Water Papers
180 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
Water in Circular Economy and Resilience
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-09-15)Rethinking urban water through the circular economy and resilience lenses offers an opportunity to transform the urban water sector and deliver water supply and sanitation services in a more sustainable, inclusive, efficient, and resilient way. Circular Economy principles have emerged as a response to the current unsustainable linear model of "take, make, consume, and waste." In a circular economy, the full value of water – as a service, an input to processes, a source of energy and a carrier of nutrients and other materials – is recognized and captured. This report presents the Water in Circular Economy and Resilience (WICER) Framework together with global case studies that show the benefits of becoming circular and resilient. It describes the key actions needed to achieve three main outcomes: 1) deliver resilient and inclusive services, 2) design out waste and pollution, and 3) preserve and regenerate natural systems. The report sets out to demystify circular economy by showing that both high-income and low-income countries can benefit from it. -
Publication
Joining Forces to Combat Protracted Crises: Humanitarian and Development Support for Water and Sanitation Providers in the Middle East and North Africa
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-02-05)Protracted crises in urban contexts of the Middle East and North Africa region present a growing challenge for water supply and sanitation (WSS) service providers and, in turn, the governments and international organizations that support them. The protracted nature of crisis in countries characterized by fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV) transcends conventional notions of (pre-, during, and post-) crisis management. This report examines five pernicious problems identified by WSS service providers operating in protracted crisis in the Middle East and North Africa region. The five problems are: (1) inadequately governed water resources management; (2) aggressive competition from alternative providers (tanker trucks), undermining network services; (3) paralysis of high-tech wastewater treatment plants; (4) escalating energy costs of off-grid generation; and (5) the cashflow crunch as service provider costs jump and revenues fall. The pernicious problems are shown to stem from precrisis vulnerabilities that have their origins in the rapid period of urbanization and infrastructure expansion across the Middle East and North Africa region. Humanitarian and development actors should strengthen their partnerships in both anticipating and responding to protracted crises. Strengthening humanitarian-development partnerships to support WSS service providers in these ways will address key aspects of precrisis resilience building and also of resilience (re)building in protracted crisis. -
Publication
The Bangladesh Delta: A Lighthouse Case Study
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-01-25)This case study report discusses current development strategy for the Bangladesh Delta, which reflects an integrated approach to disaster risk management and water resources management. In this context, special attention is given to the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 and the role of the World Bank in Bangladesh’s transition toward sustainable, climate-resilient development. The report goes over key building blocks of the government’s current delta management and highlights some aspects of the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 that may also be relevant to other deltas. -
Publication
Groundwater in Pakistan’s Indus Basin: Present and Future Prospects
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-01)Groundwater is arguably the most poorly understood water resource in Pakistan a country in which matters of water resources are hotly debated on a regular basis. Groundwater has the potential to be the most reliable water resource for Pakistan, providing a buffer against the unpredictability of climate change and the failure of infrastructure designed to deliver surface water. The Indus basin groundwater aquifer in Pakistan holds in storage at least eighty times the volume of fresh water held in the country’s three biggest dams. In the 1960s, large-scale extraction from this underground storage began and has expanded to become an essential input to agriculture and the backbone of domestic water provision. Yet in 2020, Pakistan is on the brink of a lengthy and severe groundwater crisis. Pakistan lacks a comprehensive, reliable system for measuring groundwater extractions and their impact on the resource base. In the face of rising population, the effects of climate change, and the considerable natural lag in groundwater response to management interventions, the failure to tackle these challenges is already impairing national water security and drinking water quality. It was concluded that the lack of good-quality, long-term groundwater data in Pakistan’s Indus basin greatly complicates the task of numerical modeling and reduces the reliability of the results. -
Publication
Moldova: Water Security Diagnostic and Future Outlook
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-11-18)Over the past two decades Moldova has achieved major development results: poverty more than halved between 2007 and 2014, and shared prosperity for the poorest households rose sharply. Yet Moldova’s growth model is volatile, unsustainable, and is losing strength. Water underpins much of Moldova’s ability to rekindle dynamism in its economy and to provide outcomes for the health and well-being of its people and environment. Yet gaps remain in understanding the country’s water resources endowments. This diagnostic suggests that in 2018 water availability is not a binding constraint to development. Even in the presence of future changes in demand, there are limited or manageable physical constraints to water security. Going beyond a focus on the water balance, this report assesses Moldova’s water security and identifies important water-related challenges that may hinder progress in economic and human development. Moldova’s water security is threatened by poor infrastructure and suboptimal institutional performance. Through an assessment of service delivery, water resources management and risk mitigation, and an analysis of institutional arrangements and sector expenditure data, this diagnostic establishes a set of policy recommendations on how water should be sustained and leveraged to support Moldova’s development. This report provides a new, comprehensive, and balanced view of water security in Moldova, highlighting the complex water issues that Moldova must tackle to improve its water security. It seeks to elevate water security as an issue critical for national development by providing stakeholders with a stocktaking and outlook on water-related risks, and opportunities in which water can contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction. -
