Targets
Dublin Statement on Water and Sustainable Development (1992):
'Principle No. 4: Water has an economic value in all its competing uses and should be recognized as an economic good. Within this principle, it is vital to recognize first the basic right of all human beings to have access to clean water and sanitation at an affordable price. Past failure to recognize the economic value of water has led to wasteful and environmentally damaging uses of the resource. Managing water as an economic good is an important way of achieving efficient and equitable use, and of encouraging conservation and protection of water resources.'
Agenda 21, Chapter 18 (UNCED, 1992):
'Water should be regarded as a finite resource having an economic value with significant social and economic implications regarding the importance of meeting basic needs.'
Ministerial Declaration of the 2nd World Water Forum (The Hague, 2000):
'To manage water in a way that reflects its economic, social, environmental and cultural values for all its uses, and to move towards pricing water services to reflect the cost of their provision. This approach should take account of the need for equity and the basic needs of the poor and the vulnerable.'
Ministerial Declaration of the 3rd World Water Forum (Kyoto, 2003):
'Funds should be raised by adopting cost recovery approaches which suit local climatic, environmental and social conditions and the "polluter-pays" principle, with due consideration to the poor. All sources of financing, both public and private, national and international, must be mobilized and used in the most efficient and effective way.'
Water Pricing
In developed countries
Developed countries show a wide range in variation in water pricing, ranging from the lowest cost in Canada to costs five times as high in Germany. [Figure source]: Extracted from the Executive Summary of the World Water Development Report. Watertech online, 2001.
In developing countries
When the supply systems are deficient, the poor are the first to suffer. Those who do not benefit from a house connection are often forced to obtain water from informal street vendors at a much higher price.
The table below shows house connection prices versus informal vendor prices (in US$) in selected developing countries.
| City |
Cost of water for domestic use (a)(house connection: 10 m3/month) in US$/m3 |
Price charged by informal vendors (b) in US$/m3 |
Ratio (b/a) |
| Vientiane (Lao PDR) |
0.11 |
14.68 |
135.92 |
| Male* (Maldives) |
5.70 |
14.44 |
2.53 |
| Mandalay (Myanmar) |
0.81 |
11.33 |
14.00 |
| Faisalabad (Pakistan) |
0.11 |
7.38 |
68.33 |
| Bandung (Indonesia) |
0.12 |
6.05 |
50.00 |
| Delhi* (India) |
0.01 |
4.89 |
489.00 |
| Manila (Philippines) |
0.11 |
4.74 |
42.32 |
| Cebu (Philippines) |
0.33 |
4.17 |
12.75 |
| Davao* (Philippines) |
0.19 |
3.79 |
19.95 |
| Chonburi* (Thailand) |
0.25 |
2.43 |
9.57 |
| Phnom Penh (Cambodia) |
0.09 |
1.64 |
18.02 |
| Bangkok* (Thailand) |
0.16 |
1.62 |
10.00 |
| Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) |
0.04 |
1.51 |
35.12 |
| Hanoi (Viet Nam) |
0.11 |
1.44 |
13.33 |
| Mumbai* (India) |
0.03 |
1.12 |
40.00 |
| Ho Chi Minh City (Viet Nam) |
0.12 |
1.08 |
9.23 |
| Chiangmai* (Thailand) |
0.15 |
1.01 |
6.64 |
| Karachi (Pakistan) |
0.14 |
0.81 |
5.74 |
| Lae* (Papua New Guinea) |
0.29 |
0.54 |
1.85 |
| Chittagong* (India) |
0.09 |
0.50 |
5.68 |
| Dhaka (Bangladesh) |
0.08 |
0.42 |
5.12 |
| Jakarta (Indonesia) |
0.16 |
0.31 |
1.97 |
| Colombo* (Sri Lanka) |
0.02 |
0.10 |
4.35 |
| * Some water vending, but not common.
|
In some countries, water from informal vendors is over 100 times more expensive than water supplied by house connection.
[Source]: information extracted from Second Water Utilities Data Book, Asian Development Bank, 1997.
Funding water and sanitation goals
Financing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is set to be one of the most important challenges facing the international community over the next 15 years. Some funding estimates:
- Meeting the MDG on drinking water supply coverage ('to reduce by 2015 the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water'): 10 to 30 billion US dollars more than what is currently being spent;
- Meeting the equivalent sanitation goal set at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development ('to halve by 2015 the proportion of people who do not have access to basic sanitation'): 20 to 500 US dollars per person per year;
- Estimated total funding requirements for the water sector: 111 to 180 billion US dollars per year.
Unless countries intensify their efforts and investments, these targets will not be met.
Ecosystems value
The multiple roles of the aquatic ecosystems, called ecosystems services, confer an economic value to water.
| Ecosystem type |
Total value per hectare (US$/year) |
Total global flow value (US$ billion/year) |
| Tidal marsh/mangrove |
6,075 |
375 |
| Swamps/floodplains |
9,990 |
1,648 |
| Lakes/rivers
| 19,580 |
3,231 |
| Total |
|
5,254 |
Global and per hectare values of ecosystems have been calculated based on the estimation of the indirect values of the aquatic ecosystems in flood control, groundwater recharge, shoreline stabilization and shore protection, nutrition cycling and retentions, water purification, preservation of biodiversity, and recreation and tourism.
[Source]: extracted from the World Water Development Report. Costanza et al., 1997. 'The nature of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital' Nature, Vol. 387, pp. 253-60.
|
Key concepts
Value of water: measured in terms of its benefit to its users.
Price of water: the charges levied from the consumers.
Cost of supplying water: the capital and operating costs for abstracting, treating and transferring water to the point of use.
Full cost recovery: this is when users pay the full cost of obtaining, collecting, treating, and distributing water, as well as collecting, treating, and disposing of wastewater. Defining exactly what should be included in this cost is still an issue of some contention.
Religious value of water
In nearly all the world's major religions, water is attributed important symbolic and ceremonial properties.
- Water is used in Buddhist funerals, poured till overflowing into a bowl placed in front of the monks and the dead body.
- In Christianity, water is used in several rites, including baptism and washing. In this religion, water symbolizes purification and cleansing.
- To Hindus, all water is sacred, especially rivers. It is thought to have cleansing properties, and is used to attain both physical and spiritual purity. It is an essential element in nearly all rites and ceremonies.
- In Islam, water is used for ablutions: worshippers must be pure for prayers. Small pools of water are found within or just outside all mosques for this purpose.
|
|
|
UNESCO.ORG
