Institute of Water Policy Staff Papers 2011

National Water Policies: A Brief Review

3 *฀ Research฀ Associate,฀ Institute฀ of฀ Water฀ Policy,฀ Lee฀ Kuan฀ Yew฀ School฀ of฀ Public฀Policy,฀National฀University฀of฀Singapore.฀The฀author฀is฀grateful฀to฀ Professor฀Bhanoji฀Rao฀for฀suggesting฀the฀topic฀for฀research.฀ 1 ฀ Since฀ the฀ United฀ Nations฀ Conference฀ in฀ 1977,฀ several฀ others฀ followed,฀ notably,฀ for฀ instance,฀ the฀ International฀ Conference฀ on฀ Water฀ and฀ the฀ Environment,฀ in฀ Dublin,฀ Ireland,฀ in฀ 1992.฀ Each฀ succeeding฀ conference฀ tried฀to฀improve฀on฀the฀resolutions฀of฀the฀earlier฀ones.฀ National฀Water฀Policies:฀A฀Brief฀Review Lovleen฀Bhullar* 1.฀ Introduction The฀ United฀ Nations฀ Water฀ Conference฀ held฀ in฀ Mar฀ del฀ Plata,฀ Argentina,฀in฀1977฀was฀the฀first฀international฀conference1 ฀to฀elaborate฀a฀ comprehensive฀road฀map฀for฀water฀legislation฀and฀national฀water฀policy.฀ The฀background฀document฀on฀‘Water฀Policy’,฀which฀was฀prepared฀by฀ the฀United฀Nations฀Secretariat,฀defined฀a฀National฀Water฀Policy฀as: “a฀general฀statement฀of฀policy฀in฀relation฀to฀the฀use,฀management฀ and฀ conservation฀ of฀ water,฀ as฀ a฀ framework฀ for฀ planning฀ and฀ implementing฀ specific฀ programmes฀ and฀ measures฀ for฀ efficient฀ operation฀of฀schemes”฀(from฀Biswas,฀1978).฀ It฀is฀easy฀to฀see฀that฀a฀national฀policy฀on฀water฀should฀aim฀for฀effective฀ conservation฀ and฀ management฀ of฀ available฀ water฀ resources฀ for฀ the฀ benefit฀ of฀ the฀ present฀ and฀ future฀ generations.฀ Instruments฀ of฀ policy฀ could฀ include฀ market฀ based฀ and฀ socially฀ acceptable฀ prices฀ of฀ water฀ for฀ different฀ uses฀ (agriculture,฀ industry,฀ services฀ and฀ domestic),฀ crosssubsidization ฀schemes,฀conservation฀charges,฀etc.฀Supply฀regulation฀and฀ international฀cooperation฀to฀ensure฀adequate฀supplies฀across฀two฀or฀more฀ countries฀could฀also฀form฀part฀of฀policy฀and฀relevant฀instruments฀may฀ be฀designed฀and฀used฀to฀achieve฀the฀objectives฀on฀the฀supply฀side.฀ 01 IWP Lovleen.indd 3 6/6/11 11:28:26 AM Lovleen฀Bhullar 4 The฀purpose฀of฀this฀paper฀is฀to฀undertake฀a฀state฀of฀the฀art฀review฀ of฀the฀development฀of฀national฀water฀policies฀in฀different฀jurisdictions.฀ Section฀2฀sets฀out฀the฀theoretical฀framework฀governing฀national฀water฀ policies.฀ Section฀ 3฀ elaborates฀ on฀ the฀ actual฀ development฀ of฀ national฀ water฀policies฀in฀different฀jurisdictions,฀on฀a฀regional฀basis,฀and฀the฀distribution ฀of฀institutional฀responsibilities฀for฀this฀purpose.฀The฀final฀two฀ sections฀have฀comments฀on฀policy฀making฀process฀and฀a฀few฀concluding฀ notes฀essentially฀aimed฀at฀cross-country฀research฀possibilities.฀ 2.฀ National฀Water฀Policies:฀General฀Framework A฀policy฀generally฀refers฀to฀a฀definite฀course฀of฀action฀adopted฀by฀an฀organization ฀or฀nation฀in฀an฀effort฀to฀promote฀the฀best฀practices฀particular฀to฀ desired฀results.฀A฀national฀policy฀generally฀describes฀the฀intention฀of฀the฀ government฀and฀provides฀the฀principles฀that฀govern฀the฀actions฀towards฀ given฀ ends.฀ It฀ defines฀ the฀ agreed฀ and฀ settled฀ courses฀ for฀ adoption฀ by฀ the฀government฀and฀its฀institutions.฀A฀typical฀national฀policy฀embraces฀ desired฀goals,฀acceptable฀procedures฀and฀actions฀to฀achieve฀the฀goals.฀It฀ provides฀the฀basis฀for฀the฀formulation฀of฀strategies,฀plans,฀programmes,฀ laws฀ and฀ framework฀ documents.฀ Generally,฀ policies฀ reflect฀ long-term฀ objectives,฀but฀they฀are฀subject฀to฀modifications฀and฀revisions฀based฀on฀ the฀lessons฀learnt฀in฀the฀short฀term,฀and฀changes฀in฀vision฀and฀goals. Although฀it฀is฀difficult฀to฀define฀a฀‘national฀water฀policy’฀(NWP)฀in฀ precise฀and฀universal฀terms,฀the฀term฀‘water฀policy’฀refers฀to฀government฀ actions฀ “affecting฀ the฀ development฀ and฀ allocation฀ of฀ water฀ resources”฀ (Ciriacy-Wantrup,฀1963).฀Thus,฀a฀national฀water฀policy฀refers฀to฀a฀set฀of฀ objectives฀and฀principles฀that฀are฀endorsed฀by฀the฀national฀government฀ in฀order฀to฀guide฀the฀development฀of฀water฀resources/sector.฀The฀term฀ water฀ resources฀ refers฀ to฀ sources฀ of฀ water฀ that฀ are฀ useful฀ or฀ potentially฀ useful฀to฀human฀beings฀and฀the฀water฀sector฀comprises฀all฀providers฀and฀ users฀of฀water฀and฀normally฀includes฀potable฀water฀supply,฀water฀supply฀ to฀ irrigation฀ and฀ to฀ industries,฀ sanitation฀ and฀ hydropower.฀ A฀ holistic฀ national฀water฀policy฀will฀cover฀a฀wide฀range฀of฀issues฀relating฀to฀water฀ resources/sector,฀and฀address฀issues฀where฀different฀sectors฀interact.฀ In฀recent฀years,฀some฀countries฀are฀formulating฀Integrated฀Water฀ Resources฀Management฀(IWRM)฀policies.฀The฀Global฀Water฀Partnership฀ (GWP)฀defines฀IWRM฀as฀‘a฀process฀which฀promotes฀the฀coordinated฀ ฀ development฀ and฀ management฀ of฀ water,฀ land฀ and฀ related฀ resources,฀ 01 IWP Lovleen.indd 4 6/6/11 11:28:26 AM National฀Water฀Policies 5 in฀ order฀ to฀ maximize฀ the฀ resultant฀ economic฀ and฀ social฀ welfare฀ in฀ an฀ ฀ equitable฀ manner฀ without฀ compromising฀ the฀ sustainability฀ of฀ vital฀ ฀ ecosystems’.฀An฀IWRM฀Policy฀may,฀therefore,฀be฀described฀as฀a฀relatively฀ comprehensive฀form฀of฀national฀water฀policy.฀Often฀such฀a฀policy฀is฀also฀ referred฀to฀as฀a฀National฀Water฀Resources฀Policy฀(NWRP). A...