Policy Analysis of National Water Plans in Selected Arab Countries

1
Policy Analysis of National Water Plans in
Selected Arab Countries

• Khaled Abu-Zeid, Ph.D, PE, PMP
• Regional Water Resources Program Manager
• CEDARE

2
Introduction

• National Water Plans and/or IWRM Plans for the
  MDGs achievement
• health, hunger eradication, education, women's
  empowerment, environmental sustainability and
  global partnership for development.
• water-use efficiency,
• equity of access
• balance of competing uses
• Impacts on other sectors users
• application of appropriate environmentally sound
  technology
• participatory planning
• including all sectors of the economy and segments
  of society.

3
Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM)

• Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is
  the systematic cross-sectoral process for the
  sustainable development of water resources to
  maximize the social, economic and environmental
  benefits from its efficient use.

4
Current Status of Developing Integrated Water
Resources Management (IWRM) Plans in Arab Region
Towards achieving the Target of the World
Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) Plan of
Implementation, Johannesburg, September 2002,
par. 26 Develop Integrated Water Resources
Management (IWRM) and Water Efficiency Plans by
2005 with support to developing countries
through actions at all levels
5
AWC/UNDP/CEDARE IWRM Assessment Questionnaire at
the National Level

• Name of Water policy/strategy/plan
• Date of preparation
• Document can be considered towards development of
  an IWRM plan? Yes/No?
• Water challenges and concerns
• Water Governance
• Progress of IWRM Plan development
• Likelihood to meet the WSSD target of 2005

6
Integrated Water Resources Management

• Plan
• A plan translates the chosen strategy into
  concrete objectives, activities and related means
  
• Policy
• Policy is a set of steps that rationalizes the
  course of actions taken by a government or a
  group
• Strategy
• In water, as in the military, strategy bridges
  the gap between policy and tactics

7
IWRM Plans in the Arab Countries (continued)

• Algeria
• National Plan for Water, 2005
• Egypt
• Main Features of the Water Policy towards Year
  2017 Ministry of Water Resources Irrigation,
  2000.
• National Water Resources Plan Ministry of Water
  Resources Irrigation, 2004.
• Jordan
• Jordans Water Strategy Water Policies in
  Jordan Ministry of Water Irrigation.
• The National Water Master Plan Ministry of Water
  Irrigation, 2003.

8
IWRM Plans in the Arab Countries (continued)

• Morocco
• Water Law, 1995
• River Basin Water Plans, 1997
• Palestine
• National Water Plan (NWP) Palestinian National
  Water Council, 2000
• Integrated Water Resources Management in
  Palestine, 2003
• Investment Plan 2025, 2004
• Water Budget, 2004

9
IWRM Plans in the Arab Countries (continued)

• Syria
• Water Sector Analysis in Syria Ministry of
  Irrigation, 2000.
• Strategy of the Ministry of Irrigation, 2001
• Water Resources in Syria, 2000
• Tunisia
• The Long Term Strategy for the Water Sector in
  Tunisia Ministry of Agriculture, 2003.
• Yemen
• National Water Strategy Investment Program,
  Ministry of Water and Environment, 2004.
• Law 23 for Year 2002 Regarding Water, Ministry of
  Legal Affairs, 2002.

10
Progress of IWRM Plans Development

• Morocco
• Palestine

• Algeria
• Egypt
• Jordan

• Syria
• Tunisia
• Yemen

IWRM Advanced IWRM In Progress
11
ENTRY POINTS Ranking by Priority (Based on AWC
Survey)
Relative Priority according to Importance
Institutional Strengthening of AWC
IWRM Capacity Building for Governments/Societies
Water MDGs Regional Program
UNDP COs Capacity Building
IWRM Plans Development
State of Water Report
IWRM Implementation
Arab Water Facility
12
Water Sector MDGs M E Program in North Africa
13
Water Supply and Sanitation Status in North
Africa Countries
Algeria
water supply coverage
sanitation coverage
14
Water Supply and Sanitation Status in North
Africa Countries
Egypt
water supply coverage
sanitation coverage
15
Water Supply and Sanitation Status in North
Africa Countries
Morocco
Water Supply Coverage
Sanitation Coverage
16
Algeria Policy Goals

• Systematic mobilization of all exploitable water
  resources
• Protection and preservation of existing
  resources and
• Rehabilitation and completion of treatment
  systems.

