Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

Achieving water security for Asia Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

ISBN 978-981-4136-06-8

The views expressed in this book are those of the authors and do not necessarily refect the views and policies of the Asian Development Bank or its Board of Governors or the governments they represent.

The Asian Development Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use.

Use of the term “country” does not imply any judgment by the authors or the Asian Development Bank as to the legal or other status of any territorial entity.

Abbreviations ADB Asian Development Bank APWF Asia-Pacific Water Forum AWDO Asian Water Development Outlook DMC developing member countries GCS government, corporate, society GDP gross domestic product HDI Human Development Index IDWA Index of Drinking Water Adequacy IRWR internal renewable water resource JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency MDG Millennium Development Goal NGO nongovernment organization O&M operation and maintenance PPP purchasing power parity PPWSA Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority PRC People’s Republic of China UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund WDI World Development Indicators WHO World Health Organization WPI Water Poverty Index WSS water supply and sanitation

iii Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 Contents

Contents

APWF Foreword v ADB Foreword vi About AWDO viii New Insights on Water Security in Asia Asit K. Biswas I. The Changing Water Management Landscape in Asia 1 II. Water-related Trends 12 III. Urban Water Management 23 IV. Ways Forward 32 Appendix IDWA: Index of Drinking Water Adequacy 41 Annexes Annex 1: Country Papers Summary 44 Annex 2: Annotated List of Discussion Papers 47 Acknowledgments 49

Contents of Enclosed CD-ROM

Discussion Papers I. Access to Drinking Water and Sanitation in Asia: Indicators and Implications Bhanoji Rao II. Water Resources and Development in Changing Asia Olli Varis III. Recent Advances in Water Resources Development and Management in Developing Countries in Asia Geoff Wright IV. Water Supply and Sanitation Issues in Asia Arthur McIntosh V. Integrated Water Resources Management: A Reassessment Asit K. Biswas

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Contents of Enclosed CD-ROM (cont.)

VI. Country Papers Geoff Bridges 1. Bangladesh 2. Cambodia 3. People’s Republic of China 4. Fiji 5. India 6. Indonesia 7. Kazakhstan 8. Pakistan 9. Philippines 10. Samoa 11. Sri Lanka 12. Viet Nam VII. Water Management in Singapore Cecilia Tortajada VIII. Social Perceptions of the Impacts of Colombo Water Supply Projects Asit K. Biswas, Ramani Jayatilaka, and Cecilia Tortajada IX. Water Management in Mexico City Cecilia Tortajada X. Water Resources in Korea 2007 Source: Water Resources and Environmental Research Center Ministry of Construction and Transportation, Republic of Korea XI. Japan’s Experience in Water Supply Sector After World War II Source: Japan Water Works Association XII. Legal Framework, Finance and Institutional Arrangements of Japan’s Sewerage System (Summary Document) Source: Japan Bank for International Cooperation XIII. Papers for Good Practices and Lessons Learned Source: Japan Bank for International Cooperation • Lessons Learnt from JBIC’s Experience in Assisting Sewerage Development in Asian Countries • Development of Sewage Treatment System in Beijing, China • Yamuna Action Plan - India XIV. Good Practices and Lessons Learned Source: Japan International Cooperation Agency – included in the bibliography XVI. Annotated Selected Bibliography Compiled by Audrey Esteban

iv v Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 APWF Foreword

APWF Foreword

he Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF) seeks to encourage Tcollaborative efforts on water resources management and accelerate the effective integration of water resources management into the socioeconomic development process of the Asia and Pacific region. This Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 report marks an early milestone in the Forum’s progress. Established only in September 2006, the APWF is a result of the Joint Declaration issued by the Water Ministers of the Asia-Pacific Region at the Fourth World Water Forum, Mexico City six months earlier. It is remarkable that so much information needed for the future management of the water and sanitation sectors in the Asia and Pacific region has already been assembled, analyzed, and made available through this timely report. These experiences and analyses, and the recommendations that can be drawn from them contribute directly to the First Asia-Pacific Water Summit, held in December 2007. The APWF Governing Council expresses its deep appreciation to Asian Development Bank and partner institutions for bringing the region’s water supply and sanitation sector issues together in this report. APWF sincerely hopes that this contribution to meeting the present and coming challenges in the water supply and sanitation sector will be found useful to the many public, private, nongovernment, and community-based organizations and interested individuals who share its vision of bringing safe water and sanitation to everyone in the region.

Professor Tommy Koh, Ambassador-at-large, Singapore Chair, Governing Council Asia-Pacific Water Forum

iv v Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

ADB Foreword

he Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 is a contribution by Tthe Asian Development Bank (ADB) to make a forward-looking assessment of the possible water future of the world’s most populous region. It is now increasingly being recognized that water is likely to be a major critical resource issue all over the world, and that the social, economic, and environmental future of Asia is likely to depend on how efficiently and equitably this resource will be managed in the coming years. The Outlook is aimed at Asian policy makers and those interested in understanding the complexities and dimensions of current and future water problems, and how these can be addressed successfully in policy terms. Its main objective is to raise awareness of water-related issues and to stimulate an informed debate on how best to manage Asia’s water future. These are important and complex issues, and their timely management can contribute to the achievement of all the water-associated Millennium Development Goals and beyond. This report brings together a wide range of water-related issues, problems, and challenges from a future-oriented, multi- disciplinary, and multisectoral perspective from around the Asia and Pacific region. Highlighted are important topics that have been neglected or are being inadequately considered in most countries of the region. Among these is the urgent need to address the inherent interrelationships between water and other important development-related sectors, like energy, food, and the environment. The future of Asian countries will be determined not by developments in any one of these sectors but rather in the interactions among all of them. Developments in all of these sectors will affect water, and, in turn, water developments will affect all these sectors. The accelerating change in demographics, such as rural–urban migration and an increasingly elderly population, is another unexplored area with major implications for water management. Many developing countries may risk mortgaging their water security in a decade or two if sanitation is used in a restricted sense of collecting and transferring untreated sewage to another area thereby contaminating freshwater sources. The importance of South–South knowledge and experience transfer in an Asian context through the identification and objective

vi vii Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 ADB Foreword

analyses of good practices is emphasized. The report is cautiously optimistic on Asia’s water future. It points out that with existing knowledge, experience, and technology, the water problems of the Asian developing countries are solvable. The main constraint is not physical scarcity of water, though this could be an issue in some areas, but inappropriate management practices. The Outlook, which is expected to be the first of a series of analyses on the future water situation of Asia, focuses on urban water and wastewater management. It notes that the status of provision of clean and drinkable water continues to be a serious concern in many Asian urban centers. Of even greater concern are inadequate wastewater management practices—collection, proper treatment, and safe disposal of wastewater. As a result of this neglect, water bodies in and around urban centers are often seriously contaminated, affecting the health of both people and ecosystems. However, to improve the situation, there must be reliable data on physical as well as social, economic, and environmental factors, presently lacking in many countries, on which to base sound policies. Solving urban drinkable water and wastewater problems will require strong political will, accelerating demand from civil society to solve these problems, adequate financial and managerial support, and intensive capacity-building efforts at all levels. The report is an independent analysis commissioned by ADB, and is the result of a collaborative effort by a team of eminent experts led by Prof. Asit K. Biswas, and ably supported by Mr. Geoffrey Bridges, Mr. Arthur McIntosh, Prof. Bhanoji Rao, Prof. Olli Varis, and Dr. Geoffrey Wright, with support from ADB’s Water Community of Practice. The report will help policy makers and civil society better understand the various issues associated with water, aiming at developing a common approach to meet the major challenges. ADB’s commitment to the sector is shown in our Water Financing Program 2006–2010, in which investments in water are expected to double and be directed toward reforms and capacity development programs in rural communities, cities, and river basins; and in the associated Water Financing Partnership Facility to mobilize cofinancing and investments from development partners. We encourage other partners to join us in this crucial endeavor.

Ursula Schäfer-Preuss Vice President, Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development Asian Development Bank vi vii Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

About AWDO 2007

he Asian Water Development Outlook waste collection and treatment. T(AWDO) 2007 is a package of Worldwide, competition for water is factual information, data, experiences, increasing apace in response to growing and solutions to problems in the water energy—including biofuel produc- and sanitation sector of countries in tion—and food needs, and for the the Asia and Pacific region. It provides environment itself, an equally legitimate comparative data for the sector in a user of water. In Asian developing number of countries and new perspec- countries, the problems of coping with tives on present issues in the sector and these demands are exacerbated by the their relationships with other sectors, often short seasonal nature of rainfall, and looks at the sometimes startling which must be stored to enable it to last and thought-provoking implications of from one season to the next. present global trends on the future of However, as Prof. Biswas points the sector. out “It is likely that if there will be a It begins with a sweeping overview water crisis in the future, it will not of the sector by Asit Biswas that come because of actual physical scarcity explains why some countries, cities, and of water, as many predict at present, rural areas around the world have suc- but because of continuing neglect ceeded in providing their populations of proper wastewater management with good water supply and sanitation practices. Continuation of the present and others have not. Developing coun- trend will make available water sources tries face much more difficult problems increasingly more contaminated, and than developed countries because the will make provision of clean water gradual pace of development in the more and more expensive, as well as former allowed the sector to keep up more complex and difficult to manage. with and plan ahead of expansion, By diluting seriously the definition of unlike in developing countries where access to clean water and considering development is taking place at relatively sanitation only in a very restricted sense, breathtaking speed, defying the efforts developing countries, including many in many cases of public providers to in Asia, are mortgaging their future in cope with such problems as populations terms of water security.” that are both increasing and aging, In the past, population growth has industrial demand for and pollution generally not been considered to be of water, and infrastructure needs for directly related to water management.

viii ix Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 About AWDO 2007

However, the fact is that populations quite different from those in the past. affect water in terms of demand, use While historical knowledge is always patterns, and management practices. useful, solving the water problems of Similarly, water affects populations the future will require additional skills, directly in terms of health (for example, innovative approaches, and new mind- waterborne diseases affect mortality sets. It will also require a more holistic rates), and indirectly, through such issues approach that can successfully coordi- as regional development, employment nate the energy, food, environment, and generation, and gender-related matters. A industrial policies of a nation, all of related, major factor that is still not being which have intimate linkages to water. adequately considered in Asian countries Each will affect the others and, in turn, is the implication of an increasingly be affected by the others. Policies in all aging population on water-related issues. these areas will similarly be influenced This is likely to be an important policy by external forces like demographic issue in nearly all Asian countries during transitions, advances in technology the next 3–4 decades. and communication, globalization, free It is now widely accepted that trade, and increasing social activism. the global climate is changing. This All these factors within and beyond is creating a new level of uncertainty the sector will make future water in water planning and management management in Asia a far more com- processes because it is difficult to plex task than ever before. It will be a manage water projects without knowing formidable challenge, but one that must the likely future distribution of rainfall and can be met because the knowledge, and temperature over space and time. experience, and technology to solve the We cannot even predict with any degree problems in a timely manner already of confidence the annual average exist within Asia, not in one location changes in rainfall and temperature but within the region as a whole. A syn- over a country as a whole, let alone for ergistic net needs to be cast to identify specific areas considered for planning and collect all the successful attempts purposes. Thus, climate change is likely for possible replication in other parts of to introduce high levels of risks and Asia. uncertainties that the water profession Basic to solving both sectoral and simply may not be able to handle with intersectoral water problems is the any degree of confidence, at least over presence of adequate capacity at all the near term. All this will make ef- levels, which is often not the case in ficient water planning and management Asian developing countries. Capacity an exceedingly complex and difficult development must receive much task during the post-2025 period. This higher priority from both national aspect needs urgent attention and ac- water authorities and external support celerated research from water scientists agencies. Equally, the external support and climatologists, especially in the agencies must ensure that the types of Asian monsoon countries, if serious capacity development activities they water-related stresses are to be avoided support will actually help to improve in the future. substantially the water management In the future, water issues in Asian practices of Asian developing countries, developing countries are likely to be where conditions are different from

viii ix Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

those in the industrialized countries. country population is a new composite Further, the results must be sustainable drinking water indicator, the Index of over the long term. Drinking Water Adequacy (IDWA). The One of the main purposes of the index was devised by Bhanoji Rao and is AWDO 2007 is to focus the attention an average of five components: measures of national leaders and key decision of access, capacity, quality, resources, makers on the need to increase invest- and use. The individual components can ments in the water sector if Millennium be used to indicate directions for policy, Development Goal (MDG) targets are program, and project actions. The new to be achieved by 2015. Although some index seeks to overcome some of the countries have made good progress, limitations of an existing indicator, the others need to make dramatic improve- Water Poverty Index. ments. This is shown quantitatively It is timely in that, half way through and qualitatively for twelve countries the MDGs timeframe, some countries from the region by Geoff Bridges. He may wish to fine-tune the goal and finds several common issues that need targets on water (and sanitation as per to be resolved if countries are to meet the Johannesburg Summit of 2002). these targets, including poor sectoral IDWA can be expanded, depending on management; poor management of data availability, to include for example, water resources; high water connection dissolved oxygen concentration and fees that prevent the urban poor from suspended solids that could be combined being connected, and low tariffs that into a quality index that can then enter do not reflect the true service cost for the final composite IDWA. Similarly, the sustainability; and lack of awareness index could include sanitation if at least among consumers of the “true” value one or two good sanitation indicators and scarcity of water. were available, not only reflecting access The solutions to these problems are to toilet facilities but also waste collec- implied in their descriptions. However, tion and disposal and sewage treatment. there are two key needs to make mea- However, as Prof. Rao points out, the surable progress. One is to collect better accuracy and consistency of national data quality and more comprehensive data, may be a stumbling block at present. especially from water utilities, so that Major intersectoral problems associ- real problem areas can be pinpointed. ated with water—population growth Bridges uses an international data set and aging, the economic and social that, although based on 2004 informa- transition in developing countries, issues tion, overcomes the inconsistencies and related to energy, food production, “optimism” often appearing in national environment, and climate variation and data sets. The other is to implement change—are presented in detail by Olli and enforce existing policies and legisla- Varis. Population growth means more tion—policy development is not the food is needed from shrinking agricul- issue. This can only happen if there is tural land, which points to the need to accountability and a strong regulation/ improve efficiency of soil and water monitoring regime in place. use. Low quality of water or limited One measure of progress in these access to water is one of the key deter- and another 11 countries that together minants of poverty. At the same time, comprise 99% of the Asian developing the poor cause a significant proportion

x xi Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 About AWDO 2007

of global water quality problems, such at source, addressing disposal of solid as through uncontrolled deforestation. residues from municipal treatment, Thus, investing in poverty reduction is monitoring water quality, investing an important policy measure in working in wastewater treatment on a large against further degradation of water scale, and seeking local government/ resources and the environment. community and nongovernment Of importance is that 96% of organization partnerships. Conservation contemporary renewable energy pro- can be improved through rainwater duction comes from either biomass or and stormwater harvesting and storage, hydropower. These both rely completely incentives for water conservation, and on water resources management. In regaining a respect or reverence for this regard, joint management of rivers water, which has held a prominent place and aquifers is of crucial importance in all religions as the essence of life. in most parts of Asia because the bulk Managing demand is basically a matter of the region’s population lives in river of adjusting tariffs. The present low tar- basins that include more than one state. iffs common across much of the region Varis observes that in efforts toward not only result in degraded systems, but regional integration, water is a subject also perpetuate an inequitable subsidy that far more often increases coopera- to the rich, not the poor. In many cases, tion than causes conflicts. the solution may only require improved Progress in water resources develop- awareness by politicians. ment and management is being made The parallel issue is connecting the using different approaches in different urban poor to piped water. McIntosh countries across Asia. Geoff Wright de- lists the many obstacles and options to scribes some of these advances. He finds overcome them, the best option being that there are some common features in that the public or private utility borrows successful management examples from for connection fees, allowing poor around the region, including stable and consumers to pay over a long period strong institutional frameworks; high with minimal tariff increase. level of cooperation and coordination A pressing problem associated with among agencies; strategic and integrated pollution is open defecation in parts of planning in place; effective stakeholder the region, which concerns the health and community participation; and and dignity of a great many people, not reliable and comprehensive data and to mention the environmental aspect. information, and decision-support tools Community-led total sanitation efforts, in use. He gives examples and useful which focus on demand creation, have models to follow. not only successfully overcome the low Water supply issues are discussed by demand for sanitation, but have also Arthur McIntosh. Adequacy of clean delivered significant changes in col- water, a basic human need, has become lective behavior, resulting in improved a critical factor. The supply problems health for all. that have become most urgent are water The AWDO 2007 multimedia CD- quality and pollution, water conserva- ROM also contains a large amount of tion, and water and demand-side published reference material, particularly management. Water quality and pollu- from the Asian Development Bank, Asit tion solutions include treating pollution Biswas and Cecilia Tortajada of the Third

