was that of
meeting "basic needs". The 1992 Dublin Conference
statement reiterated that principle, which was then strongly
reaffirmed during the 1992 UNCED in Rio de Janeiro.
International organisation, national and local governments,
and water providers should adopt a basic water requirement (BWR)
standard to meet basic needs and guarantee access to it.
Unless this basic resource need is met, large-scale human
misery and suffering will continue and grow in the future,
contributing to the risk of social and military conflict.
Priority should be given to the unserved and underserved poor
who are a greatest risk. The basic needs of natural ecosystems
must also be identified and met as a top priority.
National food self-sufficiency should give
way to the concept of national food self-reliance
The view that all countries must be
responsible for their own food production hinders rational
solutions to the problem of true food security. The ultimate
goal must be a world that grows sufficient food to meet the
worlds needs somewhere, and the institutions and mechanisms to
deliver that food where it is needed. Thus "global food
security" - where enough food is produced and distributed
to feed everyone - is absolutely vital, while the goal of
"national food self-sufficiency" - where countries
seek to produce all their food needs domestically - is already
unattainable for a number of countries. It will be
increasingly problematic and costly, in financial and
environmental terms, for a growing number of countries. This
shift in thinking requires a shift in national water policies,
the functioning of global trade, access to agricultural
markets, and the design of import-export policies. The
benefits and risks of relying on international trade to ensure
food security are at the heart of the debate between those
alternative food strategies.
In particular, mechanisms to help shift
poor water-short countries away from water-intensive
agricultural production must be coupled with the development
of robust trade or aid programmes. Over time, changes in diets
and new forms for food production like 'urban agriculture' can
also play an important role in boosting global food security.
Water is an economic good. Its economic
values should be given due attention when apportioning scarce water
resources among competing uses, without infringing on the
basic rights to water services for all people at
affordable prices
Water must no longer be considered a free
good. The recognition of water as an economic good, which was
one of the cornerstones of the Dublin and Rio statements,
implies that planners and users recognize the true value of
water in all its competing uses and functions. Recognizing the
varying ability to pay and with due consideration to social
objectives, water users must assume a larger responsibility in
recovering the full cost of providing water-related services,
including development, provision, maintenance and treatment
costs. Mechanisms should also be set up to help water
marketing and trading, but such mechanisms must include broad
social and environmental values not considered in traditional
narrow market approaches. Commercialization of water systems
may be a valuable tool to apportion water to its highest
value. But there must also be governmental and social
mechanisms for ensuring affordable basic access to water for
people and ecosystems and to provide legal and institutional
framework for the proper functioning of commercial water
systems.
Provision of heavily subsidized water
services leads to inefficient water use and inappropriate
water allocations. Such subsidies also mean a significant
drain on limited public financial and other resources. In
order to meet basic human and environmental needs and to
stimulate long-term sustainable development, it is imperative
that the prevailing notion of water as a free good be changed.
Responsible and proper use requires, among other things, that
charges and fees reflect the various costs for water with the
due consideration to the significance or water in all aspects
of life and social activity.
Water planning and decision-making should
be democratic; ensuring representation of all affected parties
and fostering direct participation of affected interests.
International organisations and official
water conference statements for nearly 20 years, going back to
the 1977 Mar del Plata conference have enunciated the
principle that water planning and decision-making should
involve the fullest participation by affected parties. The
goal was also one of the prime recommendations from the Dublin
meeting.
"Water development and management
should be based on a participatory approach, involving users,
planners and policy-makers at all levels. The participatory
approach...means that decisions are taken at the lowest
appropriate level, with full public consultation and
involvement of users in the planning and implementation of
water projects." (ICWE 1992)
Sustainable water planning and use should
ensure comprehensive public representation; open and equitable
access to information about the resources, and direct
participation of affected interests in decisions about
allocating those resources. The success of policies and
programmes for water management, planning, and use now
strongly depends on the extent to which the water users and
various interest groups become actively involved. This
requires new institutional arrangements that are conducive to
fostering such involvement and enabling the various
stakeholders to play a constructive role. Ways must also be
found to incorporate and protect the interests of future
generations - a fundamental criterion of sustainability as
defined by the United Nations in Agenda
21.
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