17
Policy Instruments

• Reducing losses in water distribution networks
• Modernizing irrigation and planting methods
• Using less water-consumptive crop varieties
• Using non-conventional water resources through
• Valuing the use of seawater desalination
• Desalting brackish water and
• Reusing treated wastewater.
• Development of planning and management tools
• Integrated river basin management
• Economic management of the water sector
• Preservation of environmental quality of
  resources
• New Water Law 2005

18
Analysis and Challenges

• Appling the revised NWP plan and implementing the
  different instruments will on the ground
  conditions for implementation of the principles
  of (IWRM).
• The improvement of public service drinking water
  and sanitation calls for institutional reforms
  for effective control of water management.

• All these plans and reforms need financial
  support and that was planned by the state to give
  financial support of 1.3 billion per year.

• The challenge rationalization of water
  distribution.

19
Egypt

• Main features of Water Resources Management
• Policy 2000 2017
• Promoting decentralization within the MWRI
• Conducting institutional reform activities at all
  levels
• Enhancing water supply and management
• Developing new water resources through
• Improving the efficiency of the present use of
  water resources
• Emphasizing the water quality management in
  industrial, domestic and agricultural sectors
• Implementing environmental management systems for
  the Northern Lakes
• Achieving better integration between agricultural
  policies and irrigation policies
• Promoting the ethics for water use and
• Continual cooperation with Nile riparian
  countries.

20
Policy Instruments

• Public awareness
• Capacity building for all levels of stakeholders
  
• Continuous monitoring and evaluation
• Water quality monitoring programs
• Drainage water quality monitoring programs
• Groundwater quality monitoring programs and
• Improvement of water resources management systems
  through
• Users participation in water management
• Institutional strengthening of MWRI
• Co-ordination between MWRI and other ministries
• Continual revision of laws and decrees pertaining
  to the water sector and adoption of effective
  enforcement mechanisms
• Transboundary cooperation through implementation
  of the Nile Basin Initiative programs and
• Use of modern technologies in water resources
  management.

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22
Egypt The 2005 IWRM Target

• Egypt met the 2005 IWRM Target by preparing a
  very comprehensive National Water Resources Plan
  (NWRP) through a multi-stakeholder and
  participatory approach under the lead of the
  Ministry of Water Resources Irrigation.

NWRP (MWRI, 2004)
23
Policy Objectives of the NWRP

• To support the socio-economic development of
  Egypt on the basis of sustainable management of
  water resources while protecting the natural
  environment
• Supply drinking water and provision of sanitation
  services according to standards and targets on a
  cost recovery basis while ensuring the right to
  basic requirements to all people
• Supply of water for industrial purposes and
  provision of sewage treatment facilities on a
  cost recovery basis
• Supply of water for irrigation based on a
  participatory approach and cost recovery of O M
• Protection of the water system from pollution,
  based on a polluter-pays principle and the
  restoration of water systems, particularly in the
  ecologically important areas

24
NWRP Strategic Measures

• Development of new water resources
• Making better use of the available water
  resources
• Protection of public health and environment
• General Institution, Legal, Financial Measures

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26
Share in Investment Recurrent Costs

• Investment Costs 145 BLE
• Ministry of Housing 62
• Ministry of Water Resources Irrigation 32
• Private Sector 5
• Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Industry,
  Ministry of Health, Ministry of Local
  Development, Egyptian Environmental Affairs
  Agency 1

• Recurrent Costs 41 BLE
• Municipalities 70
• Ministry of Water Resources Irrigation 12
• Private Sector 15
• Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Housing,
  Ministry of Health, the Egyptian Environmental
  Affairs Agency 3