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World Centre for Water Management further developed among senior manag- in Mexico, World Bank, Japan Bank for ers and officials. Finding champions who International Cooperation, and Japan recognize the importance of implement- International Cooperation Agency. There ing water management reforms and are summaries of more than 100 experi- having the vision and courage to pro- ence documents from around the region mote them may be the greatest challenge as well as video and audio files illustrating of all. The AWDO 2007 offers many good practice solutions in specific situa- examples of ways to overcome these tions. and the other problems faced by Asian A common message from many developing countries in the water supply papers in the AWDO 2007 is that and sanitation sector. The AWDO 2007 commitment and leadership need to be is a recipe for action.

xii 1 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 New Insights on Water Security in Asia: I. The Changing Water Management Landscape in Asia

New Insights on Water Security in Asia Asit K. Biswas

I. The Changing Water Management Landscape in Asia ccording to Leonardo da Vinci, adequate access to energy and water, A water is the driver of nature. It many of the existing societal problems could have been considered to be an can be resolved. overstatement in the 16th century during It has been well known for millen- his lifetime, but nearly half a millennium nia that human survival and ecosystem later, Leonardo’s view on water can be conservation depend on the reliable considered prophetic. Water is increas- availability of adequate water of appro- ingly being realized to be the lifeblood priate quality. It is equally well known of the planet and it is certainly not an from prehistoric times that food and overstatement to claim that without rational water development and its efficient management, the future social and economic development of Asian developing countries will be seriously constrained or even jeopardized. The eminent economist and Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, has noted that if India’s current economic growth rate is to be maintained and if all the people of the country, especially the poor and the vulnerable, are to share the benefits of rapid economic growth, two resource issues need priority consideration: energy and water. The Prime Minister further noted that if these two issues can be properly addressed, and if all the members of the society can have Children collecting water, Afghanistan

xii 1 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

Nepalese farmer pumping agricultural production requires water. the industrial water needs of many water for irrigation As the human population grew, the Asian countries have now exceeded food requirement increased as well, and domestic needs and are increasing at a with it water demands for producing the much faster pace, especially as indus- necessary food. The water-food interre- trialization often has had to start from lationships have always been important, historically low bases. but in recent years, these linkages Environmental issues for water Major policy have become more and more complex management became important during changes in the because of social and environmental the 1970s, not only in Asia but also water and energy concerns, technological developments, the rest of the world. Increasingly, all sectors will be globalization, and management prac- development activities, including those needed in the near tices. on water, had to consider environmental future to balance With the advent of the industrial implications seriously and comprehen- water and energy revolution, the situation changed sively. These considerations received uses in agriculture dramatically. The industrial require- considerable momentum during the and stabilize the ments for water started to increase 1980s, and are now universally accepted levels of declining very significantly, as did the need for as an integral requirement for efficient groundwater collection, treatment, and safe disposal and rational water management. tables of wastewater. In quantitative terms, With rapid industrialization and

2 3 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 New Insights on Water Security in Asia: I. The Changing Water Management Landscape in Asia

demands for a better quality of life, production, transportation, distribution, energy requirements have gone up as and storage. Reduction of these losses well. In recent years, the energy needs of alone would increase food availability Asian developing countries are increasing greatly, without any reference to water. very rapidly and are likely to continue Accordingly, there are many factors to do so for the foreseeable future. This that affect the total food availability to comparatively recent development has consumers, and water is not necessarily major water-related implications, which the most important factor. These issues for the most part have been ignored by have complex interrelationships and are both water and energy professionals and often location specific. Thus, it is often policy makers. dangerous, and mostly misleading, to draw generalized conclusions on the Water and Food quantity of additional water that may be needed to increase the availability of Water is essential for food production. food to consumers in Asian countries, As the Asian population grows in the without additional comprehensive coming decades, more and more crop studies. production will be needed for human Agriculture is by far the major and animal consumption. Equally, as user of water in Asia. In many Asian Asian countries continue to make eco- countries, agricultural water use ac- nomic progress, increasingly more and counts for nearly 90% of total water more people will become affluent; thus, use. However, this percentage has been many are likely to change their dietary declining steadily in recent years in Asia patterns and eat more protein, such as in as a whole, as in the rest of the world. meat and milk. This will further increase In contrast, industrial water use has been water requirements because animal increasing. Nevertheless, in absolute husbandry requires more water than crop quantitative terms, agricultural water production. This, however, does not mean that water demands for producing this additional food requirement will increase concomitantly. This is because there is no one-to-one relationship between water requirement and food production. Crop yields can be increased in different ways, including more efficient use of fertilizers and pesticides, better quality seeds, and improved management practices. In addition, the food produced should not be the only consideration. In reality, it is the food that is available to consumers that counts. Regrettably, in many Asian countries, 25–50% of crops, fruits, and vegetables produced at present are not consumed because of heavy losses at every stage of Watering crops in the Philippines

2 3 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

uses in most Asian countries have been increasing. A major problem with agricultural water use has been that many Asian countries have been pursuing incor- rect policies in terms of water and energy used for groundwater pumping. Farmers in some subregions at present A major challenge do not pay for the actual volume of for Asian develop- groundwater pumped for irrigation. ing countries in In addition, energy costs for pumping the areas of water, are very heavily subsidized by many energy, food, and governments. Accordingly, farmers often the environment is pump more groundwater than is needed how to coordinate for optimizing crop production. This appropriately all over-pumping is resulting in a steady the concerned decline of groundwater levels in many resource policies, Asian aquifers. As the groundwater levels legal and regula- decline, more energy is needed to pump tory frameworks, the same quantity of water. Because and institutions the energy costs for farmers are heavily responsible for subsidized, the financial losses of many formulating and public electricity boards are continuing implementing to escalate. This has contributed to a these policies vicious cycle of overuse of groundwater, declining aquifer levels, increasing losses to the electricity boards, and increasing Water pumping for agricultural use in Nepal adverse environmental impacts (like land subsidence), none of which are ficient, and unsustainable. Herein will sustainable on a long-term basis. Thus, lie a major future challenge for Asian major policy changes in the water and developing countries: how to integrate energy sectors will be needed in the appropriately all the concerned resource near future to balance water and energy policies in the areas of water, energy, uses and stabilize the levels of declining food, and the environment; the legal groundwater tables. and regulatory frameworks necessary In the future, these types of inter- to support these policies; and the sectoral policies need to be carefully institutions responsible for formulating analyzed, formulated, and implemented. and implementing these policies. Such Equally, the policies in any specific integration has been very difficult to sector have to be coordinated with the accomplish in the past and is likely to policies in associated sectors. The cur- be even more complex and difficult in rent and past practices of formulating the future. Yet, this will be an important policies in one sector without adequate and critical requirement of the future consideration of and coordination that must now receive greater attention with the policies in the other sectors from Asian governments, research will become increasingly costly, inef- institutions, and academe.

4 5 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 New Insights on Water Security in Asia: I. The Changing Water Management Landscape in Asia

Water and the Environment During the early part of the global environmental movement, the primary An increasing social and political focus was on how to stop all types concern arose in the 1970s about the of pollution. For example, during the impact of water development and United Nations Conference on the management policies and practices on Human Environment, held in Stockholm the environment. Since about 1995, the in 1972, the main water-related concerns implications of environmental manage- considered were preventing water pol- ment policies on water development lution and the impact of acid rain on and management have received increas- forests and lakes. Shortly after, there was ing attention. During the past 35 years, a backlash from some sectors of society water and environment policies have on all types of large infrastructure de- affected each other in many significant velopment projects. This was especially ways, sometimes positively, but at other relevant for large dams and irrigation times adversely. These interacting projects. In this “small is beautiful” era, impacts—in terms of their distribution all large development projects attracted Water plant and reservoir in time and space and in scale—are considerable criticism, some of which in the Lao People’s mostly site specific. was justified but some was fictional. Democratic Republic

4 5 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

During the 1980s and 1990s, large was such that these shortcomings not water development projects all over only received considerable attention, the world, and especially in Asia, came but planners and policy makers were under considerable criticism from social forced to respond to them promptly and environmental activists and the and adequately. Consequently, many nongovernment organization (NGO) undesirable or even unanticipated movement. This movement probably aspects of the development activities reached its peak with controversies were properly considered and often associated with the construction of some appropriate ameliorative actions were large dams—the Sardar Sarovar and the taken. This probably would not have Tehri dams in India, and Arun II Dam happened at least within the observed in Nepal—and the Nagara Barrage (to time scales, without concerted opposi- prevent saltwater intrusion) in Japan. tion from certain sectors of society. These controversies had both positive The negative consequences of these and negative impacts on future water controversies have been that many water development activities. infrastructure development projects On the positive side, many social that should have been constructed for and environmental considerations that poverty reduction, employment genera- were not properly addressed earlier tion, and raising the living standards of started to receive increased attention. the people made little headway. Several Environmental and social impact funding agencies stayed away from analyses became the norm, rather supporting these projects because of the than exception. Issues like involuntary controversies surrounding them, which resettlements and adverse environmen- consistently received considerable na- tal and ecosystem impacts due to large tional and international media attention. infrastructure development projects For some unexplained reasons, water Indonesian residences became important concerns. Indeed the projects created more controversies than adjacent to a sewage canal pressure from certain sectors of society other types of development activities. The situation has started to improve in recent years, especially during the present, post-2000, period, when it is being increasingly realized that infrastructure development must receive priority attention in all Asian developing countries. Equally, however, these structures need to be planned and managed in such a way that they are technically feasible, economically efficient, socially acceptable, and environmentally friendly. As societal perceptions have changed and the knowledge base to plan and manage water infrastructure has improved, it is now possible to improve the earlier practices significantly by maximizing the positive economic, social, and environmental impacts,

6 7 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 New Insights on Water Security in Asia: I. The Changing Water Management Landscape in Asia

siderable attention from policy makers Increasing water in Asian developing countries, but pollution from commensurate interest in wastewater col- accelerating do- lection, treatment, and disposal has often mestic, industrial, been conspicuous by its relative absence. and agricultural Regrettably, there are only limited signs activities is a major that this attitude is starting to change. issue for nearly all And yet, increasing water pollution Asian developing is a major issue for nearly all Asian countries. Unless developing countries. Unless the pres- the present ent perceptions and attitudes change perceptions and radically, it is likely to be a critical water attitudes change problem of the future. This is because radically, it is likely at the domestic level, nearly all water to be a critical that enters the household is eventually water problem of discharged as wastewater. Even in many the future urban centers where wastewater is collected through sewer systems, it is often discharged to freshwater bodies, land, or oceans with only limited, or even no, treatment. This means that the problem Wastewater pollution in Manila of increasing wastewater contamination is not being solved: it is being simply minimizing the negative impacts, and transferred from one location to another. ensuring that the people who are likely The philosophy has been somewhat akin to pay the costs of the projects (i.e., to “out of sight, out of mind.” those in involuntary resettlement) are The situation is becoming even more explicitly made their direct beneficiaries. serious and complex with industrial With this changing mindset and better wastewater discharges, which also, understanding and appreciation of for the most part, receive inadequate environment-development linkages, it treatment in nearly all Asian developing is likely that the overall discussion of countries. Few Asian urban centers have water development and environmental functional secondary and tertiary waste issues will become more objective and treatment plants. Many primary waste less polarizing in the future. treatment plants are nonfunctional for While this aspect of large water significant periods of time because of developments and their environmental poor design, inadequate management implications has received considerable and political interest, public apathy, and attention from the media and policy similar causes. Even when these plants makers, another environmental issue function, most operate below their has received somewhat benign neglect: design efficiencies. The domestic wastes increasing water contamination from are primarily organic, as a result of point and nonpoint sources because of which they degrade over a limited time. accelerating domestic, industrial, and However, the situation is more complex agricultural activities. The provision of and serious for industrial wastes, clean water supply has received con- which contain significant amounts of

6 7 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

conservative elements that may be toxic is also contaminating groundwater, to human beings and ecosystems, and are which is often an important source of not easily biodegradable. drinking water. With rapid industrial and urban These assessments refer only to growth, environmentally-sound waste- point sources of contamination from water disposal in all Asian developing domestic and industrial users: nonpoint countries is rapidly becoming a serious sources are not covered. Because the social and human health issue. In ad- use of agricultural chemicals in many dition, as the nearby surface water and Asian developing countries is still groundwater sources for urban centers somewhat limited, nonpoint sources of are being increasingly contaminated pollution are still not as serious as point with domestic and industrial waste, sources. However, as there is increasing these sources will require higher levels emphasis on improving crop production of treatment before they can be used per unit area to enhance both farmers’ safely as potable water. The treatment incomes and food security, more and Many countries processes needed to decontaminate more agricultural chemicals are likely to have now ac- polluted sources are likely to become be used in the future. This will further cepted, or are in increasingly sophisticated and expen- aggravate the water quality situation, the process of sive, which may not be an attractive or because control and management of accepting, that feasible alternative for many urban areas nonpoint sources of pollution are very the environment because of economic and technology complex and difficult tasks, as even the is a legitimate management constraints in the coming most developed countries like Japan and user of water decades. the United States have experienced. Thus, in a macro sense, a major challenge facing Asian developing countries is how quickly and how efficiently current wastewater management practices and processes can be substantially improved. Considering the cost of construction and efficient operation of wastewater management systems, and the number of trained and experienced personnel needed to manage them—ranging from managers to plant operators and technicians, who are mostly not available at present—resolution of this problem in the foreseeable future will be a Herculean task. Another macro issue in the water and Water reservoir in the Because wastewater management environment area is likely to stem from People’s Republic of China is often viewed, at least in terms of the increasing acceptance of the concept practice, primarily as collection and of environmental flows. Many countries then disposal in nearby rivers, lakes, and have now accepted, or are in the process oceans, water bodies within and around of accepting, that the environment is a urban centers are already highly con- legitimate user of water. This means that taminated. Land disposal of wastewater certain quantities of the flows in rivers

