China has experienced a wide-scale and rapid transformation from an agricultural based economy to the manufacturing workshop of the world. The associated relocation of the population from relatively low density rural areas to very high density urban areas is having a significant impact on the...

What economic and political factors have made cost recovery for rural water systems so difficult in the Nsuuka district of Anambra State? This paper found that households in the region do not want to pay for water in advance or commit themselves to a fixed monthly payment for water. They want...

Private sector involvement and user participation in water resource management are not new, say the authors. They give examples that demonstrate how willing users and the private sector are able to improve water use and play a larger role in water resources management. User participation and...

To foster economic efficiency, says the author, rights to water resources must be both secure and flexible. Designing institutions to deal with the physical peculiarities of water in a way that establishes sensible incentives and efficient resource use is complicated. Basically, establishing...

This cross-country evaluation of institutional responses to problems in the water sector shows that changes in the nature of water problems have changed the development paradigm underlying water institutions. There is increasing recognition of how decentralized allocation mechanisms can...

As water scarcity and population pressures increase, more countries are adopting water pricing mechanisms, as their primary means of regulating the consumption of irrigation water. The way to allocate water efficiently is to"get the prices right", but how to accomplish this is open to debate....

In the early 2000s, the Government of Sri Lanka considered engaging private sector operators to manage water and sewerage services in two separate service areas: one in the town of Negombo (north of Colombo), and one stretching along the coastal strip (south from Colombo) from the towns of...

In many countries water supply is a service that is seriously underpriced, especially for residential consumers. This has led to a call for setting cost recovery policies to ensure that the tariffs charged for water supply cover the full cost of providing for the service. Yet, the question...

This paper presents a case study of water vending in Onitsha, Nigeria, one of the most important market towns in West Africa. It illustrates that a rapid reconnaissance survey of water vending activities and the willingness of households to pay for improved water services can yield valuable...

Many countries are reforming their economies and setting macroeconomic policies that have direct and indirect impact on the performance of the irrigation sector. One reason for the movement toward reform in the water sector across countries is that water resources are increasingly becoming a...