27
Benefits of Implementing the NWRP

• Business as Usual
• Gross Ag Production Value 35.76 BLE
• Crop Intensity 1.5
• Net Value Production per feddan2,075 LE/fed
• Export / Import Value 0.12
• Navigation Bottlenecks 144
• Employment in Agriculture 6.24 m. persons/year
• Outflow to sinks 17.6 BCM
• Overall Nile Water Use Efficiency 67
• Agriculture supply/demand ratio 0.8
• Ag. Water availability 3,285 m3/fed/year
• UFW Losses 34
• Potable supply/demand ratio 0.76
• E-coli Standard violation 121
• Condition in Bardawil (-)
• Condition in Coastal lakes (-)

• NWRP
• Gross Ag Production Value 38.50 BLE
• Crop Intensity 1.7
• Net Value Production per feddan2,153 LE/fed
• Export / Import Value 0.20
• Navigation Bottlenecks 0
• Employment in Agriculture 7.3 m. persons/year
• Outflow to sinks 12.5 BCM
• Overall Nile Water Use Efficiency 77
• Agriculture supply/demand ratio 0.92
• Ag. Water availability 3,866 m3/fed/year
• UFW Losses 25
• Potable supply/demand ratio 1.0
• E-coli Standard violation 110
• Condition in Bardawil ()
• Condition in Coastal lakes (0)

28
Integrated Planning Management Saves Water for
the Future
(MWRI, 2004)
29
Coverage Needed to meet MDGs Targets for water
supply by 2015
30
Coverage Needed to meet MDGs Targets for
Sanitation by 2015
31
Main features of National Water Resources Plan
(NWRP)

• Developing new water resources
• Improving the efficiency of the present use
• Protecting environment and health
• Increase employment
• Improve equity in water distribution and farmers
  income
• Attain some minimum level of food
  self-sufficiency
• Meeting water needs in all sectors in the future
  
• Protecting public health and the environment
• Recovering of operational and maintenance costs
  to enable better services and
• Strengthening the institutional framework.

32
Analysis and Challenges

• Implementing the NWRP plan Facing the
  Challenge, is expected to improve the
  performance of the water resources system.
• More water will be available for the various uses
  and the water quality will improve significantly.
• The agricultural area will increase by about 35
  of the existing Area as a result of horizontal
  expansion such as mega projects in Toshka and
  the Sinai.
• The implementation of the plan will support the
  socio-economic development of the country
  and access of the population to safe sanitation
  facilities will double from the present 30 to
  60
• the water resources system has reached its limits
  of what it can support.
• Financial resources for National Water Pans
  implementation
• Law Enforcement

33
Jordan

• Main features of Water Strategy and policies
• Enhancing water supply and management
• Emphasizing the water quality management in
  industrial, domestic and agricultural sectors
• Securing a reliable supply of water, adequate in
  quantity and quality
• Improving the efficiency of the present use of
  water resources
• Achieving better cooperation with the Ministry of
  Agriculture MoA and environmental authorities
• Conducting institutional restructuring and
  decentralization
• Developing new water resources
• Involving of private sector
• Promoting the ethics for water use and
• Cooperating with riparian countries.

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35
Policy Instruments

• Public awareness
• Capacity building for all levels of stakeholders
  
• Water quality monitoring programs
• Transboundary cooperation through establishment
  of Joint Water committees with neighboring
  countries and
• Formulating long-range plan for the development
  of the resources
• Adopting a dual approach of demand and supply
  management
• Accompanying A parallel investment plan to the
  development plan.
• Use of modern technologies in water resources
  management.
• Initiating a comprehensive water related data
  bank
• Marginal water quality monitoring programs
• Groundwater quality monitoring programs
• Users participation in water management
• Institutional strengthening of MWI
• Co-ordination between MWI and other ministries
• Continual revision of laws

