Enhancing Water Efficiency Through Regional Cooperation – The Case of Kwinana (original) (raw)
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Cooperation on water is central to development. In addition to being a catalyst for peace and security, water cooperation is vitally important for development at all levels. Significant achievements have been made through cooperation, yet much more remains to be done. Despite the potential for conflict, common needs for shared waters allow countries to come together in search of shared benefits from managing resources. More than 200 water treaties have been negotiated over the last 50 years. As more pressure builds on the world´s water resources, previous experience in cooperating towards water sustainability serves as useful guidance for future agreements. Mechanisms for sustainable financial management are critical to the success of water cooperation. There is a need for clear legal, organizational, financial, and economic mechanisms in order to solve water, energy, environmental, and other issues at the national and regional levels. Sustainable use of water resources has to be linked to economic regulation (tariffs, penalties, and administrative and criminal enforcement) and organizational structure (unification of water users, consideration for environmental and economic conditions, metering water use, and consideration of the market conditions). Inadequate tariff systems and deficient systems of charging for water supply services prevent the irrigation and water supply systems from being properly maintained. Targeted national development policies are essential to improve the level of cooperation observed within countries. It is encouraging that in the recent years many countries have started paying more attention to an integrated approach towards management of water together with other key sectors of the national economy. However, in many cases the national plans of integrated water resources management (IWRM) have not been coordinated either at the transboundary level or with relevant regional strategies. For this reason, many IWRM plans have not reached their full potential or effectiveness. It is of paramount importance that basin organizations and water user associations continue operating effectively. Widespread establishment of basin organizations, water user associations (WUAs), water users federations, and other similar groups has required a strengthening of their capacity to offer comprehensive solutions to local problems. These approaches are also effective in obtaining high yields of agricultural crops, as well as maintaining farm assets. Accordingly, it can be argued that efforts to support these mechanisms must continue. The United Nations system must act as the primary enabler of water cooperation. With a direct and express mandate to build the capacity of its member states, the United Nations system collectively has to shoulder the burden of successful water cooperation — even when this responsibility is shared with other development partners. Despite some major challenges in the effective delivery of assistance and solutions to member states, the UN system remains the only international mechanism that has presence on the ground in all developing countries and has the appropriate linkages to national governments. Overseas Development Aid (ODA) and Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) remain a central pillar of successful water cooperation. Financial support for cooperation by the donor community is important; for example, without such support, creation of water users associations might be impossible. However, in the long term, the key is that communities must understand the need for cooperation and the need for mutual support. Lack of human, technological, infrastructural, and institutional capacity is the foremost impediment to effective water cooperation. Yet, we do not have reliable estimates of the global capacities needed to meet various development objectives, including those now being enshrined in the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is obviously a priority to get a better estimate of capacity needs across the board. Multi-dimensional capacity development is critical. Capacity development must account for multiple dimensions in parallel (human, technological, institutional, and service provisioning), and do so in an integrated manner. Problems are persistently encountered in capacity development initiatives — namely only one aspect of a multidimensional capacity gap is addressed, leading to less satisfactory outcomes, or often nearcomplete failure to build long-term capacity. Availability of information and reporting by governments on water cooperation remains patchy and sparse. The specific lens of water cooperation has not been adequately incorporated into the data/information gathering part of the evaluation of water cooperation. It is equally difficult to determine whether water cooperation has taken place and if progress is being made by the governments to rectify barriers to such cooperation. While the mere occurrence of IWRM can be considered as a sign of water cooperation taking place, observed at a point in time, it is not conducive to be used as a long-term indicator of success. International partners must consolidate monitoring of progress along the SDG implementation trajectory. The development of a multi-agency initiative entitled Global Extended Monitoring Initiative, or GEMI, is already underway with the primary purpose of monitoring Targets 6.3 through 6.6 of SDG Goal 6. A number of partners from the UN system — namely WHO, UN-Habitat, UNEP, and FAO — are collaborating under UN-Water coordination to establish a global monitoring system. Such a system addressing data collection, harmonization, quality control, and country-level profiles on the one hand, and the needs of capacity and other technical support, on the other hand, can serve to support and strengthen water cooperation.