8 9 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 New Insights on Water Security in Asia: I. The Changing Water Management Landscape in Asia

have to be earmarked for environmental environmental flows will not be an easy and ecosystem use. process in many Asian locations. It is highly likely that in the foresee- Finally, the impact of the environ- able future, there will be increasing ment, especially through natural disasters, acceptance of this concept in Asian on water and sanitation infrastructure, developing countries. This will present cannot be forgotten. As much as pos- two types of problems, one conceptual sible, infrastructure has to be designed to and the other practical. At the con- withstand floods, earthquakes, and other ceptual level, considerable work needs natural disasters—the 2004 tsunami in to be done as to how environmental Aceh Province, Indonesia, being a good flows of rivers can be reliably estimated example (Box 1). for the various Asian countries, with different climatic regimes, physical and Box 1: Natural Disasters and their Impact on Water Supply ecosystem conditions, and other associ- and Sanitation – The Indonesia Tsunami Experience ated requirements. How can such flows The tsunami that followed a massive earthquake on 26 December be reliably estimated for both perennial 2004 off Indonesia, devastated the human population living on the and ephemeral rivers? Considerable coastline of Aceh Province and parts of North Sumatra Province. The progress has been made on estimating rural water supply (dug wells and hand pumps) was hard-hit by the disaster. Significant damage was also experienced by water utilities environmental flows in recent years, but in Aceh’s urban areas. Total damage and losses in the sector were much work remains before the scientific estimated at US$29.7 million (Rp276.4 billion), of which 96% was community will agree on a reliable and for water supply and the remainder for sanitation. Relatively little uncontroversial methodology. damage was done to the urban sanitation system, largely because At the practical level, water resources sanitation was provided by septic tanks with no investment in of many of the Asian rivers are already sewerage. For water supply, two thirds of the damage was incurred by small-scale and private providers, and the balance by the water fully allocated and, in some cases, supply enterprises. over-allocated, especially during the dry Source: BAPPENAS and the International Donor Community. 2005. Indonesia: seasons and drought periods. Under Preliminary Damage and Cost Assessment – The December 26, 2004 Natural such conditions, new allocations of Disaster. http://www.adb.org/media/Articles/2005/6618_tsunami_impact_Indonesia/ water to the environment will mean that Aceh_Joint_Government_Donor_Damage_Assessment.pdf some existing allocations to domestic, industrial, and agricultural sectors have Water and Energy to be reduced. Socially and politically, it will not be an easy task to reduce the As the energy needs for Asian countries current allocations to existing users so continue to increase significantly, the that this amount can be diverted for water requirements of the energy sector environmental use. In addition, for are likely to explode as well, a fact that transboundary rivers, as well as interstate has mostly escaped the attention of rivers in federal countries like India water and energy planners. Large-scale and Pakistan, this will raise new sets of generation of electricity invariably legal issues, especially when inter- and requires water. Without water, hydro- intra-country treaties already exist for power, an important source of electricity water allocations to various state parties. in many Asian countries, cannot be Considering it often takes 20 years or generated. Equally, thermal power more to negotiate new water allocation generation from coal, oil, or natural gas treaties for transboundary and interstate requires very large quantities of cooling rivers, implementation of the concept of water. Nuclear power requires even

8 9 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

and distribution of energy become more efficient in the coming years. In addition, there is considerable momentum in the production of crops for biofuel. If efficiently produced, biofuel can contribute to improving the energy security of some nations, but this will not come without social and economic costs. It will also have significant implications for many other natural resources, especially land and water, in terms of their availability and use patterns. Asian biofuel production will require more and more water if this subsector expands, as expected. As the use of agricultural chemicals like pesticides and fertilizers increases to improve Hydro energy–generating more cooling water. If the current rate the yields of the biofuel crops, water dam, Indonesia of 5–8% in annual increase in electricity bodies around such production systems consumption is to be maintained in may witness higher levels of nonpoint many Asian developing countries for the pollution. Accordingly, the production indefinite future, as is expected at pres- and processing of the biofuel crops are ent, water requirements for the energy likely to bring with them attendant water sector need to be carefully assessed, and quantity and quality implications. As long then factored into national water policies. as these implications are clearly thought Already, in countries like France, the through in terms of social, economic, major user of water is the electricity- and environmental considerations, generating industry, not the agricultural and appropriate remedial measures are sector. implemented as and when required, the In spite of the burgeoning demands problems may be manageable. However, of the electricity-generating industry as of now, virtually no country has for water, the growth rates of which are carefully analyzed the water, land, and likely to remain at similar levels or even social implications of increasing biofuel accelerate further in the coming decades, production, and then made appropriate not one Asian developing country policy decisions. These are important has seriously assessed the current and issues that need to be carefully analyzed future water requirements of its energy by national policy makers in the future to sector. Furthermore, assuming that this enable them to make coordinated poli- water demand has to be met, what are cies in terms of energy, land, water, the the implications for water allocation to environment, and poverty reduction. other existing uses, and also in terms of In addition, just as the energy indus- impacts on aquatic ecosystems? There is try requires large quantities of water to no question that the water requirements function, the water sector is equally an for the energy sector will increase signifi- important user of energy for its opera- cantly in the future, even if it is assumed tion. Energy requirements for pumping that the existing systems for generation are already very significant in nearly all

10 11 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 New Insights on Water Security in Asia: I. The Changing Water Management Landscape in Asia

Asian countries. As water and wastewater and is affected by the other. This inter- treatment plants increase exponentially in linkage is likely to only intensify further the coming years, the energy needed for in the future. Formulation of policies in their proper operation and maintenance either sector that do not consider such will increase concomitantly. Thus, the interlinkages and interrelationships are As the energy water and energy sectors will be even likely to become increasingly counterpro- needs for Asian more closely interlinked in the future ductive, especially in social, economic, countries con- than they are now. This will require and environmental terms. tinue to increase increasing coordination and integration The rapidly changing landscape in significantly, the of policies related to the management of Asia means that water management prac- water require- these two sectors. tices and processes are now faced with ments of the Furthermore, with the reduction in complex and intersectoral challenges energy sector, the costs of desalination in recent years, from other resource and development including the new it is becoming an important source for sectors, the types of which have been biofuel subsector, increasing supplies of water. Membrane seldom faced in the entire human history. are likely to rise as technology is likely to be increasingly Meeting these challenges successfully well used in the future for wastewater treat- and in a timely manner will require new ment. By using the new generation of and innovative approaches and solutions. membranes and improved management Past experiences and present practices practices, seawater desalination costs are no longer enough. have fallen by a factor of three during the past decade. At the current cost of producing desalinated or decontaminated water (around US$0.45–0.60 per cubic meter) through reverse osmosis, the technique has become cost-effective for many countries for special situations and conditions (for example, island countries like Singapore). The cost of purifying brackish water is now even less: US$0.20–0.35 per cubic meter, depending on its salt content. These recent technological breakthroughs are bringing new alternatives toward solving water quantity and quality problems but have many other implications, especially in energy and technology management, Inspecting Tangshan City Dongjiao Waterwaste Treatment Plant, People’s Republic of China which need to be carefully assessed before they can be successfully and extensively used on a sustainable basis in Asia. Thus, it will become increasingly important for planners and policy makers to concurrently consider water and energy policies, especially in terms of their symbiotic relationship: each affects

10 11 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

II. Water-related Trends

nlike in the past, it is no longer which is unleashing forces that often Uenough to consider only the current may have significant water implications. water trends to ensure efficient water Some of these forces are known but management in Asia in the future. It will often unquantifiable, while others are be increasingly essential to identify the as yet unknown. In addition, Asian present and likely future trends in other countries are not homogeneous in their sectors that will significantly affect social and economic development, or water management directly or indirectly. in the different factors that are likely This will not be an easy task because to affect their development processes. much of Asia is undergoing a massive Thus, it is not possible to draw a gen- River bank slums, Manilla economic and social transformation, eralized picture of water-related trends in Asia that will be equally applicable all over the region. The issue becomes even more complex when the potential impacts of globalization, free trade, communication and information revolution, and concurrent quests for energy, food, environment, and water securities are considered. All these will affect the quantity and quality of available water through numerous pathways. In spite of the differing Asian conditions and situations, a general overview can be considered for several overarching transformational forces likely to affect Asian water management practices and processes. Among these transformational forces are demogra- phy, climate change, and technology, discussed in this section.

12 13 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 New Insights on Water Security in Asia: II. Water-related Trends

Demographic Box 2: Increase in Water Service Coverage and Public Transformation Health Improvements through the Development of Small- scale Public Water Supply Services in Japan Asia currently accounts for slightly over Before World War II, waterworks were regarded as infrastructure 60% of the global population, and also that was available only in the central areas of Japanese cities. for almost two-thirds of global popula- However, the national water service coverage significantly increased after the war and has now reached 97%. This is largely due to the tion growth. The Asian population is rapid development of waterworks facilities during the 1960s and expected to grow by nearly 500 million 1970s, which particularly targeted previously unserved areas. This within the next 10 years, and virtually all was carried out by water utilities that serve a population of 5,000 or this growth is expected to be in urban less and areas where public health issues were urgent. The national areas. Government established a subsidy system in 1952 to develop and South Asia is among the most support small-scale public water supply services. As shown in the Figure below, the number of outbreaks of water- densely populated areas of the world related infectious diseases has dramatically decreased, particularly and has the highest concentration of since the mid-1970s. This demonstrates that the development of poor people in the world. While the waterworks played a significant role in public health improvement. population growth rates in countries like Bangladesh and India have declined, they have not in Nepal and Pakistan. �� Southeast Asia is less populated than �� South Asia, but it also has crowded areas, ��

especially Java, part of the Philippines, �� and deltas of rivers like the Red, Mekong, Chao Phraya, and Irrawaddy. ��

During the 80-year period 1970–2050, ��

the population in this region is estimated �� to grow 3-fold. The corresponding �� estimate for South Asia is 3.4-fold, and �� for the People’s Republic of China (PRC), 2-fold. Large and growing populations exert Source: Japan Water Works Association. Outline of Water Supply 2001, 30 August increasing pressures on natural resources 2001. like land and water. However, the relationship between human population size ment practices. Similarly, water affects and demand for natural resources is not populations directly in terms of health a simple one. Throughout history, social (for example, waterborne diseases affect

and economic changes and factors like mortality�� rates), and indirectly, through technological developments and better such issues as regional development, management practices have affected employment generation, and gender- �� pressures on the natural resource base. related matters. Box 2 illustrates how This pattern is likely to continue for improving�� water supply has improved decades to come. public health in Japan. �� In the past, population growth has In terms of demographic trans- �� generally been considered to be exog- formations, two issues that are likely �� enous to water management. This is not to affect water in increasing ways are

correct. Populations affect water in terms urbanization and aging. These issues �� of demand, use patterns, and manage- need special�� consideration. � ��

12 �� 13 ��

�

� �� Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

Urbanization Figure 1: Population Density in Selected Parts of Asia and the Rest of the World Globally, the rural and urban population (persons per square kilometer) is now roughly in balance. However, Asia has been behind Latin America in the extent of urbanization. Accordingly, ��PRC Asian countries are likely to witness a massive urbanization process during the South�� Asia�

next 2 to 3 decades. While it is estimated �� Southeast that the Asian rural population will ��Asia� �� remain almost stationary between now �� Rest of �� and 2025, the urban population is likely World�� to increase by 60%. Changes in popula- Massive, tion densities in South and Southeast � �� unprecedented Asia and the PRC are shown in Figure 1 urbanization in for 1970–2050. defined by the United Nations as having Asia—especially Massive urbanization, which is un- populations of more than 10 million. the many small precedented in the entire Asian history, While Asian megacities consume the urban centers will present new types of water-related lion’s share of national resources and (<500,000 challenges that all countries will have to interest, they represented only 3.7% of people)—will face. These challenges may not be similar the global population in 2000. This is present new types to those expected at present. They could expected to increase to about 4.7% by of water- and be of a wholly different character, and 2015. The percentage of population wastewater-related some may even be counter-intuitive. For living in the next category of large cities, challenges that example, considerable attention has been between 5 and 10 million, is even less: all countries will paid in recent years to the water and 2.8% in 2000, and rising to 3.7% by have to face wastewater problems of the megacities, 2015. In contrast, urban centers of 500,000 or less accounted for 24.8% of the global population in 2000 (nearly seven times that of the megacities) and this is projected to increase to 27% by 2015. These centers have received scant attention from national and international institutions, and water and development professionals. Yet, the annual average population growth rate for these smaller urban centers is expected to increase from 23.2% during 1975–2000 (comparable growth rate for megacities was 5%, or less than a quarter) to 28.2% during 2000–2015, compared to 7.5% for megacities. Figure 2 shows that the majority of the cities in Indonesia and Addressing the India have a maximum population of challenge of providing piped water to crowded 500,000, while in the PRC, cities with slum communities populations of 500,000 and below are a

14 15 ��

��

�

� �� Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 New Insights on Water Security in Asia: II. Water-related Trends

��

Figure 2: City Size for Capital Cities and Urban close second to cities with populations Agglomerations ranging from 500,000 to 1 million. Thus, solving the future water�� and wastewater problems of these small urban centers �� will need at least as much attention as �� the megacities, if not more. Their water problems are likely ��to� be significantly ��

more difficult to resolve than those �� of megacities, because these smaller �� centers do not have adequate financial �� and political power and technical and ��

management capacities to handle their ��

much higher urbanization rates. Even � �� though the number of people involved �� in smaller centers is 6.7 times that Source: Asian Development Bank and Cities Alliance: Cities with Slums, 2006. of the megacities—and their growth Urbanization and Sustainability in Asia. Case Studies of Good Practice. rates are expected to be four times those of the megacities—it is a strange To a certain extent, many of these anomaly that these smaller centers are megacities have managed to provide receiving conspicuously less attention water to their residents, especially to the from national and international policy reasonably well maintained residential makers. Unless the present policy and areas. However, in many cases, the water focus change radically, these centers are provided is not drinkable without addi- likely to be major water and wastewater tional treatment. Furthermore, they have “black-holes” of the future. Box 3 shows progressively fallen behind in the collec- how the Republic of Korea addressed the problem of imbalanced water supply Box 3: Formulation of Multi-regional Water Supply Systems to benefit water-stressed areas. with Expansion Water Supply Facilities Another issue worth noting is The Republic of Korea is setting up wide-area water supplies, which the dissimilarity in the urbanization include waterworks adjustment by zone to use water resources more processes between the megacities of efficiently, and integrated waterworks systems by zone to improve the developed and developing world. the efficiency in managing water supply facilities. A wide-area water supply is a facility that provides purified water to at least two local Cities like London and New York grew communities that have suffered from a poor water supply system. It progressively over nearly a century. This helps provide a large amount of water to a number of districts, and gradual growth enabled these cities ensures a sustainable water supply for those districts. Moreover, it to develop effectively their water and helps address the water supply imbalance between the districts. wastewater infrastructures and their A basic guideline on wide-area water supply was completed in management services. In contrast, the 2003, dividing the nation into 12 zones based on the proximity to water facility and connection to the supply system. Multipurpose growth rates of the Asian megacities dams are being planned and constructed in different zones of some like Dhaka, Jakarta, or Karachi in recent rivers and others are scheduled to be included in the near future. decades have simply been explosive Through these efforts, more water can be provided to water- (Figure 3). They have invariably found stressed areas, which will contribute to resolving the imbalance of it very difficult to run faster even to stay water supply among areas and to providing stable water supplies in the same place. Most simply have not even in emergencies, such as drought. been able to cope with the explosive Source: Water Resources in Korea 2007, Ministry of Construction and Transportation, Republic of Korea. growth rates.