36
Policy Analysis

• Moving Jordans economy from being public sector
  to private sector
• Wastewater shall not be treated as waste
• Groundwater recharge
• Applying decentralization
• appropriate participation of local communities.
• Applying Water demand management

37
Morocco

• Main features of Water Strategy and policies
• Water is a public good, except for traditional
  water rights
• Water to be managed at the water basin level
• An investment programs until the year 2020
• Application of the principle of user-pays and
  polluter pays
• National and regional solidarity, with the
  creation of basin agencies
• The development of a new legal and institutional
  framework to promote decentralized management and
  increase stakeholder participation
• Introducing economic incentives in water
  allocation
• through rational tariff and cost recovery
• Capacity building measures to meet
• institutional challenges for the management of
  water
• resources and
• Monitoring and control of water quality to reduce
  
• environmental degradation

38
Policy Instruments

• Improving hydraulic performance of irrigation
  systems through
• Rehabilitation of old systems
• Improving on-farm water management
• Developing Water Users Associations.
• Increasing cropping intensities and yields whose
  effect is increasing farmers ability through
• Providing appropriate agricultural extension
  services to farmers
• Strengthening farmers capacity to market their
  products
• Optimizing cropping patterns in each irrigation.

• Strengthening ORMVAs managerial capacities to
  make them
• more client oriented and cost conscious
  through
• Revising the organizational structure of the
  ORMVAs and introducing appropriate management
  information (MIS) mainly for better financial
  control including cost
• accounting systems
• Reinforcing human resources development programs.

39
Analysis and Challenges

• In the last three decades, the focus was on
  maximizing the capture of the country's surface
  water resources and providing for their optimal
  use in irrigated agriculture, potable water
  supplies, industrialization and energy
  generation.
• Enormous capital resources have been invested in
  the essential infrastructure to control surface
  water flows.
• Morocco has made modern, large scale irrigation
  the centerpiece of its irrigated agricultural
  development
• The challenge of reaching the limit in water
  resources development and the need to move to
  water demand management

40
Palestine

• Main features of Water Strategy and policies
• Secure Palestinian Water Rights
• Strengthen National Policies and Regulations
• Build Institutional Capacity and Develop Human
  Resources
• Improve Information Services and Assessment of
  Water Resources
• Regulate and Co-ordinate Integrated Water and
  Wastewater Investments and Operations
• Enforce Water Pollution Control and Protection of
  Water Resources
• Build Public Awareness programs
• Improve Participation and
• Promote Regional and International Co-operation.

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42
Policy Instruments

• Public awareness and applying polluter pays
  principle
• Adopting affordable tariff structure
• Capacity building for all levels of stakeholders
• Monitoring and evaluation of groundwater quality
  
• Initiating a comprehensive water related data
  bank
• Strengthening the cooperation with international
  development donors
• Improving water resources management systems
  through
• Adopting a water demand management approach
• Encouraging users participation in water
  management
• Coordinating the Palestinian water resources on
  the national level, and carried it out on the
  appropriate local level
• Separating the institutional responsibility for
  policy and regulatory functions from the service
  delivery functions
• Continuing the effort to obtain the right of
  water resources shared with other countries
• Institutional strengthening of the different
  water related entities and
• Co-ordination between PWA and other ministries.

43
Analysis and Challenges

• Domestic water supply has increased through
  drilling wells
• Improved Accessibility to piped water for
  domestic use
• Quantification of available supply has been
  completed
• Improvement in wastewater collection, treatment
  and reuse is in progress
• Building desalination projects for the middle and
  northern Gaza is planned.

