Water Papers

183 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 - 8 of 8

Water in Circular Economy and Resilience: The Case of Chennai, India

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-03-17) World Bank

Chennai, a city on the southeastern coast of India and the state capital of Tamil Nadu, has one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Chennai is the automotive hub for India and is also home to several other industries ranging from petrochemicals to hardware manufacturing, textiles, and apparel. Because of urbanization and economic growth, Chennai’s population has increased more than fifty percent over the past two decades. The city’s rapid growth has created several water challenges. 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 experience of Chennai in India.
Toward Managing Rural Drinking Water Quality in the State of Punjab, India

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-01) World Bank

Rural drinking water quality is an emergent issue in the State of Punjab. In response to health concerns related to children being exposed to metals in some regions, and reports of higher incidence of cancers in the state, the department of drinking water supply and sanitation conducted blanket testing of all its water supply sources. The objective of this study was to systematically examine the drinking water quality issue and provide practical guidance to the state on possible responses. The state’s commitment to addressing this issue is highlighted by its allocation of 59 million dollars for a component to improve water quality through the Punjab Rural Water and Sanitation Sector Improvement Project, financed by the World Bank. While the study seeks to provide an analytical basis for understanding the occurrence and impact of the contamination, practical actions have been explored and demonstrated to allow the state to begin actively managing the water quality issue. The study is designed around three key areas: understanding the problem; taking appropriate action; and institutional sensitization and action. This report is a first step toward understanding and managing water quality issues in the state. It provides an analytical basis for moving forward and has demonstrated approaches that have yielded valuable lessons for scale-up. The next steps are for the state to identify key actions and develop detailed action plans for implementation.
Wastewater: From Waste to Resource – The Case of Nagpur, India

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-12-10) World Bank

Water stress has become a problem in most Indian cities, as rapid population growth increases simultaneously water demand by households, industries, and power plants. Utilities need to meet this growing demand while ensuring fair tariffs for users and promoting a sustainable use of water resources. As federal and state governments look for innovative alternatives to freshwater, the reuse of treated wastewater is gaining attention and being promoted at the federal and state levels. In addition to the environmental, health, and social benefits of treating wastewater; treated wastewater can become a reliable water source for industrial users, freeing up freshwater resources for households and helping address water scarcity in big cities. The government of India has taken steps to promote wastewater reuse, starting with the regulation of industrial water consumption and the setting and enforcement of mandatory water reuse targets for industries. The national target is to treat and reuse 50 percent of total wastewater by 2022 (PwC 2016). Some cities have set their own, more ambitious targets, and states such as Gujarat (Government of Gujarat, 2018) and Maharashtra (IndianExpress, 2017) have implemented new policies to promote wastewater reuse. Moreover, the government of India has adopted policies, established strong mechanisms of regulation, and provided funding for various programs, such as the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), to enable municipal authorities to enter into public-private partnership (PPP) arrangements to attract private funding. As a result, municipalities across the country have started to implement wastewater reuse projects. Most of these initiatives are led by utilities, through partnerships with the private sector, and with the central government covering part of the capital costs. The success of these projects reveals that wastewater reuse activities can be viable if properly structured and supported by enabling policies and institutions.
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.
Capacity Development for Integrated Water Resources Development and Management in India

(Washington, DC, 2015-06-26) World Bank

This paper's objective is to strengthen the capacity of various institutions in the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation for sustainable water resources management, and to develop training tools for innovative techniques for further dissemination to state agencies and other stakeholders.
Evaluation of Water Services Public Private Partnership Options for Mid-sized Cities in India

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-06) Ehrhardt, David ; Gandhi, Riddhima ; Mugabi, Josses ; Kingdom, William

Successful mid-sized cities will be vital to India’s growth and prosperity in the coming decades. Indian cities are home to over 375 million people now, and their population is likely to double by 2035. Yet water supply in most mid-sized cities falls short of Government of India benchmarks for service, efficiency and cost recovery. In many of them water flows in the pipes for 2 hours a day or less, its quality is poor, and it is provided by utilities that cannot even cover their operating costs. Following a brief introduction to the three city case studies (section two), the report lays out the Indian water sector’s unique challenges, and using case examples to substantiate findings (section three). The challenges include day-to-day operational issues associated with running a utility, as well as policy and planning issues that affect the utility’s governance and investment planning to meet current and future demand. The results of a financial viability gap analysis, applied to Bhubaneswar and Coimbatore reveal the magnitude of improvements required, and the key drivers that affect the utilities’ financial performance (section four). These complex challenges make traditional PPP models, Management Contracts, Concessions and Leases, less amenable for use in mid-size Indian cities. As section five describes, this is because the traditional models are too risky for the operator or government or too limited in scope to create lasting improvements. The remaining sections focus on explaining the design and procurement strategy for the two innovative PPP models, the phased performance based contract and the Joint Venture (JV) Partnership (section six and seven). These models have the potential to deliver better results than the traditional PPPs and business as usual scenarios. This is because in addition to reforming dysfunctional utilities into focused and accountable organizations, they are able to respond to information uncertainty, include strong incentives, have clear sources of funding, and promote capital efficiency.
Professionalization Contracts for Small Municipal Water Service Providers in India: Business Model Development

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-06) Ehrhardt, David ; Mugabi, Josses ; Kingdom, William

Professionalization contracts are a new concept. The aim of these contracts is to enlist the support of specialized private firms in turning public water utilities into competent professional operators. This report looks at how the business model for such contracts may work. This report builds on fieldwork and consultation in India. The model described in this report reflects two weeks of meetings with water sector stakeholder in India, including a workshop held at the World Bank country office in Delhi on 22 March 2011. The report gives introduction in section one. It describes briefly the need for professionalization contracts in India, and the target market section two. It then summarizes what the contractor will do, and how this differs from traditional capacity building, as well as from traditional public private partnership (PPP) concepts such as management contracts section three. The report then describes the complementary policy and institutional reforms that will be needed at the state and local government levels to make professionalization contracts successful section four. Section five looks at the political economy of professionalization contracts, identifying risks, and how these risks can be mitigated through design of the institutional reforms and the business model. Section six then turns to the true business model aspects by describing indicative costs of the professionalization contract and the complementary investments required. Section seven considers what the sources of funding for these costs would be, and section eight goes on to explain how the contractor will be paid, and hence the incentives under which it will operate. Section nine looks at the market of potential contractors, and examines their incentives to participate. Finally, section ten sets out some considerations for developing the concept.
Institutional Agenda and PPP Options for Water Supply and Sewage in Ludhiana

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-10) Ramanujam, S.R.

Water supply and sewage (WSS) operations in Ludhiana resemble that of many Indian cities; service levels are poor when compared to benchmarks; cost recovery is low; the municipal corporation subsidises operating deficits; the Government finances capital expenditure; assets are created through a State owned entity; internal capacity, systems and procedures are weak. The State Government has taken a decision to make key municipal corporations (including Ludhiana) responsible for future asset creation and also expects them to share capital expenditure. To improve the quality of service, the city needs immediate capital investments and change in management practices. Key institutional actions to achieve this are a) WSS operations focusing on higher cost recovery, b) increased contribution from the municipal corporation to WSS capital expenditure financing as opposed to O & M financing and c) modern governance structure for WSS operations.