14 15 ��

��

�� Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

Figure 3: Population Increases in tion, treatment, and environmentally safe Selected Asian Megacities disposal of wastewater. Wastewater may

be collected from sections of these cities, �� but often is discharged to nearby rivers, �� lakes, or oceans without any treatment, or with only primary treatment. Because �� of this continuing neglect, water bodies �� in and around many urban centers of �� Asian developing countries are now �� heavily contaminated. This has already �� resulted in serious environmental and ��

health problems. It is likely that if there (millions) Population ��

will be a water crisis in the future, it will � ��

not come because of actual physical �� scarcity of water, as many predict at � present, but because of continuing ne-

glect of proper wastewater management � practices. Continuation of the present �� trend will make available water sources increasingly more contaminated, and will them to harness financial resources for make provision of clean water more and efficient urban water and wastewater more expensive, as well as more complex management. For example, Japan could and difficult to manage. invest heavily in the conservation of Another major difference in urban water infrastructure after 1950 terms of water management between because it was also concurrently expe- developed and developing countries is riencing rapid economic growth. Such that as the urban centers of the former extensive infrastructure development Riverside park, Suzhou Creek, expanded, their economies were growing and major improvements in management People’s Republic of China as well. Accordingly, it was possible for practices meant that unaccounted for water in a megacity like Tokyo could be reduced from an estimated immediate post-war proportion of 90% to about 8% at present, one of the best in the world. Equally, cities like Tokyo could invest heavily to control urban flooding, which would have been difficult if Japan’s economy was not expanding during this period. In contrast, the rates and extent of urbanization in developing Asia have generally far exceeded the capacities of the national and local governments to plan and manage the demographic transition process soundly, in terms of providing clean water and wastewater management services efficiently, equi-

16 17 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 New Insights on Water Security in Asia: II. Water-related Trends

by the prevailing unsatisfactory water supply and wastewater management services, absence of long-term planning, inadequate management of technical and administrative capabilities, lack of investment funds, and high levels of corruption. There are, however, signs of hope. For example, in the PRC, the importance of providing clean drinking water and proper wastewater management services has started to receive increasing attention. Because the PRC’s economy has grown substantially in recent years, the country can afford to provide good water and wastewater management services to its urban citizens. Tariffs have risen to meet costs and even Installing metered pipelines in Manila’s Alitaptap resulted in lowered industrial consump- community tion, as illustrated in Box 4. Water and wastewater issues have become priority tably, and sustainably. The impacts of considerations for the country’s na- this inadequately managed urbanization tional, regional, and local policy makers. process are manifested in extensive air, It is likely that countries like the PRC water, land, and noise pollution, which is will make significant progress in urban having, and will continue to have, major water management during the coming impacts on human health and the qual- decades. ity of life of urban dwellers, as well as imposing major costs on the respective economies. Box 4: Tariff Reform in the People’s Republic of China Another urbanization-related prob- In the PRC, domestic water supply tariff rates have increased by lem is the sudden, fast rate of vertical 126% in Zhangjiakou and 92% in Dalian since the beginning of 1998. Increases appear to have been well accepted by the growth, especially in the central business population and affordability does not appear to be an issue, areas, often after decades, or even although in Zhangjiakou, a cash rebate equivalent to consumption centuries, of primarily horizontal expan- of up to 5 cubic meters/month is paid twice yearly to certified poor sion. This has invariably contributed to households. a sudden surge in population densities However, nondomestic consumption has clearly fallen in in these areas, with concomitant high response to the price increases. In Dalian and Zhangjiakou, where nondomestic tariff rates have risen respectively by 110–150% and water and energy requirements, as well 180–190% since the beginning of 1998, industrial consumers as generation of high waste (wastewater reduced average consumption by 30%, implying high price elastic- and solid waste) loads per unit area. ity. Consumption by one large industrial user in Zhangjiakou fell by The urban centers have simply not been 45% able to cope successfully with such near Source: Asian Development Bank. 2002. Impact Evaluation Study on Water Supply instantaneous accelerating demands and Sanitation Projects in Selected Developing Member Countries. (IES REG 2002-17). Manila. Website: http://www.adb.org/Documents/IES/Water/ies_reg_ for water and wastewater management 2002_17.pdf services. The problem is compounded

16 17 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

Aging Population 2010, the number of elderly people will A major factor that is still not being start to increase quite rapidly, so much adequately considered in Asian countries so that by 2030, the PRC will have more is the implication of an increasingly elderly people than the current popula- aging population on water-related issues. tion of the United States. The age structure of the global popula- Increase in the number of elderly tion, including in Asia, is undergoing people will be also an important rapid changes. For example, the number issue for the countries of South Asia of elderly people (65 and over) was 131 (including India) and Southeast Asia. million in 1950. This increased to 480 The steady aging of populations in million in 2006, and is estimated to reach East (excluding the PRC) and South 1,465 million by 2050. (excluding India) Asia, and the two The issue of an increasingly elderly most populous Asian countries (PRC population has yet to receive adequate at- and India) are shown in Figure 4. The tention in Asia, except to a certain extent problem of increasing elderly popula- in Japan. And yet, it is likely to be an tions will be a complex one for Asian important policy issue in nearly all Asian countries to address. It will have major countries during the next 3–4 decades. social and economic implications, and Countries like the PRC have at present will affect the water sector through a major demographic window of op- direct and indirect pathways. portunity to restructure their economic The relationship between water development activities during the next management and an increasingly elderly 2–3 decades, with a trained, experienced, population is completely unexplored and energetic workforce. However, after territory at present, not only for Asia

Rest stop while collecting water, Afghanistan

18 19 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 New Insights on Water Security in Asia: II. Water-related Trends

Figure 4: Increasing Elderly Population in Asia but also the world as a whole. It is likely that they will affect each other in a Number persons 65 and over (millions) variety of ways, a few of which can be discussed in an anecdotal fashion. �� First, in the context of rural and �� semi-urban areas of many Asian devel- �� Southeast Asia

oping countries, and in the absence of India�� water and wastewater connections at �� South�� Asia the household level, people are forced to use communal land and water bodies PRC�� for hygienic purposes. For elderly East�� Asia� people, routine daily hygiene practices become a chore, especially when physi- �� cal movements become difficult, or

when they are sick. With improvements �

in healthcare, education, and nutrition, �� people will be living for increasingly �� longer periods. Absence of water and Note: South Asia excludes India, and East Asia excludes the PRC. wastewater collection facilities at home Source: Varis, O. 2007. Water Resources and Development in Changing Asia. will pose particular burdens on an increasing elderly population. decline steadily. This will contribute to Second, as the older generation of increasing social and economic prob- people retires from work, considerable lems in terms of deteriorating lifestyles knowledge, experience, and collective of the elderly and social stress to their Pumping water, memory will be increasingly lost. In a family members who may have migrated Chengdu, People’s country like Japan, many knowledgeable to the urban areas. Republic China and experienced people will retire from the water sector during the next 5–10 years. The overall institutional knowledge and experience levels in the water sector may decline very suddenly, and this cannot be readily replaced by younger and new recruits. This has already been identified to be a serious issue in Japan. Third, it is generally the young people who migrate to urban areas in search of better standards of living. Thus, the percentages of young people in the rural areas will continue to decline, with attendant decline in their economic, social, and cultural activities. This will accelerate the break down of the extended family systems. Consequently, the family support that was available to the earlier generations of elderly people will continue to

18 19 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

Finally, virtually no research has tures over a country, or a large region, been done on the water requirements even if they could be predicted with of the elderly and their interrelation- a considerable degree of confidence, ships with water through various are likely to be of very limited use. social, economic, and cultural path- Unfortunately, it is still not possible to ways. Not a single Asian institution is predict even such macro changes in the conducting serious research in these climate parameters for the future. new issues, but they need to be studied What is needed for efficiency and diligently in the future. long-term water management is not annual average climatic information, Climate change is Climate Change but the extent of likely inter-annual and likely to increase intra-annual variations. These are simply the frequency of It is now widely accepted that the global not possible to forecast at the present extreme events climate is changing. This is creating state of knowledge. like droughts and a new level of uncertainty in water This, of course, is a global problem, floods. If so, water planning and management processes and not strictly related to Asia. However, infrastructure because it is difficult to manage water the problem is even more complex for and management projects efficiently without appropri- the Asian monsoon countries, where practices have to ate information on the likely future most of the annual rainfall occurs within be more robust and distribution of rainfall and temperature 60–100 hours, though these durations flexible, which will patterns over space and time. At the are not consecutive. It will be a very not be an easy task present state of knowledge, it is not difficult task to predict how the rainfall without significant possible even to predict with any degree patterns may change during these few increases in our of confidence the annual average hours of intense annual rains, which current knowledge changes in rainfall and temperature must be stored properly so that water is base over a country as a whole, let alone for available for various uses over the entire specific areas considered for planning year, and between years, especially during purposes. Furthermore, for water prolonged drought periods. Mega Dike or the FVR dike in central Luzon being sup- planning and management, changes in The current consensus is that ported by sand bags. annual average rainfalls and tempera- climate change is likely to increase the frequency of extreme events like droughts and floods. If so, future water infrastructure and management practices will have to be more robust and flexible. Technologically and economically, it will not be an easy task to build in the appropriate flexibility and robustness without significant increases in our current knowledge base. This is unlikely to happen during the next 10, or even 20, years because of the complexities of the climatic processes involved, which are still not fully understood. Building flexibility and robustness in the design, construction, and maintenance of water infrastructure will also mean higher

20 21 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 New Insights on Water Security in Asia: II. Water-related Trends

financial costs, which may further strain In a rapidly the economies of some countries. changing Asia, Thus, climate change is likely to tomorrow’s introduce high levels of risks and water problems uncertainties that the water profession can no longer simply may not be able to handle with be identified, let any degree of confidence, at least over alone solved, with the near term. Superimposition of today’s knowledge “normal” climatic fluctuations with the and yesterday’s expected changes in climatic patterns experience. A will make efficient water planning and whole new mindset management an exceedingly complex will be needed to and difficult task during the post-2025 identify and solve period. This aspect needs urgent atten- the future water tion and accelerated research from water supply and related scientists and climatologists, especially in problems the Asian monsoon counties, if serious water-related stresses are to be avoided in the future. Water treatment plant maintenance, Manila Technology Another area that will have a major Like climate change, technological devel- impact on water-use patterns will be opments are likely to introduce another biotechnological advances. These set of uncertainties in water management advances will help in the development practices and processes. However, unlike of pest-resistant and drought-resistant climate change, technological develop- crops, as well as crops that can be grown ments are much more likely to bring in marginal quality water, like saline positive surprises in numerous aspects of water. The net impacts of these likely water development and management. developments may be that crops can be The information and communica- grown with less water, and also with the tion revolutions have had radical use of marginal quality water. impacts on water. Management and Biotechnology is likely to help in analysis of water-related data have many other ways. For example, a new become far simpler economic and variety of rice under field trial can efficient processes than ever before in survive for 3–4 weeks under flood water. human history. Information storage, Every year, hundreds of thousands of retrieval, and exchange have improved tons of rice crops are lost in Asia due exponentially in recent years. South- to prolonged submergence under flood South knowledge transfer, which was water. These new varieties of rice crops in its infancy some 25 years ago, has will be able to withstand most flooding. now come of age due to tremendous Similarly, biotechnology is making improvements in information manage- rapid advances in wastewater treatment. ment and exponentially declining costs. It is highly likely that there will be In future, these developments are likely further very substantial improvements to advance even further. and breakthroughs in these areas during

20 21 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

Box 5: Location-specific Water Solutions in the People’s Republic of China • In Beijing, a 30,000 square-meter housing complex with a rainwater recycling system was constructed to solve a water shortage problem. • In the industrial southern city of Shenzhen, officials have introduced measures to use seawater to flush toilets to address water pollution. • The Government is constructing a gigantic south-to-north diversion project to take water from the Yangtze River to the dwindling Yellow River in order to solve the problems of drought in the north and flooding in the south. • In hilly Korla City, which gets whipped by sandstorms some 40 days every year, in Xinjiang Province, the local government installed a drip line irrigation system to provide water to more than 3,000 hectares of trees planted to address the problem of desertification. Source: Asian Development Bank. Draft Countrywide Water Issues.

the coming decades. These could have in most Asian countries. It should be profound effects on water quality man- realized under a rapidly changing Asia, agement, which is now a very serious that tomorrow’s water problems can no problem nearly all over developing Asia. longer be identified, let alone solved, Another area where remarkable with today’s knowledge and yesterday’s progress has been made during the past experience. A whole new mindset will decade is membrane technology. With be needed to identify and solve future the new generation of membranes water-related problems, which will re- and improved management practices, quire substantial attention and additional seawater desalination costs have come investments in capacity building. down from US$1.50 to about US$0.50 All the existing and the likely per cubic meter during the past decade. future trends indicate that there will Because a large proportion of the Asian be tremendous opportunities to solve population lives within 100 kilometers the future water problems of all Asian of a coast, provision of clean water for countries. There will also be new sets of domestic, commercial, and industrial constraints that have to be overcome. needs is no longer a physical constraint. The opportunities and constraints may The water profession, in general, has differ from country to country and even not fully appreciated the implications within a country. Equally, solutions may of technological advances, which are be location specific, as illustrated for the likely to affect water-use patterns and PRC in Box 5. Asian countries that focus requirements very significantly. However, on finding and implementing solutions even when the new technologies become for the water-related problems that they available and cost-effective, national are likely to face in the future will make capacities to manage them properly need remarkable progress in terms of water to be developed. Capacity building for management. Water should no longer managing water resources in the coming be a constraint for them to accelerated years, in spite of considerable rhetoric, economic development or poverty is still not receiving enough attention reduction.

22 23 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 New Insights on Water Security in Asia: III. Urban Water Management

III. Urban Water Management

ater has many uses and its efficient Wmanagement covers a multitude of issues, including nearly all development sectors and most disciplines. Accordingly, it is not possible to cover all aspects of water in one single issue of the AWDO. In addition, as noted, Asia is a large heterogeneous continent, where a set of issues of priority concern to one country may be of little interest to another. Thus, for the first edition ofAWDO , the main focus is on urban water management. This is because in all Asian countries, the highest priority is invariably given to domestic water use. With accelerating urbanization in Asia, management of the entire water cycle in an urban context has become a priority consideration. Equally, urban water management is at present all households and from industrial and This boy enjoys clean drinking water direct from the major component of the ADB loan commercial sources, which thereafter the tap in Phnom Penh, portfolio for the water sector. Other water requires proper treatment and disposal Cambodia issues, including rural water management, in an environment-friendly way. Third will be considered in subsequent AWDO is the efficient disposal of storm water, reports. especially during the monsoon seasons. Urban water management consists Often, only the first, provision of drink- of three fundamental, but interrelated, ing water, is considered, while the other services. First is the provision to house- two services receive inadequate attention. holds of clean water that is drinkable Furthermore, even for drinking water without additional treatment. Second supply, the focus tends to be on quantity; is the collection of wastewater from quality issues receive much less attention.

