Water Papers

180 items available

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16997

Water Papers are produced by the Water Global Practice, taking up the work of the predecessor Water Unit, Transport, Water and ICT Department, Sustainable Development Vice Presidency.

Items in this collection

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7

Clear Waters and Lush Mountains: The Value of Water in the Construction of China’s Ecological Civilization - A Synthesis Report

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022) World Bank ; Development Research Center

This report aims to identify opportunities for improving water policy through the identification, evaluation, and realization of water’s diverse and multiple values in China. The report recognizes China’s significant achievements in water management and identifies remaining and emerging challenges. It presents conceptual and practical approaches to eliciting a wide range of economic, social, cultural, and environmental values of water. Drawing on examples from China and internationally, the report puts forward recommendations for protecting and realizing these values in the context of China’s construction of an ecological civilization. The report is directed toward both Chinese policy makers, and international readers interested in understanding water policy and the way that measurement of values can inform water policy. The challenges assessed in this report suggest that a new generation of smarter water policies will be needed in priority areas. This report is a synthesis of research carried out by the World Bank and the Development Research Center of China’s State Council under the research collaboration, “Evaluating and Realizing the Value of Water in the Construction of an Ecological Civilization for China.” It draws on background papers, inputs, and consultations with a range of experts within the World Bank, officials from the government of the People’s Republic of China, along with universities and nongovernmental organizations working on water-resources-related research in China.
Water in Circular Economy and Resilience: The Case of Lingyuan City, China

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-03-18) World Bank

Lingyuan City in Liaoning Province, China, is a county level city with a population of around six hundred fifty thousand people who have been facing acute water scarcity. The Daling River, which flows through the city, runs dry for about seven months a year on average. The limited availability of surface water, combined with pollution of the Daling River, has led to the overexploitation of groundwater resources. This case study is part of a series prepared by the World Bank’s Water Global Practice to highlight existing experiences in the water sector. The purpose of the series is to showcase one or more of the elements that can contribute toward a Water in Circular Economy and Resilience (WICER) system. This case study focuses on the experiences of Lingyuan City in China.
Watershed: A New Era of Water Governance in China - Thematic Report

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-12-01) World Bank

Each of the chapters presented in this report is based on a series of 15 thematic reports. They provided the basis for the joint identification of key priority reforms by the World Bank and China that were bought together and published in an accompanying Synthesis Report. Topics included: (1) overview of water governance in China; (2) evaluation of China’s water security status and issues; (3) advancing water quality markets in China; (4) macro-economic impacts of water scarcity and redlines in China; (5) re-examining the Three Red Lines Policy; (6) water rights verifications and transactions; (7) best practices in cost-benefit analysis for water investments; (8) water prices, taxes, and fees; (9) flood risk management and protection; (10) ecology compensation and governance; (11) legal reform for water governance; (12) China’s water management administrative system and its reform; (13) technical innovation and development of an information platform in China; (14) Public Private Partnerships and water governance in China; (15) summary and overall design of China’s water governance system. These discussions emphasized key issues for water governance in China, including the need for a stronger legislative foundation for water governance; enhanced basin-scale governance institutions; harmonization of existing policy tools, such as water permits and water rights; better information and data-sharing; and the need to promote ecosystem resilience. Based on these consultations and discussions, a final set of 15 key recommendations have been put forward. These recommendations form the core of the accompanying Synthesis Report. Each priority area is the subject of a separate chapter focusing on the rationale for each of the policy recommendations, drawing on research completed by each study team.
Improving Sanitation in Cold Regions: Catalog of Technical Options for Household-Level Sanitation

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-06) Leblanc, Maryanne ; Reed, Robert A. ; Kingdom, William ; Gambrill, Martin ; Rodriguez, Diego Juan

Globally, 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation. Improving sanitation is a challenge around the world; cold climates add to that challenge. The objective of this Catalog is to identify suitable technological options for delivering sustainable improved sanitation in cold regions where the population is not served by piped water supply and sewer networks.
Watershed: A New Era of Water Governance in China — Synthesis Report

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018) World Bank Group

This report represents a synthesis of joint research conducted by the Development Research Center of the State Council of the People's Republic of China (DRC) and the World Bank. Building on the track record of research collaboration between the World Bank and the DRC on issues such as urbanization, the objective of the study is to provide Chinese policy makers with detailed institutional and policy options to support water security in the country. This study fills a critical gap highlighted in the World Bank 2013 China Country Water Resources Assistance Strategy by proposing legal, technical, and institutional changes to the current framework for water resource management. A new water governance approach is recommended that aims to balance economic growth with increasing water demand under conditions of water scarcity. By closely examining key water management issues in the context of China's rapid development, the study also aims to provide lessons relevant to other low- and middle-income countries facing similar water-related challenges. The report identifies five priority areas for reform: 1) Enhance the legislative foundation for water governance; 2) Strengthen national and basin-level water governance; 3) Improve and optimize economic policy instruments; 4) Strengthen adaptive capacity to climate and environmental change; and 5) Improve data collection and information-sharing.
Sustainability Assessment of Rural Water Service Delivery Models: Findings of a Multi-Country Review

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-08) World Bank Group

With 2.1 billion people – mostly in rural areas – lacking safely managed drinking water and reported low rural water supply functionality rates, the Sustainable Development Goals pose a triple challenge: to reach unserved mostly rural population groups, to raise service levels, and to sustain existing and future services. This assessment uses a multi-country case study approach to identify good practices and challenges toward building sector capacity and strengthening sustainable service delivery models for rural areas. Recognizing the limitations of the Demand Responsive Approach, the emergence of various management models, the identified need for ongoing support to rural service providers, and the critical role of enabling institutions and policies beyond the community-level, the added value of this assessment lies in: i)the development of a comprehensive analytical framework that can be used to analyze and operationalize a more sustainable service delivery approach for rural water supply; ii) the rich set of cases and good practices from the 16 countries informing the global body of "knowledge in implementation," and iii) the formulation of recommendations and policy directions to improve the sustainability of services depending on sector development stage. Policy recommendations are centered around five areas: institutional capacity, financing, asset management, water resources management, and monitoring and regulatory oversight.
Guide for Wastewater Management in Rural Villages in China

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-12) Haase, Peter H. ; Zhao, Joe ; Wang, Shenhua ; Godavitarne, Chandra

There is an urgent need to provide practical guidelines for Chinese decision makers and officials to better understand the key issues and constraints related to rural wastewater management and to identify feasible solutions and tools to improve the performance and sustainability of these projects. To address these needs, the World Bank has developed this guide for wastewater management in rural villages in China. The Guide is intended to be a useful resource for Chinese policy makers and practitioners. It includes a review of historical and current policies and practices related to wastewater management in rural China. The Guide outlines a framework and strategies for establishing municipal and village level wastewater management programs. The overall objective of the guide is to identify key issues and to present effective strategies and approaches to implement sustainable wastewater management programs at the local jurisdictions in order to improve rural sanitation in China. A key objective of the guide is to present institutional, programmatic and technical guidelines that can be adopted by local jurisdictions, forming the basis for consistent, affordable, practical, and effective sanitation project planning, design, implementation, and operations.