Alan Hall, Global Water Partnership OECD Forum, Istanbul, 27 – 29 June 2007 Water resources: measuring for management

Human Development Report 2006 described water as the SILENT EMERGENCY experienced by the poor tolerated by the rich Society must measure water resources Society must measure water resources otherwise we cannot make wise allocation decisions on the use of scarce resources

Two aspects of the water crisis Water Services The crisis here is about the provision of basic needs for healthy and productive life. Water Resources Chronic water stress poses a huge threat to human development - social and economic.

Water and Society Need to better understand the relationship between the sustainable utilization of natural resources (water) and the well-being of societies. Socio-economic development reduces risk from disasters – floods and droughts – but if not well- managed can degrade resources Need more hard facts and less slogans and advocacy

2 billion extra people needing water by 2050

17% more water will be needed for agriculture !

WEALTH AND LIFESTYLES

Climate Vulnerability... Source: Departure from standard deviation; Climate Prediction Center 1991 Index of Rainfall in Sahel

... and Climate Change

Availability of water is declining Africa World Asia Middle East ‘000 m 3 per capita

Water stress is intensifying Globally seems enough water, but locally a serious problem.

Increased risk of CONFLICT Will they be over water? Wars have been over oil

Measuring Water Resources So far a lot of evidence is anecdotal Need to have better, more robust evidence of the water resources status and trends in different countries Evidence needed on both social, economic and technical dimensions

Four Dimensions for Measuring Water Service: access to water for human use Quality: level of contaminants Quantity: water balance and availability Governance: Integrated Water Resources Management provides a useful approach and WSSD set target for IWRM plans by IWRM comprises three elements: –Enabling environment –Institutional roles –Management instruments

Enabling Environment Do national development plans and poverty reduction strategies include water resources. Are policies for sector water users consistent with WRM policy. Are stakeholders involved in policy and planning. Are adequate laws and regulations in place and enforced. Are government budgets allocated for WRM and financing public goods and reforms.

Institutional Roles Are institutional structures in place at different levels of authority and are their mandates clear Are cross sectoral coordination mechanisms in place and functional Have conflict resolution mechanisms been established (including for TB rivers) Do adequate information exchange systems exist Is there donor/government harmonisation on policies with cohesion between planning and investment

Management instruments What physical water resources are available and used, including state of key aquifers Are demand management measures in place to constrain use within the bounds of sustainability. What is being done to remove perverse subsidies that encourage misuse and waste Are there incentives for water saving and judicious water use including “polluter pays” Are knowledge systems and capacity building systems in place and funded.

Results of GWP Survey Informal stakeholder survey of 95 countries carried out in January 2006 Questionnaire based on the issues in the last three slides. 21% had plans in place 53% were in the process of preparing plans 26% had taken only initial or no steps

On-going Monitoring Work UN-Water Task Force on IWRM: –Mapping monitoring initiatives –Reviewing definitions, criteria and classifying initiatives –Official UN Survey for CSD16 on IWRM target UN Statistics Division –System to integrate environmental and economic accounting (SEEAW) World Water Assessment Programme –Three-yearly reports – 2009 at the 5 th World Water Forum in Istanbul

Producing better evidence Coordinate across many on-going monitoring initiatives by different entities Mainstream water into broader measures of society and human progress Build water matters into national statistics Take account of intangibles and qualitative measures Minimise the burden and cost of monitoring on poor countries.

centrality of water ‘Among the many things I learned as a President, was the centrality of water in the social, political and economic affairs of the country, the continent and the world’ Nelson Mandela, WSSD, 2002 THANK YOU