22 23 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

The importance of clean water Subsequently, the Millennium supply and wastewater management Development Goals (MDGs) incorpo- became an important international issue rated part of the objectives of the water following the United Nations Water supply and sanitation decade. One of the Conference, held in Mar del Plata, goals is to reduce by half the number of Argentina, in March 1977. The Mar del people not having access to clean water, Plata conference was the only meeting between 1990 and 2015. Improvement ever held on water at a high political in sanitation is not a component of the level. This conference proposed that MDGs. The Johannesburg Summit, the decade of the 1980s be declared in 2002, recommended an equivalent as the International Water Supply and sanitation goal to reduce the number of Sanitation Decade, with the very ambi- people having no access to sanitation by tious objective of providing clean water half within the 1990–2015 period. and sanitation to every human being Considerable attention is now given by the end of 1990. The proposal was by national and international institutions subsequently approved unanimously by to the achievements of the MDG on the United Nations General Assembly. water supply, and to the Johannesburg A retrospective analysis of that target on sanitation. However, in much of decade indicates that even though it did the global discussions during recent years, not reach its goals, it was a remarkably the focus has been almost exclusively on successful event. Because of the prom- achieving the numerical targets; the real ulgation of the concept, hundreds of objectives and the philosophy behind the millions of people received accelerated two targets are seldom discussed. access to water supply and sanitation, When the idea of the International which may not have happened otherwise. Water Supply and Sanitation Decade was first proposed, its objective was that everyone should have access to clean water that is drinkable without any additional treatment. Similarly, it was expected that access to sanitation, at least in the urban context, meant that wastewater would be collected from households and then properly treated for safe disposal to the environment. During the intervening years, somehow the philosophies behind these goals were lost, and the emphasis was transferred to the achievement of the numerical targets. For example, there has been limited discussion on the quality of the water supplied to urban households. The discussion has almost exclusively focused on provision of a certain quan- tum of water, irrespective of quality in terms of drinking. Consequently, in many Urban sewage canal Asian urban centers, each household, or in Thailand block of flats, now acts as a mini-utility.

24 25 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 New Insights on Water Security in Asia: III. Urban Water Management

Water of indifferent quality is collected of water security. Such mindsets, includ- and stored in underground tanks and then ing the tenor of the global water policy pumped to overhead tanks. This water dialogue, have to change very significantly. is then treated, sometimes even with The Asian situation is similar to the membranes, before it can be consumed. rest of the developing world. Studies Where the main utilities supply water carried out in Mexico by the Third intermittently (2–4 hours per day), the World Centre for Water Management for Many developing mini-utilities at the household level the Inter-American Development Bank countries will transform it to a 24-hour water supply, indicate that if instead of sanitation, mortgage their followed by treatment, at high economic access to proper wastewater management future in a decade costs. This certainly was not the thinking is considered, only about 11% of the or two in terms behind the supply goal of the water and population in Latin America was covered of water security, sanitation decade. in 1990. No similar study is available by considering A similar anomaly exists with the for Asia, but a ballpark estimate of the sanitation only in sanitation goal as well. Wastewater may Asian developing countries is likely to a very restricted now be collected from urban areas, but is be somewhat similar to that of Latin sense of collecting mostly either not treated, or only receives America. If a similar approach is taken and transferring the partial treatment, before being dis- as the MDG to formulate a target for untreated sewage charged to rivers, lakes, or oceans. Thus, access to wastewater treatment, it will to another area the contamination and health problems mean that by 2015, Asian developing thereby contami- are simply shifted from the urban areas countries need to increase access to nating freshwater where the wastewater originates, to around 50–60% of the population, about sources another location where fewer people four times that at present. This will not may be affected. Because of this transfer be an easy task, and yet this must be the of the problem from one location to real target for Asian countries. another, rivers, lakes, and oceans in Meeting that target is all the more and around urban areas of developing worthwhile because investing in the Asian countries are now seriously con- water sector is investing in all the MDGs, taminated. This is already having serious not just Target 10 and the Johannesburg adverse health, social, economic, and target on sanitation. Safe water supplies environmental impacts. If the present immediately improve people’s health unsatisfactory trends continue, in one or and save them time, which they can use two decades, Asian developing countries to study or improve their livelihoods, are likely to face a crisis on water quality so they can earn more, eat more nutri- management that is unprecedented in tiously, and enjoy more healthy lives. human history. Thus, it is absolutely Improved sanitation protects the poor essential that new wastewater treatment from socially and physically degrading facilities are constructed at a massive surroundings, health risks, and exposure scale and are properly maintained, so to dangerous environmental conditions. that the water contamination problems It is easy to see how $1 invested in the can be progressively reduced. water sector turns into a benefit equiva- By diluting seriously the definition lent to $6. All too often, though, the of access to clean water and considering expectation and analysis of benefits from sanitation only in a very restricted sense, water supply and sanitation projects are developing countries, including many in limited to the most common intended Asia, are mortgaging their future in terms result—better health.

24 25 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

Access to Clean Water poor to obtain their supply each day. No sane person will argue with the For most Asian urban centers, at The main reason fact that all human beings should have least those with populations of one for the prevailing access to clean and drinkable water million or more, there is no reason unacceptable situa- and proper wastewater management. why a continuous water supply of a tion is widespread When people do not have access to drinkable quality cannot be provided. mismanagement of one or both of these services, the The common excuse currently offered water utilities, as a social, economic, and environmental for the intermittent water supply is result of which the costs are high, as is the overall cost that there is not enough water to utilities cannot be to the national economy. The main ensure a continuous supply. A quick run professionally issue is not the need for these services, review will indicate to any reasonably which are now universally accepted, intelligent person that the professed but rather how can these be provided reason has absolutely no scientific, to everyone cost-effectively, equitably, technical, or economic validity. For and promptly. example, supply may be intermittent, In many Asian developing countries, but during the short period the supply including most of South Asia, intermit- is available, most consumers withdraw tent water supply is at present the norm enough water, which is then stored rather than an exception. Yet, problems at the household level, to provide a associated with an intermittent water continuous supply. If the supply were supply are well known. Among these are continuous, the households would use provision of contaminated water, wast- a similar amount of water, but spread age of water at all stages, need for bigger over the entire day. Also, in many Asian pipes in the network (thus higher eco- urban centers, more than 50% of water New water connection nomic cost) for water delivery in a short that enters the system never reaches its for a poor Vietnamese time, unreliable metering, high levels of designated consumers due to leakages household corruption, and stress among the urban and poor management. In addition, urban areas like Malé now provide a continuous drinkable water supply with an average household consumption of less than 10 cubic meters per month. Yet, other Asian urban centers that supply more than 2–3 times this amount to each household claim that they do not have enough water to assure continuous supply! The main reason for the current unacceptable situation is widespread mismanagement of the water utilities, as a result of which the utilities cannot be run professionally. There are high levels of corruption and an apathetic and disenchanted public, which has now been conditioned to expect only suboptimal results from their utilities.

26 27 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 New Insights on Water Security in Asia: III. Urban Water Management

Water Pricing that the objectives of the provision of It is impossible to There are many reasons for the current reliable services, economic efficiency, continue with the untenable situation. Probably the most universal access, and maximization of traditional idea of prevalent one is the view that water is a social welfare are met consistently and providing required social good, and so should be provided concurrently? What type of institutional drinking water to free or at highly subsidized prices. In frameworks and governance practices are everyone free of contrast, current studies indicate that needed to improve the present delivery cost or at highly without appropriate water pricing, the services substantially? How can all these subsidized rates present vicious cycle of waste, inef- requirements be achieved efficiently and ficiency, and lack of services to both the quickly, and the means used be socially rich and the poor will continue. Lack of and politically acceptable to society as income of the utilities due to inadequate a whole? These and many other similar water pricing will ensure that the water questions need to be asked and answered systems are not properly maintained, and by every water utility, whether public or investment funds are not available for private, and by the government services updating technology, improving man- that regulate them. agement and technological capacities, What is becoming increasingly expanding the networks, and providing evident is that there is no one “best” wastewater management. There is no solution that would be applicable for all question that the era when drinkable Asian countries. What is needed is the water could be provided to everyone free identification of a community of “good or at highly subsidized rates on a long- practice” models from Asian urban cen- term basis is now over. ters that have made remarkable progress What is needed is the exact corol- in providing clean water and wastewater Manila Water’s “Mother” meters provide bulk lary of the present vicious circle by its management services in recent years. If billing to slum-dwelling replacement with a virtuous circle. This such models were available, including an communities will mean a system where the users pay for the services they want, the poor who cannot pay receive targeted subsidies, utilities provide water supply and wastewater management services efficiently and accountably, users cover the costs of the services, and public funds are used for public purposes. This, of course, does not mean that we now have all the answers on how water should be priced for different consumers and for different uses. Some hard questions need to be asked and answered. For example, how can it be ensured that the poor have adequate access to reliable water and sanitation services at affordable prices while the rich are not subsidized? How, by whom, and through what processes should these services be managed so as to ensure

26 27 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

assessment of the enabling environments end societal goals: universal equitable needed for such practices to function, provision of clean water and wastewater those Asian urban centers searching for management at affordable and economic an applicable model could select the one prices. The means—how the services are that best suits them. The selected model provided and by whom—are less rel- then has to be carefully adapted to suit evant, as long as the goals are achieved. the specific local conditions. In this respect, past discussions have not focused on the main issue. At present, Public-private Partnership only about 5–7% (estimates vary) of the global population receive water and The discussion of private sector wastewater services from the private sector. involvement in water and wastewater Under all foreseeable conditions, it is management has often become emo- highly unlikely that even 15% of the global tional, with hardened positions of both population will receive such services from proponents and opponents. The issue the private sector by 2025. Accordingly, was strongly and emotionally debated if at least 85% of the global population during the Second World Water Forum continues to receive these services from in The Hague in 2000, and the Third the public sector, the main focus for World Water Forum in Japan in 2003. discussion needs to be on how the existing The opponents of private sector involve- public sector services can be improved ment argued repeatedly and vehemently very significantly in the coming years. that water pricing is a “code word” for It should be noted that two of the handing over an essential public service most efficient water-related service to the private sector, which will then providers in the world, Singapore and make unseemly profits at the cost of the Tokyo, belong to the public sector. poor. During the Hague Forum, it was Equally, some of the worst performances widely assumed that a few multinational in Asian developing countries can be corporations would “control” the water- found in the public sector. Similarly, the related services of the urban areas of the performance of the private sector has world. They would become so big and not been consistently better than the powerful that the public regulators would public sector. Some water management not be able to control them. concessions given to private sectors By 2003, when the Third World have been successful, but others have Water Forum was convened, the goal not. Results have varied within a country posts of the debate had shifted. While in (for example, a private concession in 2000, a few multinational corporations Morocco, Casablanca could be consid- were increasing their outreach at a very ered a success but not that in Rabat), and rapid pace, a scant three years later, the sometimes even within the same met- same companies were in retreat. Saddled ropolitan area (a private concession for by huge debts and significant losses in one half of Manila has worked but that many concessions, and facing steeply in the other half has not), or over time (a declining share prices, most of them had private concession in Buenos Aires only to curtail their expansion plans in the worked initially). developing world. Two other new factors are worth The focus of the discussion is slowly noting. First is the emergence of new changing for the better, focusing on the Asian private companies that have

28 29 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 New Insights on Water Security in Asia: III. Urban Water Management

developed enough expertise and techni- the locations where wastewater manage- cal and financial know how to consider ment has been considered, the main focus management concessions within Asia, has been on the collection of wastewater and later perhaps beyond Asia. In from urban areas for disposal elsewhere the electricity sector, a Singaporean with limited, or even, no treatment. As concern is already managing the ser- more and more water is supplied to urban vices in Sydney. It is likely that private areas, and concomitant progress is not sector companies and public-private made on its collection, treatment, and consortiums from Asian countries, disposal practices, the overall water quality especially from India, the Philippines, situation will deteriorate progressively. and Singapore, may become increasingly active over the next decade. The second is the increasing outsourcing of specific activities and services that the local private sector can perform more efficiently than the public sector. These could be in a variety of areas like information technology, meter reading and billing, leak detection and repair, vehicle management, etc. Public sector institutions like the Public Utilities Board of Singapore and National Water Supply and Drainage Board of Sri Lanka are already forging ahead with outsourcing, resulting in win-win situations. In future, what is needed is an increas- A major problem facing Asian Checking water flow in Simao District, ing dialogue between the public sector, countries is the provision of wastewater Yunnan Province, the private sector, and civil society so that management in slums and peri-urban People’s Republic of a good mutually acceptable solution is areas. Where individual or communal China formulated specifically for the concerned toilets are not available, open defecation urban center. The main objective should creates health, social, and environmental be to provide continuous drinkable water problems. It is also against human supply and adequate wastewater manage- dignity, especially for women, the elderly, ment to all the residents, cost-effectively, and the sick. There is an increasing equitably, and promptly. How this can be emphasis on controlling open defecation accomplished, and by whom, should be in these areas, but much more remains to best left to the urban centers concerned be done, not only in terms of expansion without external interference and dog- of hygienic toilets and their long-term matic beliefs. maintenance, but also collection and safe disposal of grey water. Provision of toilets, although an essential and impor- Wastewater Management tant improvement, is not enough; it must In general, wastewater management be an integral component of a functional has received far lower priority in Asian wastewater management policy. This is developing countries than has provision an area where significantly more progress of water supply. In addition, in most of is needed in Asian developing countries.

28 29 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

Rehabilitation of Urban Water most countries, nor is it known what type and Wastewater Works of investment funds and technical and managerial capacities will be needed for Much of the discussion during the recent their timely and cost-effective renewal. decades has been on the construction This is an area that deserves more atten- and operation of new infrastructure for tion from all Asian countries in the future. water supply and wastewater management. There is no question that, with Index of Drinking Water rapid urbanization, Asian countries have to move more and more aggressively to Adequacy (IDWA) for Asia construct and maintain new works. The Human Development Index (HDI) However, there is another issue that is now a universally accepted indicator needs urgent attention from all Asian for overall national progress. It combines policy makers. This is the rehabilitation one indicator each of health and educa- and redevelopment of earlier water and tion with per capita income. It enables wastewater infrastructure. Some of the what is lacking at the country level on infrastructure is well over 50-years old, and the three important dimensions of now not only past economic life, but also human development to be ascertained. too small in view of increasing population Inspired by the success of the HDI, density and higher per capita water use. an attempt has been made to develop Even in Japan, many of the water an index of drinking water adequacy and wastewater facilities were built (IDWA). This has been applied to 23 during the 1950s and 1960s and need developing member countries (DMCs) to be progressively replaced with new of ADB, which together account for designs and materials that comply with 3.4 billion people (2004 estimates), and the latest construction standards and covers nearly 99% of the population planning and design requirements. The of all 44 DMCs (see the Appendix). investments in new water and wastewater However, not enough information is infrastructure started to decline in Japan available from the other 21 DMCs from after 2000, and now are less than what national and/or global sources to fully is needed for rehabilitation. If this trend develop the IDWA. continues, more and more facilities that It should be noted that the IDWA should be replaced will not be rehabili- values indicated in the Appendix are tated. Consequently, they may be left to preliminary estimates. As more water- deteriorate. If so, they will require much related data become available, and as higher investment later and may impose the quality of data improves, IDWA will some social and environmental costs on improve as well. Furthermore, with time, the areas concerned. more methodological breakthroughs While Japan did start to rehabilitate are likely, which will further advance the its structures seriously, the same cannot technical and intellectual foundations of be said for most Asian countries. In fact, the index. Detailed information on how very few have drawn up operational the IDWA has been computed can be plans as to how old infrastructure can be found in the CD-ROM included with the rehabilitated, both in terms of geographi- AWDO 2007 report. cal coverage and over time. Even the IDWA has four important compo- extent of the problem is not known in nents: per capita estimates of renewable

