Features The Fluid Mosaic: Water Governance in the Context of Variability, Uncertainty and Change. WATER / Appendix: Sources and Resources WATER / Part 4. Recommendations Armed with the results presented in Part 3, specific recommendations are advanced for action that can be taken now in policy and research on local water management. Identifying Islamic Approaches to Water Management 2001-05-04 Water management projects in the Middle East and North Africa are more likely to be sustainable if they take Islamic teachings into account, say the co-editors of Water Management in Islam, published ... In Search of the Mythical Policymaker 2001-07-26 Ajaya Dixit, of the Nepal Water Conservation Foundation, is part of a local water management project involving India and Nepal, supported by IDRC. This three-year project, now in its second phase, ...

Part Four of Water: Local-level Management presents five specific proposals for action in the governance of and research on local water management. The following resources are provided to complement the recommendations found in this chapter.

Recommendation # 1:

Up, down, and sideways. Local water management should always be informed by a three-part economic analysis

Water Policy in Manila
(June 1996) Residents of the middle-class Better Living Subdivision on the southern flank of Metro Manila consider themselves lucky to have water service from the city's water utility. No matter that the water flows from their faucets for just a few hours per day, and only every other day. Up until the mid-1980s, residents had to make do with water from pump wells and delivery services. The water still had to be boiled for drinking. Residents often drove to work with car trunks full of water containers to be filled.

Rethinking Municipal Water Tariffs
(January 1999) Municipal water tariffs are hurting both the poor and the environment in many developing countries. The most widely used water tariff — called the increasing block tariff system — is seriously flawed, argued Dale Whittington, Professor of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the University of North Carolina, during a workshop hosted by the Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia (EEPSEA).

Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia
This IDRC-supported program publishes numerous papers on water pricing issues.

Recommendation # 2:

Policy and research should shift focus from enlarging supplies of water to managing demand

Water Management in Africa and the Middle East: Challenges and Opportunities
(edited by Eglal Rached, Eva Rathgeber, and David B. Brooks; IDRC 1996)
A water crisis is looming in Africa and the Middle East, where annual renewable freshwater available per person has declined by half since 1950, and continues to decline. In this book, scientists take stock of the crisis, identify key issues and trends, and map out strategies for further research and action.

Management of Water Demand in Africa and the Middle East: Current Practices and Future Needs
(edited by David B. Brooks, Eglal Rached, and Maurice Saade; IDRC 1997)
Throughout Africa and the Middle East, supplies of fresh water for growing and processing food, for household and urban uses, and for industrial cooling and processing have not kept pace with population growth and economic growth. Addtional sources of supply are becoming scarce and more expensive to develop. Water demand management (WDM) offers perhaps the only significant hope for major improvements in the standard of living and quality of life for people living in Africa and the Middle East. This publication documents WDM research activities in North Africa and the Middle East, Western and Central Africa, Eastern Africa, and Southern Africa. It identifies social issues stemming from the application of specific WDM options and, generally, discusses the nature and scope of WDM as a field of study.

Regional Water Demand Initiative -- WaDImena
This Web site describes the goals, activities, projects, and publications of the the IDRC-funded Regional Water Demand Initiative (WaDImena)

Recommendation # 3:

Policy-making should always start by accepting social custom and cultural norms as given, but not sacrosanct

Water Management in Islam
(edited by Naser I. Faruqui, Asit K. Biswas, and Murad J. Bino; IDRC/UNU Press 2001)
In the Middle East and North Africa, water is rapidly becoming the key development issue. In response, policymakers have proposed or tried to implement policies such as higher water tariffs or privatization, but have done so without considering local culture and values. Yet culture, including religion, clearly influences how people perceive and manage a resource such as water, and must be considered during policy development. This book presents Islamic perspectives on a number of proposed water-management policies, including water demand management, wastewater reuse, and fair pricing. It dispels common misconceptions about the Islamic view on water-management practices, such as selling water and wastewater reuse, and serves as a concrete example of the benefit of examining development in the context of values and culture.

Identifying Islamic Approaches to Water Management
(April 2001) Water management projects in the Middle East and North Africa are more likely to be sustainable if they take Islamic teachings into account, say the co-editors of Water Management in Islam, published by IDRC and the United Nations University Press. The book dispels "persistent notions" among some Muslims that wastewater reuse and the sale of water is against Islam, and makes some surprising conclusions, says Naser Faruqui of IDRC.

In Conversation: Asit K. Biswas and Murad J. Bino
(June 2001) In the Middle East and North Africa, water is rapidly becoming the key development issue. In response, policymakers have proposed or tried to implement policies such as higher water tariffs or privatization, but have done so without considering local culture and values. Yet culture, including religion, clearly influences how people perceive and manage a resource such as water, and must be considered during policy development. Exploring the intersection of Islamic law and the modern water crisis is the goal of Water Management in Islam, published by IDRC and United Nations University Press.

Recommendation # 4:

Beware of generalizations, but share knowledge promptly

AQUAtox© 2000: The International School Network on Water Toxicity
IDRC created this network to link young students and teachers around the world with scientific experts working in water quality laboratories in the North and South. Under the AQUAtox© 2000 project, students from more than 90 schools in Canada, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe have learned how to use simple and inexpensive water quality tests to detect chemical and microbial pollution in water samples taken from their local environment.

Testing the Waters
Explore the development of simple tests for water quality and their impact on the lives of people in remote communities in Canada and the developing world.

In Search of the Mythical Policymaker
(July 2001) Ajaya Dixit, of the Nepal Water Conservation Foundation, is part of a local water management project involving India and Nepal, supported by IDRC. This three-year project, now in its second phase, began in 2000. The project examines small-scale, local solutions to water scarcity, taking a community-based approach to natural resources management. In this interview, Mr Dixit speaks about how his team views the dynamics involved in influencing water policy in South Asia.

Recommendation # 5:

To achieve good government, and good science, conduct evaluation that is transparent, participatory, and continuous

IDRC Evaluation Unit
One of IDRC's challenges is to ensure that development research achieves results. The Centre’s commitment to results-oriented research has led to the decentralization of program responsibilities and a shift to programs that cut across sectors and academic disciplines. Such innovations increase the need to monitor performance and measure program achievements — activities coordinated by the IDRC Evaluation Unit.