• PWA is functioning as a competence partner in the
  bi-lateral and multi-lateral water negotiations.
• PWA has created the Investment Plan Outline till
  2025, based on priority selection criteria for
  all demand centers in Palestine. The estimated
  total investment for the proposed future
  investment plan is approximately 3.5 billion
  over the planning period (2003 to 2025). General
  categories of investment are

• Institutional and Administrative Building
  category Groundwater Supply
• Water Conveyance and Distribution category
• Surface Water Supply to achieve the targets of 40
  MCM/yr. of surface water resources,
• Demand Management category
• Wastewater Management and Reuse category

44
Syria

• Main features of Water Strategy and policies
• Prevent misuse of land and water resources
• Reduce effects of pollution on human health
• Conservation of water resources
• Food security and
• Settlement of nomad population.

45
Policy Instruments

• Allowing only public Ministries to drill wells
  for domestic water use
• Obligation to license all unlicensed wells
• Supplying water to farmers with the required
  equipment and inputs
• Rehabilitation projects to adapt to modern
  irrigation
• Adopting modern irrigation for strategic crops
• Allocating annual budgets and providing necessary
  loans for system improvements
• Establishment of crop rotations and cropping
  patterns of strategic crops.
• Recovering OM costs and capital costs
• Adopting the use of pressurized pipe irrigation
  systems
• Installing flow meters on wells
• Performing quality control of equipment and
• Involving public stakeholders

46
Analysis and Challenges

• Implementing the 5-year plans shall improve the
  status of the water resources
• Groundwater levels and qualities will be enhanced
  through the different policy instruments.
• The agricultural area will increase as a result
  of horizontal expansion.
• New living communities will be created for nomad
  and others as a result of the new irrigation
  projects.
• The living quality in urban areas shall be
  improved
• The access of the population to safe sanitation
  facilities will increase

• Several general challenges will be facing Syria
  
• additional 2.163 km3 a year from the Euphrates
• additional fair and reasonable shares (5 km3 a
  year) from
• the Tigris and from the Yarmouk/Jordan and its
  branches
• transferring the surplus water surplus in
  littoral basin to the upper part of the Orontes
  (0.5 km3 a year) with regard to a fair share
  withTurkey
• Regulating the shares in Koueik River and
• Sharing the water of the Big South River.

47
Tunisia

• Main features of Water Strategy and policies
• Water demand management through
• Preserving water resource
• Ensuring economic efficiency
• Preserving social equity by a good water
  distribution.
• Integrated Water resources management through
• Using groundwater during periods of drought
• Recharging groundwater to reduce overdraft and
  degradation
• Using treated waste water and brackish water.
• Resource and environmental protection through
• Quantitative conservation through reinforcement
  and improvement of water harvesting and storage
  and
• Qualitative conservation of water resources and
  ecosystems through pollution reduction,
  monitoring, and cost evaluation.

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49
Policy Goals and Instruments

• With regard to demand management, some reduction
  targets were set as objectives for the year 2010
  
• 30 savings in agriculture by improving of the
  systems of irrigation, replacing some of the
  hydraulic structures and modernization of the
  distribution network
• 20 in industry by recycling, improving the
  production processes and the introduction of
  clean technologies and
• 27 in drinking water by the use of modern
  equipment.

• With regard to integrated water management and
  protection of the resource, the goals were as
  follows
• Make use of reclaimed water in the agriculture
  and industrial sectors
• Evaluate groundwater recharge potential
• Desalinate brackish groundwater for drinking
• Promote the use of agriculture species tolerant
  to salinity and water stress and
• Protect water bodies from pollution

50
Analysis and Challenges

• Tunisia will shortly be faced with the problem of
  a water deficit between its consumptive uses and
  its water productivity. Programs will need to be
  developed to
• Control the different economic sectors of water
  demand and protecting the available resources
  from losses and pollution.
• Enhance water productivity with an integrated
  management perspective and
• Promote treated sewage water and its development,

• Redistribution of water, giving priority to
  drinking water. The rate of mobilized water will
  reach 95 in the year 2011.
• Conjunctive management of GW and SW
• Reducing the distribution losses within the
  irrigation and drinking network
• Understanding the vulnerability of soils and
  plant to salinity and
• Protecting the hydraulic structures and water
  reservoirs from sediment buildup.