30 31 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 New Insights on Water Security in Asia: III. Urban Water Management

internal freshwater resources, access, capacity to buy water, and per capita Box 6: Singapore’s Significant Success water use by the domestic sector. To Despite a lack of sufficient internal water resources (142 cubic these factors is added an indirect proxy meters per capita in 2004 as per the World Development Indicators, of the quality of drinking water. This is 2006), Singapore has done exceptionally well in regard to provi- because of the paucity of reliable water sion of top quality drinking water to its population. In addition to sourcing water from outside, it has developed not only desalination, quality data in nearly all the DMCs. The but most importantly, what is known as “NEWater,” water of great proxy used for water quality is diarrheal quality obtained from purification of recycled water. deaths per 100,000 people in 2000. In Singapore, the water supply is continuous and one can drink it It should be noted that IDWA, in its straight from the tap. The country scores 100 on each of four IDWA present form, is not intended to provide a components (access, capacity, use, and quality). Yet, because of an reliable ranking of countries with regard index value of 42 for the resource component, the IDWA based on five components is 88, lower than the values for Malaysia and the to access to safe drinking water on a Republic of Korea (92 and 90, respectively). sustained basis. Thus, the Index should Without the resource component, IDWAs for Malaysia and the not be used for inter-country ranking. Republic of Korea are 94 and 97, respectively, less than the 100 Even in its current form, IDWA of Singapore. These differences are inevitable in any composite provides a much better picture of the indicator and that is precisely why the IDWA uses a small number national situations than do access-only (five) of important components. indicators. In fact, each of the five components could trigger a message, PRC have almost identical IDWA values, depending on the country-specific but there are stark differences in some situation. IDWA can assist develop- of the components. The comparatively ment policy, programs, and projects high use component in India has limited as a tool for assessment, monitoring, importance, especially when poor water and benchmarking. For national policy quality is considered. Box 6 shows how makers and external support agencies, it Singapore is providing excellent drinking could also be an instrument to make a water despite inadequate internal water good case for additional improvements resources. and investments in drinking water so In its present stage, IDWA is limited that the index value can move higher, to water only; wastewater management is toward 100. not considered. Conceptually, IDWA can IDWA can also assist countries in be extended to incorporate wastewater targeting one or more of its components management, if reasonable data for at to move further up the scale. For example, least two additional indicators become Papua New Guinea has adequate water available. These could be access to resources, but not the wherewithal to sanitation facilities and the extent of supply water, which could receive priority collection, treatment, and disposal of attention. Similarly, Malaysia has an edge wastewater. Unfortunately, such data over the Republic of Korea in terms of are not presently available at national resources and access, while the latter has levels. A separate composite index of a high level of capacity that needs to be wastewater management can also be converted into access, even in the absence considered when water quality data in of adequate water resources. India and the the DMCs improve significantly.

30 31 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

IV. Ways Forward If some of the here is no single way forward for in the future because of physical scarcity Asian DMCs face TAsian DMCs to ensure their future of water. This is a conclusion that ADB a water crisis in water security. Because of differing reached about a decade ago and there is the future, it will climatic, physical, social, economic, no reason to change that finding. What not be because of environmental, and institutional condi- is important is to realize that, irrespec- physical scarcity of tions, and because countries, and even tive of the high level of rhetoric on the water, but because parts of countries, are at different stages looming global water crisis and likely of inadequate of development, there are simply no water wars due to increasing water scar- or inappropriate universal solutions. The Pacific Islands, city, the fact is that there is now enough water governance, for example, because of their gener- knowledge, technology, and expertise including manage- ally small size and fragility, have quite available in Asia to solve all its existing ment practices, different water problems to those of and future water problems. Nevertheless, institutional larger nations, and have developed their some Asian DMCs will find it more arrangements, own regional action plan (Box 7). In difficult than others to ensure their and sociopolitical addition, because the national, regional, future water security. This, however, is conditions and global conditions that affect water likely to be the general situation not only are changing rapidly, there is also a time for the water sector, but also for all other dimension to the solutions—what may development-related sectors in those have been a viable solution a decade ago countries. may not be so a decade from now. This If some of the Asian DMCs face a means that water policies need to be water crisis in the future, it will not be updated periodically so that they reflect because of physical scarcity of water, the requirements of the time and the but because of inadequate or inap- foreseeable future. propriate water governance, including We can confidently predict, on the management practices, institutional basis of current assessments of water arrangements, and sociopolitical condi- resources, expected water demands of tions, which now leave much to be the future, available technology, knowl- desired. Continuation of the present edge, and experience, that Asian DMCs state of affairs will ensure that the should not experience, or expect, a crisis water situations in Asian DMCs can

32 33 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 New Insights on Water Security in Asia: IV. Ways Forward

only improve slowly. Considering the Box 7: Uniqueness of the Pacific Islands expected population growth, continuing The ability of the Pacific island countries to manage the water urbanization, and increasing economic sector effectively is constrained by their small size, fragility, natural activities, this may mean, at least for the vulnerability, and limited human and financial resource base. The water sector, having to run faster to stay challenges of sustainable water resources management in Pacific in the same place. This cannot be the island countries were categorized into three broad thematic areas at the regional consultation on Water in Small Island Countries held in preferred or acceptable solution. preparation for the 3rd World Water Forum in Kyoto 2003. These Major and fundamental changes in were: water governance practices are needed 1. Small island countries have uniquely fragile water resources due in nearly all the Asian DMCs. There to their small size; lack of natural storage and competing land are many success stories in Asia of use; and vulnerability to natural and anthropogenic hazards, very significant improvements in water including drought, cyclones, and urban pollution. governance. For example, during the past 2. Water service providers face challenging constraints to sustaining 30 years, Singapore has made remarkable water and wastewater provision due to the lack of both human breakthroughs in its governance prac- and financial resource bases, which restricts the availability of tices as a result of which it now has one experienced staff and investment, and effectiveness of cost-recov- of the best, if not the best, water supply, ery. wastewater management, and overall 3. Water governance is highly complex due to specific sociopolitical and cultural structures relating to traditional community, and catchment management in the world. In tribal and inter-island practices, rights, and interests. the process, the Public Utilities Board of Singapore has gained full confidence These issues have all been addressed through the development of the Pacific Regional Action Plan on Sustainable Water Management of the public in the level of services (Pacific RAP). Endorsed by 18 countries, 16 at Head of State it consistently provides. Most of this level, the Pacific RAP not only provides a coordinated and agreed transition has taken place within about approach but has significantly driven water up the national and two decades. regional agenda. Similarly, the Phnom Penh Water Source: Fourth World Water Forum, Mexico. 2006. Regional Document: Asia-Pacific Authority has managed to reduce its – Local Actions for a Global Change http://www.worldwaterforum4.org.mx/uploads/ TBL_DOCS_107_35.pdf unaccounted-for water from about 90% in 1993 to about 8% at present, in spite of difficult political, economic, and and hydropower development. These social conditions during this period. The successes need to be reviewed indepen- utility now provides drinkable water dently by knowledgeable and experienced supply continuously, and is fully autono- water experts in terms of their veracity, mous and financially independent. It uses long-term sustainability, and potential absolutely no outsourcing to the private replicability in other parts of Asia. It will sector, and within a decade has shown also be essential to analyze the enabling what can be achieved given good leader- environment of each success to see how ship—which has radically transformed and why it managed to make remarkable its governance—and full political weight progress, while most other Asian urban behind that enlightened leadership. centers did not. We need to understand It is now important for improving what conditions were instrumental in the performance of the water sector catalyzing the process, which, in turn, that a comprehensive search be made ensured their success. to identify similar success stories from A set of successful Asian good prac- all over Asia in areas like water supply, tice models is essential for South-South wastewater management, irrigation, knowledge and experience transfer in the

32 33 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

context of the special monsoon climatic the Asian DMCs, water quality manage- conditions of the region. A major reason ment will become a priority national that European and North American issue in the foreseeable future, and models have often not been successful there will be very significant increases in in Asia is not only differences in climatic water reuse through formal or informal conditions, but also in social, economic, means. Similarly, availability of data is and environmental conditions, and considerably better on hydrological, institutional and legal frameworks. Thus, climatic, and similar physical factors than successful models from Asian monsoon on social, economic, and environmental areas are likely to be more replicable parameters. This situation appears to be to other Asian DMCs than are models improving, but slowly. directly imported from Europe and North It is simply not possible to plan, America. However, the Asian models develop, and manage water resources in should only be applied after appropriate any country on a long-term sustainable modifications for site-specific conditions. basis without the availability of reli- Within this overall context and able data on physical as well as social, philosophy, some suggestions follow economic, and environmental factors. that are likely to be useful across most Equally, it is not enough to collect data Asian DMCs for the way forward to that are necessary and reliable; data must water security. Nevertheless, note that be readily accessible to the people who the degrees of emphasis or priority given need them, ranging from national and to each issue will vary from one country international organizations to research to another. and academic institutions, NGOs, and civil society in general. If the status of Improving Data Availability water development and management is and Reliability to be improved, it is essential that collection, quality, and management of data It is simply not A major issue in preparing the AWDO receive significantly higher priority in possible to plan, de- 2007 has been the paucity of data on all all Asian DMCs than has been the case velop, and manage aspects of water-related issues in Asian to date. Data accessibility needs to be water resources in DMCs. Even when data were available, substantially improved as well. any country on a their reliability was often unknown. The It should be noted that adequate long-term sustain- problem was further compounded by the and reliable data are needed at national, able basis without presence of either inconsistent national regional, and local levels, depending on the availability of data sets or different data from various the specific water activities that need to reliable data on national sources on the same parameters, be carried out. Equally, without good physical as well as and/or significant differences in many data, we cannot monitor progress or social, economic, cases between national and international performance of policies, programs, or and environmental data sets. projects adequately. Without monitoring, factors and com- As a general rule, the Asian DMCs we cannot make definitive statements posite indicators have better information, and also for about the success of specific water-related longer periods, on water quantity than activities, or their cost-effectiveness and on water quality. Very limited, if any, impacts on people and the environment. information is available on the extent of Major international institutions like water reuse and progress on recycling. ADB should encourage and assist DMCs This is an important gap because in all to develop and maintain consistent data

34 35 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 New Insights on Water Security in Asia: IV. Ways Forward

Table 3: Proportions of Populations in Selected Countries Receiving Water and Sanitation Services (%) Country Source and date Overall Urban water Rural water Overall Urban Rural water sanitation sanitation sanitation Cambodia WHO/UNICEF (2004) 41 64 35 17 53 8 Ministry of Planning (2005) — 76 42 — 55 16 Fiji WHO/UNICEF (2004) 47 43 51 72 87 55 FAO (2002)a 70 — — — — — Sri Lanka WHO/UNICEF (2004) 79 98 74 91 98 89 ABDb (2000/1 data yr) 82 98 70 80 97 — NWSDB (2005)c — 39.5 — — — — Viet Nam WHO/UNICEF (2004) 85 99 80 61 92 50 Viet Nam Govt. (2004)d 70 — 58 — — 41 FAO = Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, UNICEF = United Nations Children’s Fund, WHO = World Health Organization. a Gateway to Land and Water Information, University of South Pacific, Samoa - Fiji National report. b Country Strategy and Program Update 2006–2008. c National Water Supply and Drainage Board Annual Report (NWSDB) (2005) – excludes some large municipalities, such as Kandy and Jaffna. d Viet Nam Govt. (2004) Report on Viet Nam Development Goals.

sets across the entire Asian region. Such for comparison of national data sets, all an effort will unquestionably improve DMCs should use consistent definitions data availability and accessibility, and and similar processes for collection, may contribute to the reduction, or even analysis, and interpretation. This is not elimination, of unreliable and conflict- happening at present at any significant ing data sets. For example, when the or consistent scale, as a result of which background work was carried out for the apples and oranges are often being ag- present report, it was noted that national gregated and compared. Accordingly, the and international data sets on achieve- present situation often may not give re- ments toward the MDG on water supply alistic views of water-related conditions, were very different. Some examples are or help in formulating and implementing given in Table 3 above. National data sets efficient policies, programs, and projects. often tended to provide more optimistic To ensure efficient water planning and pictures of progress. This may also be management in the future, data avail- due to data errors and/or definitional ability, quality, and access need to be problems in the data. For example, improved significantly. access to water can be defined in different ways by different countries and/or Forging Partnerships for national and international institutions. Water Management Clear definitions of the data that are being collected are needed so that users In the late 1990s, certain international are aware of the data’s relevance, appro- institutions (not ADB) strongly and con- priateness, comparability, and limitations. sistently promoted the participation of For data aggregation at national a few multinational corporations as the levels, all local data sets must use identi- panacea for solving water and wastewater cal definitions of the parameters for problems of major urban centers of the which data are being collected. Equally, developing world. As noted earlier, by

34 35 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

A new paradigm the early 2000s, it was already generally provide the solution within a reason- of “business recognized that these corporations were able timeframe. A new paradigm of unusual” is needed not going to deliver services as expected “business unusual” is needed that can that can solve in terms of bringing new investments, solve the region’s water and wastewater the region’s water connections for the poor, and signifi- problems, preferably within a decade, in and wastewater cantly improved management practices. a cost-effective and equitable manner. problems, in a All these and other advantages were This will require the formation of a cost-effective and expected to make service delivery ef- new form of partnership, different equitable manner. ficient, reliable, economic, and equitable, from the earlier models, with three dis- This will require compared to the conditions that were tinct partners—government, corporate the formation prevalent under public sector utility man- (public or private), and society—each of a new form agement. The multinational corporations having very specific responsibilities for of partnership, concerned also soon realized that they which it should be held accountable; let different from the were not going to make a very attractive us call this the GCS model. earlier models, return for their shareholders for the next The tasks of government in this with three distinct 2–3 decades from providing water and tripartite relationship could include for- partners— wastewater management services. mulation of an overall framework within government, This form of public-private which the three parties can operate, and corporate (public partnership did not work as well or the promulgation of regulatory regimes or private), and as consistently as its proponents had for the service providers. This would society anticipated. It is now also fully accepted include such issues as determining the by all the concerned parties that the levels of service, identifying the benefi- existing water supply and wastewater ciaries, stipulating progress to be made management gap between what is over time in terms of extending service needed and what is available at pres- coverage and beneficiaries to be reached, ent in the Asian DMCs, is huge, and establishing implementable policies for “business as usual” will not be able to water pricing and cost recovery, ensuring

Box 8: Nonprofit Technical Cooperation Activities by Japanese Water Operators The reconstruction process of water services in (2) to improve a staff training system for the water supply Cambodia—a country devastated under the Pol Pot system in Cambodia. regime and more than one decade of civil war thereaf- Engineers from the water operators of Kitakyusyu and ter—started with the development of a master plan by Yokohama cities in Japan provided technical transfer to Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 1993. PPWSA engineers on the ground. These activities were The Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) recov- conducted on a nonprofit basis, not a commercial one. ered the capacity of water supply system from 65,000 JICA provided only actual costs required, such as travel cubic meters per day in 1993 to 235,000 cubic meters and equipment. Three long-term engineers for 3 years per day in 2003 with the harmonized assistance from the and 32 short-term engineers in total worked in the Project. Japanese Government, Asian Development Bank, French PPWSA obtained substantial high-level O&M capacity Government, and World Bank. following completion of the Project. Capacity development for operation and maintenance Regarding the waterworks of provincial cities in (O&M) was required to secure the sustainability of the Cambodia, rehabilitation works and capacity development reconstructed facilities. JICA implemented a technical are on the way. PPWSA, with the Ministry of Industry, Mine cooperation project for the capacity building of PPWSA and Energy, is preparing the mechanism to disseminate from 2003 to 2006. The aims of the project were (1) to its experiences of management of the water system to the improve the O&M capacity of water supply facilities, and provinces.

