Water Papers
183 items available
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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.
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Publication
Determinants of Declining Water Quality
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-12-19)This is a background paper for "Quality Unknown: The Invisible Water Crisis." (Report No. 140973)This review examines determinants of poor water quality and natural and anthropomorphic factors determining water quality. It also discusses various water quality parameter measurement tools that can be applied in situ or remotely to assess water quality easily so measurements can be used to evaluate the economic impact of poor water quality. The correlation of water quality indicators to determinants (natural or anthropogenic) is also summarized based on the abundance of literature supporting the relationship. In doing so, this paper takes a thematic approach and applied the following search phrases to the literature review: "determinants of (parameter) in surface water," "drivers of (parameter) in surface water," and "remote sensing techniques to estimate (parameter)." -
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Policy Instruments for Water Pollution Control in Developing Countries
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-12-10)This paper surveys the economic theory behind regulatory and other solutions to the stark ambient water pollution problems that exist in many developing countries, and what is known from the empirical economics literature about the effectiveness of these solutions. -
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The Impact of Water Quality on GDP Growth: Evidence from Around the World
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-12-10)Declining water quality can impact the economy in various ways. Impacts can be found in the health sector, where labor productivity can be affected, in agriculture, where the quality and quantity of food produced can be reduced, and in tourism, real estate, aquaculture/fisheries and other sectors which rely on environmental quality and ecosystem services. Despite these well-known impacts, finding economy-wide affects of water quality on economic activity can be elusive. In this paper we attempt to fill this gap by using a conventional empirical approach in contemporary environmental economics and new data on economic activity and water quality for nineteen countries from 1990-2014. The authors find that when rivers become very heavily polluted, regions downstream see reductions in economic growth, losing between 0.8 and 2.0 percent of economic growth. These losses imply that in many places, the costs of environmental degradation are severely under-estimated and well above efficient levels. -
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Salt of the Earth: Quantifying the Impact of Water Salinity on Global Agricultural Productivity
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-12-10)Salinity in surface waters is on the rise throughout much of the world. Many factors contribute to this change including increased water extraction, poor irrigation management, and sea-level rise. To date no study has attempted to quantify impacts on global food production. In this paper we develop a plausibly causal model to test the sensitivity of global and regional agricultural productivity to changes in water salinity. To do so, we utilize several local and global datasets on water quality and agricultural productivity and a model which isolates the impact of exogenous changes in water salinity on yields. We then train a machine learning model to predict salinity globally in order to simulate average global food losses from 2000-2013. These losses are found to be high, in the range of the equivalent of 124 trillion kilocalories, or enough to feed over 170 million people every day, each year. Global maps building on these results show that pockets of high losses occur on all continents but can be expected to be particularly problematic in regions already experiencing malnutrition challenges. -
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The Nitrogen Legacy: The Long-Term Effects of Water Pollution on Human Capital
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-12-10)The fallout of nitrogen pollution is considered one of the largest global externalities facing the world, impacting air, water soil and human health. This paper presents new evidence that nitrogen pollution in water is an important determinant of variations in human capital. Data from the Demographic and Health Survey dataset across India, Vietnam, and 33 African countries are combined to analyze the causal links between pollution exposure experienced during the very earliest stages of life and later-life health. Results show that pollution exposure experienced in the critical years of development from the period of birth up until year three – is associated with decreased height as an adult, a well-known indicator of overall health and productivity, and is robust to several statistical checks. Because adult height is related to education, labor productivity, and income, this also implies a loss of earning potential. Results are consistent and show that early-life exposure to nitrogen pollution in water can lower height-for-age scores during childhood in Vietnam and during infancy in Africa. These findings add to the evidence on the enduring consequences of water pollution and identify a critical area for policy intervention. -
Publication
Watershed: A New Era of Water Governance in China - Thematic Report
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-12-01)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. -
Publication
Better Data, Better Results: Remote Sensing as a Tool for Monitoring Water Quality in Lake Toba, Indonesia
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-06-01)Lake Toba is a unique natural asset of global significance with a rich cultural heritage located in the North Sumatra Province of Indonesia. Located 904 meters above sea level and with a maximum depth of more than 500 meters, this 87-kilometer-long lake provides a wide range of economic and environmental goods and services for more than half a million people and 400 villages in the seven districts covered by the lake's 3,658 square kilometer catchment. However, sustaining the long-term economic and environmental value of Lake Toba depends on addressing the deterioration of water quality. This technical guidance note reports on the potential benefits of using remote sensing as part of an integrated strategy to improve the monitoring and management of water quality in Lake Toba. -
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A Groundwater Modelling Investigation of Greywater Disposal: South Tarawa, Kiribati
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-06-01)This report focused on a numerical modelling assessment of the possible effects of greywater reuse on the freshwater lenses in South Tarawa, Kiribati. Conceptual models and 2D cross-sectional numerical models of selected transects of Betio, Bairiki and Bikenibeu Islands were developed based on available field data. Simulations then were used to assess greywater transport and its effects on freshwater lenses in current situation and future scenarios. The modelling results show that adding the greywater discharge increases notably the freshwater thickness compared to the baseline scenario where greywater discharge is neglected. Eight scenarios were simulated to test the influence of rainfall dynamics and groundwater abstraction rates on the contribution of greywater disposal on freshwater lens thickness. The report then provides recommendations for future work to enhance the outcomes of future modelling efforts and the feasibility of indirect greywater reuse. -
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Dividing the Water, Sharing the Benefits: Lessons from Rural-to-Urban Water Reallocation
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-06)Rural regions are often seen as key sources of urban water supply, creating pressure for reallocation and potential hotspots of competition for water between cities and agriculture. How effective and equitable is reallocation from rural to urban regions, and what have we learned from the global experience? This synthesis report examines the drivers, processes, politics, and outcomes of reallocation based on a review of the literature and insights from four in-depth case studies where governments have reallocated relatively large volumes of water from rural to urban regions: Melbourne, Australia; Mokopane, South Africa; Monterrey, Mexico; and São Paulo, Brazil. The findings suggest that water reallocation can play an important role in regional development. However, reallocation projects have also been controversial because of distributional conflicts regarding who wins and loses. The concept of benefit sharing, long applied to transboundary river basin management, offers a framework for designing effective and equitable reallocation processes, shifting the focus from dividing the water to sharing the benefits among rural and urban regions. The report identifies seven key lessons for realizing the potential of reallocation and limiting the risks. -
Publication
New Avenues for Remote Sensing Applications for Water Management: A Range of Applications and the Lessons Learned from Implementation
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-06)Water management agencies in many parts of the world are currently missing big opportunities to increase their capacity to monitor water resources. This report presents a range of remote sensing applications to support water resources management and decision-making, and discusses implementation approaches and their sustainability going forward. These were developed within the second phase of the global initiative on remote sensing for water resources management, conceived to help mainstream beneficial remote sensing uses in operational projects of the Bank, and to facilitate the adoption in World Bank client countries. This report is addressed to water practitioners in general, technical staff in national water agencies, and project leads from development and financing institutions. The goal of the report is to present insights from innovative remote sensing applications to help address specific water resources management challenges. The results presented include constraints identified in the adoption of remote sensing, the approaches adopted to make applications functional in different contexts, the project applications themselves, insights on their sustainability, and ways forward.
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