Water politics, water policies and development cooperation : local power plays and global governance

This statement in the most recent Human Development Report articulates a conv- tion that has increasingly gained ground in the water community over recent years: the key challenge in the water sector is not a lack of water, knowledge, nancial - sourcesortechnology.Ingeneral,itisthepoliticalspherethatdetermineswhetheror not water problems are solved, whether or not people have access to drinking water, irrigation water and sanitation, whether our natural resource base is developed s- tainable or overexploited, and whether new challenges for the water sector – such as adaptation to climate change – will be tackled or not. Politics (the process of decision-making of groups of people, involving the authoritative allocation of e.g. resources), the actors, their interests and interactions determine whether progress is made or hindered. The outcome of water politics is then re ected in water po- cies, the substantive outcome of the political interplay in terms of regulations, action programs or spending priorities of the various public or private entities concerned. Front Matter....Pages I-XXX Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Water Policy – Water Politics....Pages 1-29 Front Matter....Pages 32-32 Towards Implementation of the World Commission on Dams Recommendations....Pages 33-53 How Global Norms for Large Dams Reach Decision-Makers....Pages 55-80 Global Environmental Governance and Its Influence on National Water Policies....Pages 81-105 Global Water Governance: Managing complexity on a Global Scale....Pages 107-120 Front Matter....Pages 121-121 Strategic Virtual Water Trade – A critical Analysis of the Debate....Pages 123-145 The Debate on “Water as a Human Right” and its Implications for Development Assistance....Pages 146-176 Rethinking IWRM Under Cultural Considerations....Pages 176-201 Front Matter....Pages 202-202 Private Sector Participation in Water Supply and Sanitation....Pages 205-226 Sector Reforms for Sustainable Financing of Water and Wastewater Services....Pages 227-235 The Political Economy of Water and Sanitation Services in Colombia....Pages 237-255 Front Matter....Pages 258-258 Political Power Play in Bulgaria’s Irrigation Sector Reform....Pages 259-276 Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Institutional Change in Kyrgyz Water Governance....Pages 277-297 Front Matter....Pages 300-300 The World Bank’s Water Sector Policy Reforms....Pages 301-332 Challenges for German Development Cooperation in the Water Sector....Pages 333-352 Addressing the Need for Water Service Delivery in Fragile States....Pages 353-377 EU Water Initiative – A (non-) Innovative Form of Development Cooperation....Pages 379-400 Back Matter....Pages 401-416 This statement in the most recent Human Development Report articulates a convention that has increasingly gained ground in the water community over recent years: the key challenge in the water sector is not a lack of water, knowledge, financial resources or technology. In general, it is the political sphere that determines whether or not water problems are solved, whether or not people have access to drinking water, irrigation water and sanitation, whether our natural resource base is developed sustainable or over-exploited, and whether new challenges for the water sector – such as adaptation to climate change – will be tackled or not. Politics (the process of decision-making of groups of people, involving the authoritative allocation of e.g. resources), the actors, their interests and interactions determine whether progress is made or hindered. The outcome of water politics is then reelected in water policies, the substantive outcome of the political interplay in terms of regulations, action programs or spending priorities of the various public or private entities concerned Whether people have access to drinking water, irrigation water and sanitation or not, whether water resources are used sustainably or overexploited, and whether emerging challenges for the water sector - such as adaptation to climate change a" are tackled or not, in the end relies on politics. The importance of the political sphere for understanding and solving water sector problems is the basic rationale of this book, which is the outcome of the Fifth Dialogues on Water, organised at the German Development Institute, Bonn. It is not the first time that the Dialogues on Water have touched The importance of the political sphere for understanding and solving water sector problems is the basic rationale of this book, which is the outcome of the Fifth Dialogues on Water, organised at the German Development Institute, Bonn. These dialogues, unlike earlier ones, focused on the political processes of policy formulation and the strategic behaviour of the actors involved. Specific attention is devoted to implications for development cooperation. Waltina Scheumann, Susanne Neubert, Martin Kipping (eds.). Includes Bibliographical References And Index.