Source: Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

36 37 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 New Insights on Water Security in Asia: IV. Ways Forward

proper standards of construction, and Box 9: Business Model for Sanitation formulating transparent and enforce- Today’s market for sanitation is dysfunctional, mainly due to muted able legal procedures for awarding and demand and low priority among individuals and politicians. Low managing contracts and resolution of capacities in appropriate technologies and the lack of (freely) potential conflicts. available sustainable sanitation designs for mass production The corporate partner could be prevent an efficient market for sanitation from emerging. There is a lack of incentives for innovation in technology and product public or private. If public, it should design for sanitation. Despite the wonderful opportunities of 2.6 be an autonomous and accountable billion potential buyers, businesspersons still neglect the low-income government entity with operational sanitation market, due to a lack of awareness, localized demand, and financial autonomy and free from and established distribution channels. political and bureaucratic interference. To remedy this situation, we need to demonstrate that the low- In fact, many water utilities in Asian income sanitation market is a profitable opportunity for both social and for-profit investors. We need to eventually make people want to DMCs now fail to function efficiently buy sanitation. We must not underestimate the power of emotional because of the “excess baggage” they appeal of the toilet as a status symbol and we need to fund the carry in terms of unnecessary rules, creation of a trend to drive the poor to demand sanitation through regulations, administrative require- peer pressure. ments, and consistent bureaucratic With a coordinated approach across the water and sanitation and political interference. Under the community, identification of best practices, innovation, good market infrastructure, and driving prices down through all means continu- existing conditions, it would indeed be a ously, we can create demand that will be viable for vendors to miracle if a utility succeeds in providing supply in large volume. reliable levels of services efficiently and Source: Sim, J., Director/Founder of World Toilet Organization, Singapore equitably to all on a sustainable basis. The responsibilities of the corporate partner must include high levels of which corporate model would best suit consumer satisfaction and it should be its needs, opportunities, and constraints, fully accountable to its customers. The and should be determined without any Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority is preconceived dogma or hidden agenda. one such autonomous, public corporate The third partner should be civil partner; it has already revolutionized society, which, as a general rule, needs the water supply of that city. This type to move away from its current apathetic of model needs further consideration response to poor and unacceptable for possible use by other Asian DMCs. levels of water and wastewater service Box 8 shows how Phnom Penh Water delivery. Consumers will have to pay Supply Authority improved its system a fair price for receiving water and by forging harmonized partnerships wastewater services, so they need to be with the Japanese Government, ADB, encouraged to demand good quality the French Government, and World service. Here there is a need to explore Bank. both social and for-profit marketing The corporate partner could equally opportunities to drive up demand (Box be a private company or a public sector 9). The responsible civil society organiza- company from another country or tions should be empowered to demand another region of the same country. necessary reforms, ensure that the urban However, whether it is a public or a poor receive the expected benefits, and private entity, it will have to abide by the complain vociferously when the system same set of requirements and obliga- does not provide the stipulated levels of tions. Each urban center should select services.

36 37 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

The GCS model, if implemented Improving Water Quality properly, has the potential to improve water and wastewater services in urban Water quality management has mostly centers of many Asian DMCs. The been a neglected issue in Asian DMCs. model is also very flexible. Each urban The health costs and social impacts are center can devise its own model that likely to be substantial at present. While will best suit its specific social, eco- these have not been carefully assessed nomic, institutional, and environmental for the region, the annual economic cost conditions and constraints. The selec- is likely to be billions of dollars. If the tion and adoption of the final model present trend continues, the costs are should come after a thorough review likely to escalate significantly over the of the community of good practice coming years. A man drinks clean water models available from the Asian mon- Institutional responsibilities for water in front of Cambodia’s National Assembly in soon countries, an issue that has been quality management are highly fragmented Phnom Penh discussed earlier. at present. Equally, most institutions are not geared to manage water quality, let alone address the broader problems of the future. Accordingly, institutional strengthening and restructuring, inter- institutional coordination, and capacity building in technical, administrative, and managerial aspects are urgent requirements, as are significant improvements in the formulation and implementation of legal and regulatory regimes, and transparency and non-corruptibility of the associated administrative and management processes. While economic instruments (bulk water charges, water rights, tradable permits, polluter-pays-principle, incentives when appropriate, etc.) can help the region in improving the current water quality conditions, a combination of economic instruments and a com- mand-and-control system is likely to prove useful. Conventional funds available for investments in controlling water pollution are now grossly inadequate. In addition, not all the funds available are being used efficiently. Considering the massive additional funding needed to manage water quality because of past neglect, it is highly unlikely that the public sector can generate the needed investment

38 39 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 New Insights on Water Security in Asia: IV. Ways Forward

funds. Funding that can be generated has not received systematic and continu- from private sector and multilateral and ous attention. The attempts have often bilateral agencies will be useful, but even been ad hoc, have not addressed the this is unlikely to be enough. New forms priority areas that can really make a of funding mechanisms are needed, and difference, and have generally built up need to be available on a sustained basis capacities that are more appropriate for for a reasonable period of time. Loans European and North American temper- for longer periods, like 40-year loans that ate climate conditions than for tropical are currently provided by the Japan Bank and subtropical Asian conditions. Thus, for International Cooperation, should be instead of being a part of the solution, considered by other funding agencies. most of these programs have produced In spite of the present deteriorating short-term results of a marginal nature. water quality in many Asian DMCs, Educational and training programs the issue is not receiving the political for water professionals need reviewing. priority and social attention it deserves Often they are academic and are not at national and local levels. Overall solution or application oriented. The governance, including political, legal, academic programs need to be restruc- and institutional conditions, has often tured if they are to solve the problems contributed to an environment that has of the future, rather than the problems not encouraged new investments. This of the past. In other words, much of the situation needs to be changed. current efforts for capacity development Water quality management is much need a thorough review. broader than simply construction and In this connection, it is useful to look operation of wastewater treatment at past Japanese efforts to build water plants. A more comprehensive perspec- management capacities. Japan invested tive is essential, which should consider nearly 70 cents for each dollar spent factors like formulation and implementa- on infrastructure development in the tion of national water policies within education sector. In contrast, only about which quality should be a priority issue, 7 cents are spent on capacity develop- regular monitoring and evaluation of ment in the water sector for each dollar water quality, presence of appropriate spent on infrastructure development. and functional legal and institutional The Asia and Pacific region recom- frameworks, and a well-structured capac- mended boosting the level of investment ity-building program for all levels. for capacity development during the Fourth World Water Forum. However, Enhancing Capacity the world forums invariably produce a Development plethora of recommendations, very few of which are implemented. The recom- Capacity development is an important mendation on capacity building has been requirement for Asian DMCs to ensure no different to this general rule. Yet, water security in the coming years. capacity development must receive much Unfortunately, even though the rhetoric higher priority from both national water on capacity development has been quite authorities and external support agencies. audible in recent years, appropriate Equally, the external support agencies capacity development that specifically must ensure that the types of capacity addresses the needs of any one country development activities they support will

38 39 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

actually help to improve substantially by external forces like demographic the water management practices of transitions, advances in technology and Asian DMCs, where conditions are communication, globalization, free trade, different from those in the industrialized and increasing social activism. countries. Further, the results must be All these factors will make future sustainable over the long term. water management in Asia a far more complex task than ever before. It will Looking to the Future be a formidable challenge, but one that must and can be met because the As noted earlier, the future water-related knowledge, experience, and technol- issues of the Asian DMCs are likely to ogy to solve the problems in a timely be quite different from those in the past. manner already exist within Asia, not in While historical knowledge is always one location but within the region as a useful, solving the water problems of whole. A synergistic net needs to be cast the future will require additional skills, to identify and collect all the successful innovative approaches, and new mind- attempts for possible replication in other sets. It will also require a more holistic parts of Asia. approach that can successfully coor- One is reminded of William dinate the energy, food, environment, Shakespeare’s immortal words as to how and industrial policies of a nation, all of the water future of the Asian DMCs will which have intimate linkages to water. develop: Each will affect the others and, in turn, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars be affected by the others. Policies in all But in ourselves, that we are underlings.” these areas will similarly be influenced

Solving the water problems of the future will require additional skills and capacity, innovative approaches, and new mindsets. It will also require a more holistic approach that can successfully coordinate the energy, food, environment, and industrial policies of a nation, all of which have direct linkages to water

40 41 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 Appendix: The Index of Drinking Water Adequacy

Appendix IDWA: Index of Drinking Water Adequacy

he AWDO 2007 proposes a new Index of Drinking Water Adequacy (IDWA) TIndex of Drinking Water Adequacy (IDWA). IDWA is an average of five component indicators on most relevant variables, fully explained in the paper Resources by Bhanoji Rao: (1) per capita internal Access Quality renewable fresh water resources;1 (2) percent of population with general access to a sustainable “improved” IDWA water source, which is one of the target indicators in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); (3) na- Capacity Use tional capacity to purchase water, based on the proxy measure of per capita gross domestic product in purchasing power parity dollars (PPP $); (4) the Index computation methodology is extent of use of water by the domestic essentially the same as the one adopted sector on a per capita basis measured to compute the Water Poverty Index against a norm; and (5) diarrheal deaths (WPI), which was the method used per 100,000 people used as an indirect to compute the Human Development measure of water quality. IDWA not Index (HDI) over the years. The only allows cross-country comparisons, method simply involves taking the vari-

but also helps in ascertaining which able, for example resource per capita, Rj component is weak in a particular for country j, and then estimating the country, requiring priority attention. percentage as follows:

40 41 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

Ranking based on IDWA

IDWA IDWA Use ResourceResource AccessAccess CapacityCapacity QualityQuality MalaysiaMalaysia 92 100 85 100 79 99 Korea,Korea, Rep. Rep Of of 90 100 61 90 100 99 PhilippinesPhilippines 80 100 73 81 59 84 VietVietnam Nam 76 100 71 81 42 87 KazakhstanKazakhstan 74 50 72 82 69 98 AzerbaijanAzerbaijan 74 100 58 71 52 89 KyrgyzKyrgyz Republic Republic 73 100 77 71 31 87 ThailandThailand 73 32 68 99 73 93 UzbekistanUzbekistan 72 100 54 77 31 98 TurkmenistanTurkmenistan 63 93 48 64 31 77 TajikistanTajikistan 62 100 78 47 18 67 China, P. PRCRep. 61 16 65 71 64 92 IndiaIndia 60 56 60 82 46 57 IndonesiaIndonesia 59 13 80 71 49 84 MongoliaMongolia 53 31 81 51 34 66 SriSri Lanka Lanka 51 -35 66 73 55 96 PakistanPakistan 39 0 49 88 36 21 NepalNepal 38 -31 75 87 25 32 BangladeshBangladesh 37 -22 56 67 33 53 MyanmarMyanmar 35 -52 83 72 26 49 PapuaPapua New New Guinea Guinea 32 -58 100 22 37 57 LaoLao PDRPDR 30 -7 88 37 31 2 CambodiaCambodia 19 -56 77 24 37 14

Indicator for country “j”= Comparing Malaysia and the [(Rj−Rmin)/(Rmax−Rmin)]×100 Republic of Korea, the latter has a relative paucity of water resources and The index is computed for 2004 for 23 not quite 100% access. It has capacity developing member countries (DMCs) to purchase/exploit water resources at a of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), much higher level than Malaysia, but it is accounting for 99% of the total popula- not translated into full access, and hence tion of all 44 DMCs. The IDWA values its IDWA is slightly lower. of the 23 DMCs are given above to The People’s Republic of China demonstrate the use and implications of (PRC) and India have about the same the new index. IDWA, but some of the component

42 43 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 Appendix: The Index of Drinking Water Adequacy

differences are glaring. The PRC has is way below the norms adopted. lower access, despite higher economic Myanmar has relatively higher level of capacity. It has constrained use, but high resources that have helped to step up quality. India enjoys better access and access to a relatively high level. The higher use but low quality. country, however, fails on purchasing Bangladesh and Myanmar have power and quality. IDWA values on the low side, with the Cambodia has the lowest IDWA two countries respectively occupying despite a fairly high level of resources. It the 19th and 20th positions. Both fail has to step up “investments” to move up especially on use, wherein the level on all other components.

Endnote

1. Internal renewable water resources (IRWR) comprise the average annual flow of rivers and recharge of groundwater (aquifers) generated from endogenous (internal) precipitation. Natural incoming flows originating outside a country’s borders are not included. Estimates of IRWR per capita are from the World Bank’s WDI 2006 and they refer to 2004.

42 43 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

Annex 1 Country Papers Summary

he country papers of the Asian Water indication of the way forward. Data and TDevelopment Outlook (AWDO) 2007 background information for each coun- provide a brief overview of 12 selected try have been obtained primarily from countries, covering the status and perfor- published sources in the public domain, mance of the water sector, the key issues additional data collection and analysis and challenges to be addressed, and an being outside the scope of the literature search undertaken. Achievement of the Box A1.1: Country Paper Limitations and Future country paper goals has been constrained Development Options by limited availability of data and pub- • The country papers are based on a literature search of materials lished information on the current status, and information in the public domain. as well as detailed future plans. • References and data refer to different dates due to available Some of the limitations of the source materials. Consistency, for example using Millennium country papers are discussed in Box Development Goals progress data, is preferable to using latest A1.1, with suggestions made concerning data that might not be authoritative or be based on the same the possible direction of future revisions. definition. • The main focus is on water supply and sanitation (WSS), with One of the main purposes of the water resources and other subsectors covered generally. Future AWDO 2007 is to focus the attention versions could update WSS data and consider focus on water of national leaders and key decision resources, irrigation, conservation, or pollution control, etc. makers on the need to increase invest- • There is a need for much more comprehensive data on utilities, ments in the water sector if the MDG especially on sanitation and wastewater treatment, and proposed targets are to be achieved by 2015. future investments, e.g., What is needed to achieve the goals? What proportion of gross domestic product is this? What is being Although some countries have made allocated? How can the gap be filled? What gives the best return good progress, others need to make for every dollar invested? dramatic improvements as can be seen from Table A1.1. Nearly half of the

44 45 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 Annex 1: Country Papers Summary

Table A1.1: Progress in Achieving MDG Targets, and IDWA Values Country Urban Rural Urban Rural IDWA value water (%) water (%) sanitation (%) sanitation (%) Bangladesh 82 72 51 35 37 Cambodia 64 35 53 8 19 PRC 93 67 69 28 61 Fiji 43 51 87 55 n/a India 95 83 59 22 60 Indonesia 87 69 73 40 59 Kazakhstan 97 73 87 52 74 Pakistan 96 89 92 41 39 Philippines 87 82 80 59 80 Samoa 90 87 100 100 n/a Sri Lanka 98 74 98 89 51 Viet Nam 99 80 92 50 76

Key Target already met On track for 2015 Off-track — expected Off-track and to hit target after 2015 regressing

IDWA = index of drinking water adequacy; MDG = Millennium Development Goal Coverage figures from published WHO/UNICEF data for 2004. Although not the latest data available from individual countries, which may use different definitions and are likely to be overoptimistic in their assessments, they provide consistency in performance comparisons. For Cambodia, definitions of improved facilities and urban/rural areas were changed after 1990, so MDG target progress from 1990 to 2004 is not directly comparable.

