Water and Development : World Bank Support, 1997-2007
Almost a third of all Bank projects approved since 1997 have been water related. Water lending grew 55 percent in commitment terms during the period evaluated, and project performance has improved steadily, led by a significant performance improvem...
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| Language: | English |
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Washington, DC
2012
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2009/12/12815411/water-development-world-bank-support-1997-2007 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/10512 |
| Summary: | Almost a third of all Bank projects
approved since 1997 have been water related. Water lending
grew 55 percent in commitment terms during the period
evaluated, and project performance has improved steadily,
led by a significant performance improvement in the Africa
region. Water has been integrated into many other sectors.
The Bank has contributed to improving access to clean water,
especially in urban areas, and has developed a business plan
for investments in hydropower and dams, especially for
Africa. The Bank is also starting to take the aquatic
environment more into account during project design, and it
has balanced investments in infrastructure with investments
in improving the institutions that manage and allocate
water. The Bank's strategy for the water sector has
been broadly appropriate, but its application has
underemphasized some of the most difficult challenges-such
as ground water conservation, environmental restoration, and
coastal zone management-in favor of less challenging
activities like infrastructure development and equipment
purchase. The Bank's approach to water will face
heightened challenges in the coming decades due to climate
change, the migration to coastal zones, and the declining
quality of the water resources available to most major
cities and industry. This will require some shifts in
emphasis. The Bank and its partners need to put more
emphasis on vital and challenging areas such as groundwater
conservation, pollution reduction, and effective demand
management. New ways need to be found to help the most
water-stressed countries make water sustainability a
corner-stone of their development. The development community
needs to help countries shift more attention to sanitation.
More strategic development planning and more effective
disaster risk reduction is needed for low-lying coastal
areas. Approaches to financing and cost recovery need to be
strengthened. Finally, data collection and use need to be
enhanced in a number of areas. |
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