Publication
Remote Sensing of Water Quality in the Valle de Bravo Reservoir, Mexico
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-10)This case study assessed ongoing initiatives to address surface water pollution issues in Mexico, working in partnership with the Comision Nacional del Agua (CONAGUA), the national agency responsible for the administration of water resources and its management. Particular focus was placed on a pilot case study application of remote sensing techniques to detection of water-quality issues in the Valle de Bravo reservoir. This assessment will contribute to a better understanding of options for water-quality remote sensing capabilities and needs. It will assist in identifying appropriate remote sensing tools and devising an application strategy to support decision making regarding the targeting and monitoring of nutrient pollution prevention and mitigation measures. -
Publication
Water in the Balance: The Economic Impacts of Climate Change and Water Scarcity in the Middle East
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-09-28)Innovations in water management and irrigated agriculture powered water-scarce Middle Eastern economies for millennia. However, as water becomes scarcer because of population growth and economic development, and even more erratic because of climate change, the region’s water security is coming under increasing threat. This report applies an economic model, the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) computable general equilibrium model, to assess the economic impacts of water scarcity for six Middle Eastern countries and also to examine how water-use efficiency improvements and trade can mitigate these impacts. A 20 percent reduction in water supply could decrease GDP by up to 10 percent, compared to 2016 levels. Furthermore, increased water scarcity could reduce labor demand by up to 12 percent and lead to significant land-use changes, including loss of beneficial hydrological services. The report emphasizes how the growing dependence on shared water resources reinforces the need to manage water across boundaries. The message is clear: unless new and transformative policies for sustainable, efficient and cooperative water management are promoted, water scarcity will negatively impact the region’s economic prospects and undermine its human and natural capital. -
Publication
Remote Sensing of Water Quality in Laguna del Sauce, Uruguay
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-05)Laguna del Sauce is a water supply reservoir located in the Department of Maldonado (Uruguay), approximately 15 kilometers west of Punta del Este and 100 kilometers east of Montevideo. This case study assessed ongoing initiatives to address surface water pollution issues in Uruguay, working in partnership with a team of government agencies charged with water resource management. This assessment will contribute to better understanding of options for water-quality remote sensing capabilities and needs. It will also assist the government of Uruguay in identifying appropriate remote sensing tools and devising an application strategy to provide information needed to support decision making regarding the targeting and monitoring of nutrient pollution prevention and mitigation measures. -
Publication
From Waste to Resource: Shifting Paradigms for Smarter Wastewater Interventions in Latin America and the Caribbean
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-03-19)Resource recovery from wastewater facilities in the form of energy, reusable water, biosolids, and other resources, such as nutrients, represents an economic and financial benefit that contributes to the sustainability of water supply and sanitation systems and the water utilities operating them. Resource recovery can transform sanitation from a costly service to one that is self-sustaining and adds value to the economy. Indeed, if financial returns can cover operation and maintenance costs partially or fully, improved wastewater management offers a double value proposition. This report summarizes the work of the World Bank's initiative "Wastewater: From Waste to Resource," launched to raise awareness among decision makers regarding the potential of wastewater as a resource. The report highlights the findings and conclusions from technical background reports, from an in-depth analysis of several case studies, and from the feedback received during workshops and seminars with main stakeholders. -
Publication
Resilient Water Infrastructure Design Brief
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020)The purpose of the Resilient Water Infrastructure Design Brief is to guide users on how resilience can be built into the engineering design of their project. With a focus on the three natural hazards most likely to affect water and sanitation infrastructure (droughts, floods, and high winds from storms), the document provides a six-step process to help users address weather and climate related challenges that are most likely to affect an infrastructure component at some point in its operational lifetime. In order to achieve both systems level resilience and infrastructure level resilience, this design brief should be used in tandem with other World Bank publications, such as the 2018 guidance document “Building the Resilience of WSS Utilities to Climate Change and Other Threats: A Road Map,” which emphasizes systems level resilience and analysis. The design brief highlights the relationship between these two documents and the unique function that each serves in improving overall resilience in the water sector. It also includes guidance for users to incorporate resilience design principles into projects’ appraisal documents and a sample module/task description for applying the two documents to an engineering design or feasibility study terms of reference.