NEWS 11-15 May: 8th World Congress of Metropolis in Berlin, Germany
The 8th Metropolis World Congress, which is taking place in Berlin, Germany, on 11-15 May 2005, is a platform for an exchange of experiences regarding the sustainable development of metropolitan areas, to explore solutions to some of the fundamental problems of today's large cities and present innovative ideas from both the science and business community.
The congress is organized in 6 commissions, each encouraging an exchange of experiences around a specific theme. WWAP deputy coordinator, Carlos Fernández-Jáuregui, is moderator for commission 6, 'Water management in large metropolises'. Experts will discuss such issues as new sanitarian concepts and solutions for sewage management, sustainable and environmentally friendly approaches to water supply and wastewater management or public/private partnerships.
Access the official website for the congress
Read more about Commission 6
15 June: Deadline for nominations for the UNESCO 2005 Great Man-Made River International Water Prize for Water Resources in Arid and Semi-Arid Areas
The Great Man-Made River International Water Prize, generously financed by the Government of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, is intended to reward the achievements of an individual, a group of individuals or a research institute having made fundamental and substantial contributions to the assessment, development, management and/or use of water resources in arid and semi-arid areas. The Prize is awarded biennially by the Director-General of UNESCO at a public ceremony, to be held next in autumn 2005, and comprises a certificate, a medal and a sum equivalent to USD 20,000.
Read more [PDF format - 0,1 MB]
EVENTSBook launch of 'Forests, Water and People in the Humid Tropics' and film presentation of 'Mountains in the Mist: Discovering Cloud Forests'
19 May 2005, Delft, Netherlands - Organizers: The Netherlands National Committee IHP-HWRP; the Netherlands National Commission for UNESCO; the Free University of Amsterdam; IUCN Netherlands Committee
The book launch of 'Forests, Water and People in the Humid Tropics', edited by Dr. Mike Bonell (UNESCO) and Dr. Sampurno Bruijnzeel (Free University of Amsterdam), as well as the premiere of the film 'Mountains in the Mist: Discovering Cloud Forests', produced by Dr. Sampurno Bruijnzeel, will be held on Thursday 19 May 2005 from 2 p.m. at the Small Auditorium of the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Delft. Festival de l'Oh! - 5th edition
21-22 May 2005, Val de Marne, France - Organizer: the Val de Marne General Council (France) Geomorphology and Ecology of Stream Systems Workshop Series
7-10 June 2005, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. - Organizer: Ohio State University (U.S.) Short Course on Multiphase Flow, Transport and Bioremediation in the Subsurface
12-16 September 2005, Stuttgart, Germany - Organizer: Institute of Hydraulic Engineering, Stuttgart University (Germany) AGUA 2005: 'From Local Action to Global Targets'
31 October - 4 November 2005, Cali, Colombia - Organizer: Cinara Institute, Universidad del Valle (Colombia) BALWOIS: Water Observation and Information System for Balkan Countries
23-26 May 2006, Ohrid, Fyr Macedonia - Organizers: Institut de recherche pour le développement (France), Hydrometeorological Service and Hydrobiological Institute of Ohrid (Republic of Macedonia)
DID YOU KNOW...? FACTS ABOUT WATER PRICE- It is widely recognized that water has traditionally been regarded as a free resource of unlimited supply with zero cost at supply point and at best, water users have been charged only a proportion of the costs of extraction, transfer, treatment and disposal. All associated externality costs of water have been ignored and users are offered very little incentive to use water efficiently and not waste it.
- According to the World Water Development Report 'Water for People, Water for Life', water prices are expected to serve various and often conflicting purposes, including: cost recovery, economic efficiency and social equity.
- Developed countries show a wide range of variation in water pricing: in Germany 1m³ costs $1.91 (USD), in Denmark it cost $1.64, in Belgium $1.54, in the Netherlands $1.25, in France $1.23, in the UK $1.18, in Italy $0.76, in Finland $0.69, in Ireland $0.63, in Sweden $0.58, in Spain $0.57, in the United States $0.51, in Australia $0.50 and in Canada $0.40.
- When the supply systems are deficient, the poor are the first to suffer. Water from informal vendors is more than 100 times more expensive than water supplied by house connection. In Vientiane (Lao PDR) the cost of water through a house connection is $0.11 m³ (USD) and the price charged by an informal vendor is $14.68 /m³, which means that there is a difference of 135.92%. In Delhi (India) the price of the water through a house connection is $0.01 /m³ and the price charged by an informal vendor can be as much as $4.89 - 489% more.
- Valuing water has an important role to play in regulating the water markets of the world. In Chile, water rights can be freely traded within the irrigation subsector, like real estate property rights. About 30% of the households in Amman (Jordan), have decided to obtain additional water from the private market because accessible piped quantities are not sufficient. In France, the bill paid by domestic and industrial users connected to the water system covers the cost of distribution and collection services: 'water pays for water'. This cost varies according to the local economic and technical configuration.
Information from the World Water Development Report 'Water for People, Water for Life.
PUBLICATIONS RELATED TO WATER PRICEWorld Water Development Report: Recognizing and Valuing the Many Faces of Water [PDF format - 832 KB] (Chapter 13) By the World Water Assessment Programme. © UNESCO/WWAP 2003 This chapter on water valuation has been prepared in the context of both developed and developing countries with examples drawn from as many different countries as possible to provide a global flavour to the effort. The concerns of individual countries have been recognized, with hopes that the allocation, demand management, water rights and pricing/subsidies being planned or implemented take due consideration of and help to achieve internationally agreed targets.
The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), with the collaboration of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the World Bank drafted this chapter. Coordinated by the World Water Assessment Programme, the World Water Development Report (WWDR) is a periodic, comprehensive review giving an authoritative picture of the state of the world's freshwater.
WWDR II is currently in production and will be published in March 2006. It is the result of the collaboration of 24 UN agencies and convention secretariats.
Access the full document [PDF format - 832 KB] (Chapter 13) Water Pricing Experiences: An International Perspective [PDF format - 12.46 MB] Edited by Ariel Dinar and Ashok Subramanian. © The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank This report presents water pricing experiences across 22 countries in various sectors and over time. Country case studies provide a perspective of recent and future water pricing and water management issues. These studies show that countries have different reasons for charging for water, including cost recovery, redistribution of income, improvement of water allocation, and water conservation. Most countries are now gradually turning over management responsibilities of water supplies to private enterprises and nongovernmental organizations.
The report identifies the development of formal transferable water rights and water markets as crucial issues to consider for managing water resources in the future. The report also recognizes the need to provide incentives to water suppliers and consumers, and the use of measures to protect the environment, such as pollution taxes. Other price-related issues are mentioned, such as pricing for irrigation water of different quality, adjusting charges to reflect regional differences in water supply costs, and charging the end-user for safer drinking water by including treatment costs in the water tarif.
Access the full document [PDF format - 12.46 MB]
LINKS RELATED TO WATER PRICEFrance: Water pricing This webpage from the French Government gives some explanations to better understand water bills: who does what, the price of water, issues and actions currently under implementation. Water Economics The World Bank has been supporting water-pricing reforms in multiple sectors, economic analysis of costs and benefits of water projects, and the associated knowledge-base, modelling tools and institutional strengthening.
This website provides links to publications related to economic and sector work, economics of water resources management, water markets and water pricing. The Water Price This website from the Water Services Group of Catalonia presents the factors that influence the price of water in this region of Spain. ARCHIVESAccess the newsletter archives SUBSCRIBE & UNSUBSCRIBE
Total number of subscribers on 13 May 2005: 7106 For contributions or comments, contact the editor at waterportal@unesco.org
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