51
Yemen

• Main features of Water Strategy and policies
• In the water resources management,
• Ensure greater degree of sustainability
• Give priority to domestic needs of rural and
  urban population
• Improve water allocation while considering just
  distribution and social norms
• Promote efficient water use and maximize economic
  benefits and
• Establish a realistic and holistic water approach
  among the general public.

• In the irrigation and watershed management,
• Achieving sustainability through protecting the
  water resources
• Reducing the exploiting of groundwater
• Improving water use efficiency
• Developing new water resources and
• Conducting institutional restructuring.

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53

• Main features of Water Strategy and policies
  (Cont)
• In the water supply and sanitation,
• Expanding the coverage of water supply and
  sanitation
• Sustaining the financial resources for the WSS
  services
• Separating between regulatory and implementing
  agencies
• Appling the decentralization approach
• Involving private sector and
• Developing knowledge and skills.
• In the environmental protection, Securing equity
  in water access
• Maximizing water use efficiency and
• Securing sustainable natural resources with
  adequate quantity and quality.

54
Policy Instruments

• In water resources management
• Developing regional water resources plans
• Supporting water use associations,
  community-based organizations and water basin
  committees
• Implementing, monitoring and enforcing the law
• Strengthening and improving institutional and
  sector coordination and
• Designing and implementing NWSSIP monitoring
  systems.
• Rural Water Supply and sanitation
• Improving project/scheme implementation
• Broadening the range of partners
• Widening technology choice and adapting
  appropriate ones
• Integrating sanitation and hygiene in rural water
  schemes
• Ensuring and protecting water resources and their
  quality
• Improving targeting and sustainability and
• Directing available finance to priority needs.

55
Policy Instruments

• Urban Water Supply and Sanitation
• Expanding coverage
• Deepening the reform program after evaluation
• Monitoring support and policy functions
• Achieving financial sustainability of water
  utilities
• Subsidizing the low income segments of the
  population
• Promoting private investments and public private
  partnerships
• Continuing capacity building and improving
  performance
• Enhancing community participation
• Securing additional water sources for cities and
  
• Formulating a policy for sea water or brackish GW
  desalination.
• Environmental protection
• Reinforcing the role of Environmental Protection
  Authority (EPA)
• Appling water quality control through
  participation of all the stockholders
• protecting Water resources and
• Activating environmental monitoring and the
  regulatory role.

56
Policy Instruments

• Irrigation and watershed management
• Reducing groundwater exploiting
• Securing farmers water rights
• Improving and applying incentives
• Applying advisory services, agriculture extension
  services and applied researches
• Enlarging the share of The Agriculture Fisheries
  Production and Promotion Fund
• Re-specifying the role of the Ministry of
  Agriculture and Irrigation MAI
• Applying cost recovery of the irrigation schemes
• Constituting water user associations and enforce
  their role
• Dealing with Qat as any other crop
• Appling integrated watershed management
• Revising the plan of dam building
• Improving institutional coordination in the water
  irrigation sector
• Increasing the role of the NGOs and
• Implementing the agriculture plan.

57
Analysis and Challenges

• NWSSIP identifies the key sectoral problems and
  is clearly operationalized. However, the sectoral
  budget allocations for the next years remain
  clearly insufficient to implement the whole array
  of water policies underlying the NWSSIP and
  continue to exhibit an urban bias.
• Institutional and organizational improvements
  with view to IWRM require policy decisions at a
  higher political level (Cabinet, President).

• In 2006 a joint annual review JAR of the NWSSIP
  2005 year of implementation took place, involving
  all the sector institutions and donors. It was
  concluded that the first year of NWSSIP
  implementation was moderately satisfactory. 

• One of the challenges is the problem of water
  resources scarcity and over-exploited aquifers.
• Another is to provide a larger part of the urban
  and rural population with safe drinking water and
  sanitation services. At the end of 2005, 58 of
  the urban population and only 37.5 of the rural
  population had access to safe water.