targets for 11 of the countries in the at the tap, and improved sanitation must table will not be met by 2015! include effective waste disposal and The MDGs must not be considered wastewater treatment. as an end in themselves. Even for The reality in most of the 12 country countries that have already met one or papers is that water delivered from more of the water targets, attention must improved facilities may be substandard now be focused on the next stage—for and sewage is not treated. It is also instance, provision of services to the questionable whether it is appropriate remaining 50% of the 1990 unserved to define goals and monitor progress proportion of the population, or stricter in percentage terms as this requires MDG definitions. The sometimes large very good base data and good on-going variations in reported MDG progress data collection. Percentages are a poor illustrate the confusion and differences indicator when increases in the general in interpretation of what constitutes population and the proportion of those an improved water supply or improved served/unserved are considered, in sanitation. Simply providing access does addition to rural/urban migration which not necessarily mean all problems are simply moves people from a rural MDG solved and all benefits are received. For index to an urban one. It is very likely example, an improved water supply must that current MDG achievement figures also provide good quality water delivered overestimate the real picture because the

44 45 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007

Box A1.2: Common Issues (and some solutions) in Selected present MDG target definitions do not Countries cover all necessary quantity and quality Too many players in the Simplify and reform the sector interventions, such as treatment of sector with poor clarity of wastewater from improved sanitation. responsibilities Some of the main issues (and solu- Poor implementation of poli- Enforce firmly and make people tions) from the country papers are listed cies, laws, and regulations accountable regardless of whether in Box A1.2. private or public sector Key messages from the country Water resources poorly Implement integrated water papers are: managed resource management on basin catchment area basis over long- ● There is need for better quality and term horizons, say 20 years more comprehensive data, especially Water resources being used Improve poor irrigation practices from water utilities. inefficiently ● Policy development is not the issue; Water resource contamina- Enforce pollution control measures the need is for implementation and tion from deforestation, enforcement of existing policies and mine discharges, untreated legislation. This can only be achieved municipal and industrial ef- if there is accountability and a strong fluents, agricultural fertilizer regulation/monitoring regime in and pesticide run-off, saline irrigation drainage place. ● Many governments need to Poor service levels, pos- Increase supply hours, improve sibly even where coverage quality at the tap, etc. dramatically increase water sector reasonable investments, especially in sanitation. High water connection fees Give free connections and recover As a general guide, the aim should prevent the urban poor from costs from tariff be to spend a minimum of 1% of being connected gross domestic product on the water Low tariffs do not reflect the Recover at least operating and sector. true service cost for sustain- maintenance costs initially ability Low levels of municipal and Construct more treatment plants industrial effluent treatment and improve operational performance Limited institutional and Increase institutional and human managerial capacity in some resources capacity departments and utilities Conflicts of interest, e.g., Establish independent or highly where provincial govern- respected regulator ments set water tariffs and own utilities Poor water sector gover- Make utilities autonomous—no nance political interference, ring-fence utility revenues, etc. Consumers unaware of the Sensitize and educate, run public “true” value and scarcity of awareness campaigns water

46 47 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 Annex 2:Annotated List of Discussion Papers

Annex 2 Annotated List of Discussion Papers

I. Access to Drinking Water and II. Water Resources and Development in Sanitation in Asia: Indicators and Changing Asia (Olli Varis) Implications (Bhanoji Rao) This paper outlines the major inter- The inadequacies of existing indicators sectoral problems associated with in the sector are discussed and a new water—population growth and aging, measure of progress, the Index of the economic and social transition Drinking Water Adequacy (IDWA) is in developing countries, and issues described and values determined for 23 related to energy, food production, the countries. This composite drinking water environment, and climate variation and indicator is an average of five compo- change. The need for more food will nents: access, capacity, quality, resources, require greater efficiency of soil and and use. The individual components can water use. Poverty reduction efforts be used to indicate directions for policy, will be important in working against program, and project actions. The IDWA further degradation of water resources can be used to fine-tune Millennium and the environment by the poor. Joint Development Goal targets on water and management of rivers and aquifers is of can be expanded, depending on data crucial importance in most parts of Asia availability, to include other water and because the bulk of the region’s popula- sanitation parameters. The lack of action lives in river basins that include curacy and consistency of national data more than one state. in many countries is a stumbling block at present.

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III. Recent Advances in Water Resources IV. Water Supply and Sanitation Issues Development and Management in in Asia (Arthur McIntosh) Developing Countries in Asia (Geoff Wright) Adequacy of clean water, a basic human need, has become a critical factor. The Progress in water resources develop- sectoral problems that have become ment and management is being made most urgent, therefore, concern the using different approaches in different resource: water quality and pollution, countries across Asia. Common features water conservation, and water and in successful management include stable demand-side management. Solutions to and strong institutional frameworks; high water quality and pollution problems, level of cooperation and coordination water conservation, and managing among agencies; strategic and integrated demand are offered. Obstacles to the planning in place; effective stakeholder poor getting a connection to piped water and community participation; and are described and options for their con- reliable and comprehensive data and in- nection are evaluated. The other pressing formation, and decision-support tools in problem is open defecation in parts of use. One of the key institutional reforms the region, for which community-led in many countries is the establishment total sanitation efforts have been very of national advisory and coordination successful. The author notes that these bodies to deal with water resources. An and many other important sectoral issues increasing role of the private sector and can be addressed through improvement consumer communities should also be in governance and service levels and promoted. quality.

V. Integrated Water Resources Management: A Reassessment (Asit Biswas)

The concept of integrated water resources management (IWRM) has been around for some 60 years. It was “rediscovered” in the 1990s. The concept looks attractive, but a close analysis shows that there are many problems, both in concept and usage, especially for large projects. Indeed, there is no agree- ment on such fundamental issues as what aspects of water resource management should be integrated, how, by whom, or even if broad integration is possible. The author concludes that in the real world, the concept will be exceedingly difficult to implement.

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Acknowledgments

The Asian Water Development Outlook Banerjee, Stephen Logan, Kalinga (AWDO) 2007 was prepared by the Seneviratne (Asian Media Information Asian Development Bank (ADB) and and Communication Centre), and Jay funded by the RETA 6388: Supporting Maclean. the Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF), Overall guidance and comments financed by the Japan Special Fund, and inputs on the initial drafts of funded by the Government of Japan. the report were provided by several K. E. Seetharam (task manager) experts: ADB: Liqun Jin, Bindu Lohani, in the Energy, Transport, and Water Shyam Bajpai, Arjun Thapan, Wouter Division of the Regional Sustainable Lincklaen Arriens, Amy Leung, William and Development Department (RSDD) Greene, Hun Kim, Katsuji, Matsunami, in ADB coordinated the production Omana Nair, Anand Chiplunkar, of AWDO under the guidance of Rudolf Frauendorfer, and Daniel WooChong Um (Director), with ad- Cooney; APWF Governing Council: ministrative and research support from Tommy Koh, Ravi Narayanan and Erna Maria Angelica Rongavilla, Vergel Latay, Witoelar; APWF partner institutions: Eileen Santos, and Audrey Esteban. Thierry Facon (Food and Agriculture The valuable contributions by the Organization Regional Office for AWDO team of experts, ADB staff, Asia and the Pacific), Vadim Sokolov and external experts are sincerely (Global Water Partnership Caucasus and acknowledged. The team of experts Central Asia), Sastry Ramachandrula comprised Asit Biswas (team leader), (Global Water Partnership South Asia), Bhanoji Rao, Olli Varis, Geoff Bridges, Kate Lazarus (International Union for Arthur McIntosh, Geoff Wright, and Conservation of Nature and Natural Surampalli Rao, supported by Indrajit Resources), Tarek Merabtene and

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Kuniyoshi Takeuchi (International and Greg Turner; Ministry of Health, Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Labor and Welfare, Japan: Sombo Management), Satoru Kurosawa (Japan Yamamura; Japan Bank for International Bank for International Cooperation), Cooperation: Satoru Kurosawa; Japan Hideaki Oda, Kenichi Tsukahara, Taeko International Cooperation Agency: Mikio Yokota and Noriko Yamaguchi (Japan Ishiwatari; and Water Resources and Water Forum), IL-Pyo Hong and Matilda Environmental Research Center, Korea: Park (Korea Water Forum), Khoo Teng Jeongkon Kim. Chye, Chan Yoon Kum, Han Tong Thanks are due to those who lent Ng, Michael Toh, and Meng Kin Wong their time and expertise and provided (Public Utilities Board, Singapore), Aurora inputs during the Experts’ Consultation Villaluna (Streams of Knowledge), Le Meeting on AWDO at the Water Hub Huu Ti (United Nations Economic and in Singapore on 23 August 2007: Social Commission for Asia and the Government country representatives: Pacific), Andre Dzikus (United Nations M. Inamul Haque (Bangladesh), Human Settlements Programme), Basah Hernowo (Indonesia), Mao Hubert Gijzen and Toshihiro Sonoda Saray and Chea Visoth (Cambodia), (United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cama Tuiloma (Fiji), M. Zahir Shah Cultural Organization), and Jan Luijendijk Mohmand (Pakistan), Li Yuanyuan (UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water (People’s Republic of China), Nguyen Education). Tuan Quang (Viet Nam); water Comments and inputs on the draft champions: Ramon Alikpala, Apichart country papers and other discussion Anukalarmphai, Antonino Aquino, papers for the AWDO CD ROM were Khondaker Azharul Haq, Ricardo provided by ADB regional department Macabebe, Joe Madiath and M. Irfan experts: Tomoo Ueda, Januar Hakim, Shahzad ; APWF Governing Council: Paul van Klaveren, Sanjay Penjor, Ravi Narayanan and Erna Witoelar; Stephen Blaik, Sekhar Bonu, Shakeel APWF partner institutions: Siswoko Khan, Tatiana Gallego-Lizon, Hubert Sastrodihardjo (Global Water Partnership Jenny, Ian William Makin, Walter Southeast Asia), Shinichi Masuda (Japan Kolkma, Rana Hasan and Guntur International Cooperation Agency), Yoji Sugiyarto; ADB resident mission Matsui (Japan Water Works Association), officers: Hua Du, Md. Rafiqul Islam, Genichiro Tsukada (Ministry of Health, Arjun Goswami, Raikhan Sabirova, Labor and Welfare, Japan), Khoo Teng Paul Van Im, Toru Shibuichi, Yaozhou Chye, Ng Han Tong, Ridzuan Ismail and Zhou, Wang Jianguo, Zhiming Niu, Sivaraman Arasu (Public Utilities Board, David Dole, Sirpa Jarvenpaa, Richard Singapore), Chen Lin (Public Utility Phelps, Tiniarogo Mere Seniloli, Peter Research Center, University of Florida), Fedon, Raza Farrukh, Richard W. A. Kulwant Singh (United Nations Human Vokes, Mookiah Thiruchelvam, Ayumi Settlements Programme), Terrence Konishi, Hoang Nhat Dhong, Ho Le Thompson (World Health Organization); Phong, Eri Honda, Stephen Wermert, Greg Turner (CH2M Hill World), Asem Chakenova, Edgar Cua, H.S. Jack Sim (World Toilet Organization, Soewartono, Siti Hasanah, Thomas Singapore), Eduardo Aralal (Lee Kwan Crouch, Jia Xinning and Joven Balbosa; Yew School, Singapore), and Charles CH2M Hill World: Nancy Barnes Vorosmarty (Institute for the Study of

50 51 Asian Water Development Outlook 2007 Acknowledgments

Earth, Oceans and Space, University of Nhat Po, Raza Farrukh, Md. Rafiqul New Hampshire). Islam, Ayumi Konishi, Raikhan Sabirova, Special thanks are due to Ann Quon, Antonio de Vera, Ramon Alikpala, Omana Nair, Jason Rush, Daniel Cooney, Kalinga Seneviratne, Eric Sales, Ian Nicholas Eric Vonklock, Graham James Gill, Paul Del Rosario and Yun Samean Dwyer and Raul del Rosario who pro- who provided interior images for the vided comments on the AWDO media report; Prof. Maria Mercedes Robles strategy; Ma. Priscila del Rosario, Cynthia who moderated the media event during Hidalgo and Muriel Ordoñez who the Experts’ Consultation Meeting; provided publishing and printing advice; Narciso Prudente who contributed to Yun Samean who provided the cover the technical inputs for the country image for the report; Richard Abrina, water sector profile, key performance Stephen Blaik, Paul Van Im, Hoang indicators, and key issues.

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Asian Water Development Outlook (AWDO) 2007 AWDO is a new publication commissioned by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in view of the increasing importance of water in the future development scenarios of the Asia and Pacific region. In recent years, water has steadily gravitated toward the top of the national agendas of ADB’s developing member countries. This is a desirable development because water is an essential requirement for human and ecosystems survival. In addition, water is a critical component for most development needs. Without adequate quantity and quality of water, it will not be possible to ensure food, energy, or environmental security of nations. AWDO is aimed at Asian and Pacific leaders and policy makers and those interested in understanding the complexities and dimensions of the current and the future water problems, and how these can be addressed successfully in policy terms. Its main objective is to raise awareness of water-related issues and to stimulate an informed debate on how best to manage Asia’s water future. These are important and complex issues, and their timely management can contribute to the achievement of all the water-associated Millennium Development Goals and beyond. AWDO 2007 is ADB’s first attempt to make a forward-looking assessment of the possible water future for the most populous region of the world. It is now increasingly being recognized that water is likely to be a major critical resource issue of the world, and that the social, economic, and environmental future of Asia is likely to depend on how efficiently and equitably this resource will be managed in the coming years.

About the Asian Development Bank ADB aims to improve the welfare of the people in the Asia and Pacific region, particularly the nearly 1.9 billion who live on less than $2 a day. Despite many success stories, the region remains home to two thirds of the world’s poor. ADB is a multilateral development finance institution owned by 67 members, 48 from the region and 19 from other parts of the globe. ADB’s vision is a region free of poverty. Its mission is to help its developing member countries reduce poverty and improve their quality of life. ADB’s main instruments for helping its developing member countries are policy dialogue, loans, equity investments, guarantees, grants, and technical assistance. ADB’s annual lending volume is typically about $6 billion, with technical assistance usually totaling about $180 million a year. ADB’s headquarters is in Manila. It has 26 offices around the world and more than 2,000 employees from over 50 countries.

About the Asia-Pacific Water Forum The Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF) provides countries and organisations in the region with a common platform and voice to accelerate the process of effective integration of water resource management into the socioeconomic development process of Asia and the Pacific. The APWF is an independent, not-for-profit, non-partisan, non-political network. The APWF’s goal is to contribute to sustainable water management in order to achieve the targets of the MDGs in Asia and the Pacific by capitalizing on the region’s diversity and rich history of experience in dealing with water as a fundamental part of human existence. Specifically, the APWF seeks to champion efforts aimed at boosting investments, building capacity, and enhancing cooperation in the water sector at the regional level and beyond.

Asian Development Bank 6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City 1550 Metro Manila, Philippines www.adb.org/water

Asia-Pacific Water Forum Secretariat: Japan Water Forum (JWF) 6th FI,1-8-1 Kojima Chiyoda-ku Tokyo, Japan APAN 102-0083 Tel +81 3 5212 1645 Fax +81 3 5212 1649 [email protected] www.apwf.org/