Cooperation on water is central to development. In addition to being a catalyst for peace and security, water cooperation is vitally important for development at all levels. Significant achievements have been made through cooperation, yet much more remains to be done. Despite the potential for conflict, common needs for shared waters allow countries to come together in search of shared benefits from managing resources. More than 200 water treaties have been negotiated over the last 50 years. As more pressure builds on the world´s water resources, previous experience in cooperating towards water sustainability serves as useful guidance for future agreements. Mechanisms for sustainable financial management are critical to the success of water cooperation. There is a need for clear legal, organizational, financial, and economic mechanisms in order to solve water, energy, environmental, and other issues at the national and regional levels. Sustainable use of water resources has to be linked to economic regulation (tariffs, penalties, and administrative and criminal enforcement) and organizational structure (unification of water users, consideration for environmental and economic conditions, metering water use, and consideration of the market conditions). Inadequate tariff systems and deficient systems of charging for water supply services prevent the irrigation and water supply systems from being properly maintained. Targeted national development policies are essential to improve the level of cooperation observed within countries. It is encouraging that in the recent years many countries have started paying more attention to an integrated approach towards management of water together with other key sectors of the national economy. However, in many cases the national plans of integrated water resources management (IWRM) have not been coordinated either at the transboundary level or with relevant regional strategies. For this reason, many IWRM plans have not reached their full potential or effectiveness. It is of paramount importance that basin organizations and water user associations continue operating effectively. Widespread establishment of basin organizations, water user associations (WUAs), water users federations, and other similar groups has required a strengthening of their capacity to offer comprehensive solutions to local problems. These approaches are also effective in obtaining high yields of agricultural crops, as well as maintaining farm assets. Accordingly, it can be argued that efforts to support these mechanisms must continue. The United Nations system must act as the primary enabler of water cooperation. With a direct and express mandate to build the capacity of its member states, the United Nations system collectively has to shoulder the burden of successful water cooperation — even when this responsibility is shared with other development partners. Despite some major challenges in the effective delivery of assistance and solutions to member states, the UN Summary for Decision Makers Water cooperation — Views on Progress and the Way Forwar d 5 system remains the only international mechanism that has presence on the ground in all developing countries and has the appropriate linkages to national governments. Overseas Development Aid (ODA) and Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) remain a central pillar of successful water cooperation. Financial support for cooperation by the donor community is important; for example, without such support, creation of water users associations might be impossible. However, in the long term, the key is that communities must understand the need for cooperation and the need for mutual support. Lack of human, technological, infrastructural, and institutional capacity is the foremost impediment to effective water cooperation. Yet, we do not have reliable estimates of the global capacities needed to meet various development objectives, including those now being enshrined in the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is obviously a priority to get a better estimate of capacity needs across the board. Multi-dimensional capacity development is critical. Capacity development must account for multiple dimensions in parallel (human, technological, institutional, and service provisioning), and do so in an integrated manner. Problems are persistently encountered in capacity development initiatives — namely only one aspect of a multidimensional capacity gap is addressed, leading to less satisfactory outcomes, or often nearcomplete failure to build long-term capacity. Availability of information and reporting by governments on water cooperation remains patchy and sparse. The specific lens of water cooperation has not been adequately incorporated into the data/information gathering part of the evaluation of water cooperation. It is equally difficult to determine whether water cooperation has taken place and if progress is being made by the governments to rectify barriers to such cooperation. While the mere occurrence of IWRM can be considered as a sign of water cooperation taking place, observed at a point in time, it is not conducive to be used as a long-term indicator of success. International partners must consolidate monitoring of progress along the SDG implementation trajectory. The development of a multi-agency initiative entitled Global Extended Monitoring Initiative, or GEMI, is already underway with the primary purpose of monitoring Targets 6.3 through 6.6 of SDG Goal 6. A number of partners from the UN system — namely WHO, UN-Habitat, UNEP, and FAO — are collaborating under UN-Water coordination to establish a global monitoring system. Such a system addressing data collection, harmonization, quality control, and country-level profiles on the one hand, and the needs of capacity and other technical support, on the other hand, can serve to support and strengthen water cooperation.
Water Policy, 2013
Improving access to water (and sanitation) services in Kenya (estimated at 59 and 32%, respectively), is one of the country's commitments. However, although efforts to address the situation through a rigorous water sector reform have shown some improvements, challenges still persist. One key challenge is inadequate capacity of sector institutions to deliver on their mandates. In particular, high Non-Revenue Water (NRW) levels (averaging 45%) negatively affect financial viability of water utilities. Key stakeholders are currently collaborating to improve NRW levels. Through capacity development support, underlying issues have been addressed and service delivery improved. The case of Nakuru Water, Sewerage and Sanitation Company (NAWASSCO), where local and international partners are implementing an innovative NRW model has resulted in commendable gains, is described. The NRW pilot adopted an action research approach to implement the International Water Association methodology of r...