58
Conclusions

• A brief compilation of water policies,
  strategies, and plans of selected Arab countries
  (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine,
  Syria, Tunisia and Yemen) in this desk review.
• The reviewed documents were highly variable in
  style and content.
• The terms policy, strategy, and plan are being
  used interchangeably
• The terms water management, IWRM, water
  governance are being used interchangeably
• The water strategies of Yemen, Egypt, Jordan, and
  Palestine could be considered the most
  comprehensive in IWRM approach.

59
Recommendations

• National plans
• To ensure sustainable socio-economic development
• current national water plans need to be
  financially supported and efficiently implemented
• Others countries need initiate and improve their
  national water planning activities
• Refraining, as much as possible, from business as
  usual scenarios and measures
• Issues and actions should be prioritized to
  initiate the cycle of reform in water management
  
• Preparation of emergency and crisis management
  programs putting in mind the substantial
  financial resources needs
• Develop water quality management plan to
  accompany any water plan
• Emphasizing the local and regional dimensions in
  the proposed national plans especially in the
  different basins.
• Investment planning should be considered as an
  integral part of National Water Plans

60
Recommendations Cont

• Stakeholder participation
• Mechanisms for stakeholder and civil society
  consultation should be in put in place
• Financial models and legislative frameworks to
  encourage private sector participation of
  without compromising the rights of the poor by
  the profit private sector
• Institutional and legal Reform
• A clear vision for the most appropriate national
  institutional setup for managing the water sector
  has to be studied
• The tasks of each institution should be clearly
  defined and reflected in an officially endorsed
  national water plan with an organizational chart
  and job descriptions for all staff
• Legal amendments which empower selected entities
  (NGOs for example) to collect fees and conduct
  local action plans should be established
• Review existing standards for enforceability, and
  pass the pending water management laws,
  environmental law and environmental impact
  assessment laws
• Innovative mechanisms for Law Enforcement need to
  be introduced.

61
Recommendations Cont

• Capacity Building and Public Awareness
• Capacity should be assessed and improve through
  tangible activities
• Different programs should be provided to enhance
  public awareness on water saving and
  environmental protection through different ways
  including media, schools, ..etc.
• Research and database
• Applied research is needed to further study the
  potential negative impacts on the environment and
  public health
• Central databases and a coordinating body for
  data and information management should exist in
  the water sector at all levels (national and
  regional)
• Research should play an important part in
  pressing water issues such as
• Finding the appropriate agriculture techniques to
  confront water scarcity and poor water quality
• Evaluating the real potential and vulnerability
  of aquifers and their possibility of recharge
• Finding alternative sources for water storage and
  supply and
• Defining the real potential and limits of
  reclaimed water.

62
Recommendations Cont

• Water resources management
• Better management of Groundwater that is tapped
  by thousands of informal private wells with no
  licenses, no water metering and no charges or
  taxes for the tapped volumes
• Developing a comprehensive plan to collect and
  treat all domestic and industrial waste water and
  reuse of the treated waste water and agricultural
  drainage water in irrigation
• Setting up shared water rights through
  cooperation with neighboring countries
• Setting up the most appropriate cost/sharing,
  cost/recovery mechanisms within each sector along
  with a framework for implementation
• More attention is needed to develop integrated
  water and quality management approaches taking
  into account both surface and groundwater through
  the use of modeling and decision making tools

63
Recommendations Cont

• Governments, international agencies and donors
• There is a need to increase support especially to
  countries lagging behind in the IWRM and/or
  national water planning process.
• For those countries that have responded to the
  WSSD Plan of Implementation and have
  IWRM/national water plans well underway, funding
  needs to be found for implementation.
• Better coordination among the international
  actors in this field, including bilateral donors,
  international and regional organizations,
  development banks and NGOs, is critical,
  especially to avoid duplication and wasted time
  in water related capacity building and technical
  assistance activities.
• The link between poverty alleviation and national
  water planning must remain at the forefront