Water supply development and tariffs in Tanzania: From free water policy towards cost recovery

The article describes the historical development of water tariff policy in Tanzania from the colonial times to present. After gaining independence, the country introduced “free” water policy in its rural areas. Criticism against this policy was expressed already in the 1970s, but it was not until the late 1980s that change became unavoidable. All the while urban water tariffs continued to decline in real terms. In rural and periurban areas of Tanzania consumers often have to pay substantial amounts of money for water to resellers and vendors since the public utilities are unable to provide operative service. Besides, only a part of the water bills are actually collected. Now that the free water supply policy has been officially abandoned, the development of water tariffs and the institutions in general are a great challenge for the country.     

Design of environmentally and socially conscious water metering tariffs for the UK

England is one of the few industrialised countries where water metering is not compulsory. Most households instead pay a fixed charge regardless of use. Yet water consumption is already at the limit of resources and beyond them in some regions. Despite the need to control demand, compulsory water metering has not been implemented largely because of concerns about the regressive impact on poorer households. This research analysed new data from Anglian Water on household water consumption and income to examine the distributional impacts of ten different hypothetical tariff designs. It was found that it was possible to design revenue-neutral metered tariffs that would cause only a small percentage of low-income households to lose and most to gain. With sensitive design, the social concerns about compulsory water metering can be dealt with.     

ANALYSIS OF NEW TECHNIQUES FOR PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT IN WATER PLANNING1

ABSTRACT: The growing demands by the public for a more active role in planning have recently generated considerable interest among researchers and planners in the subject of public involvement techniques. Numerous surveys have found that standard public participation techniques (e.g., public hearings) by themselves are considered inadequate. Several techniques that have potential for overcoming some of the limitations of standard public involvement techniques have recently been developed. This paper describes several of these new techniques and analyzes each of them in terms of their potential utility in water resources planning.     

THE ROLE OF ADVISORY BOARDS IN A WATER MANAGEMENT AGENCY1

ABSTRACT: Since Saskatchewan assumed the responsibility for managing the Province's water resources in 1930, the importance of the Province's water resources has been recognized by assigning the responsibility for managing the resource to higher levels in the government structure. With such recognition, there tended to be an overlapping of responsibilities that resulted in undefined areas of jurisdiction and duplication of services. Also, there was no opportunity for direct public participation in the management structure. These deficiencies were recognized, and following a series of public hearings a “Cabinet Committee on Water Concerns” in 1983 concluded that the most appropriate government structure for managing the water resources of Saskatchewan would be a Crown corporation. As a result, in 1984 the Saskatchewan Water Corporation was formed and given the responsibility to manage, administer, develop, control, and protect the water and related land resources in Saskatchewan. An important aspect of this responsibility was that the corporation should initiate a process of public involvement. Thus, six “Regional Watershed Advisory Boards” were established. The Advisory Boards provide the Corporation with a linkage to the general public by providing advice, participating in policy revision and development, and assisting Corporation staff in other related water management activities.     

Managing the intractable: communicative structures for management of hexachlorobenzene and other scheduled wastes

This paper explores issues of governance and decision-making structures associated with the problem of hexachlorobenzene (HCB) waste at Botany in New South Wales. From a government perspective, the problem is ‘downstream’ of a well-known national controversy over whether Australia should have a high-temperature incinerator (HTI) to ‘dispose’ of such scheduled wastes. The 1992 decision not to proceed with HTI followed an extensive process of public consultation, which, against the expectations of industry and government, saw the emergence of Australia-wide community opposition. Alternative national management plans were formulated for the treatment of several types of organochlorine waste, with the scheme of these plans first approved in 1993 by the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council (ANZECC). The HCB Management Plan is one of three such plans (the others being for PCBs and organochlorine pesticides). With this, ANZECC established the Scheduled Waste Management Group comprising government officials, and the National Advisory Body (NAB) made up of stakeholders. Officially the NAB had oversight of the HCB problem until 2002 when it was disbanded. As a result of the HTI experience, new community consultation protocols were introduced in association with the alternative management plans. For HCBs, which are confined almost entirely to Orica's Botany site in southeastern Sydney, this led to the establishment of the Community Participation and Review Committee (CPRC), a representative body with review and advisory functions. This paper draws conclusions from this history about government processes of decision making, the role of individual and institutional actors, the central importance of trust, and the democratisation of risk management. Using concepts delineated by McDonell [1991. Toxic waste management in Australia: why did policy reform fail? Environment 33(6), 11–13, 33–39; 1997. Scientific and everyday knowledge: trust and the politics of environmental initiatives. Social Studies of Science 27, 819–863.] we identify swings towards, then away from institutionalised trust. Across two decades, government and industry have placed faith in centrally controlled mechanisms for public participation, hoping to garner trust and legitimate privileged technological solutions. On the ‘backswings’, these processes have seen public trust dissipate in the face of government misunderstanding of the opportunities for effective bureaucratic interventions.     

Sustainable wastewater management for small communities in the Middle East and North Africa

Accelerated expansion of wastewater services to small communities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is essential in order to address serious concerns over water scarcity and pollution in addition to meeting the demand for convenience and protecting public health. Centralized and conventional wastewater systems are currently the preferred choice of planners and decision-makers in MENA. Water and funding are not available to provide these centralized conventional services to small communities. This paper presents an integrated approach to sustainable wastewater management for small communities in MENA under the severe water resources crisis. The approach calls for a paradigm shift from centralized conventional wastewater systems to decentralized wastewater systems. Management of wastewater in MENA should start at home. Wastewater generation should be reduced through a combination of domestic water conservation measures. On-site systems must be improved and monitored to control pollution and to recover water for non-potable water uses. Should the circumstances not allow the use of on-site systems, wastewater should be transported and managed through a community system applying the principles of decentralized wastewater management and using the settled sewers for wastewater transportation where appropriate. This approach will facilitate the accelerated and sustainable extension of environmentally responsible wastewater services to MENA's small communities. It offers great potential for cost reduction, accommodates the necessary domestic water conservation efforts, reduces freshwater inputs in wastewater transportation thus eliminating unnecessary demand on freshwater, reduces associated environmental risks and increases wastewater reuse opportunities.     

Strategic environmental assessment in China: motivations, politics, and effectiveness

This paper examines how strategic environmental assessment has been practiced at the national level in China through 2005 and why it has been practiced in the manner observed. Based on literature reviews and interviews carried out in 2005 and 2006, we find that bureaucratic politics between environmental and nonenvironmental ministries has limited the legislation and implementation of strategic environmental assessment to environmental assessment (EA) for a set of government plans defined in the 2003 Environmental Impact Assessment Law. Interviewees from environmental and nonenvironmental ministries and key research institutes have reported that few planning EAs have been performed at the sectoral level. Nonenvironmental ministries have either evaded the 2003 Environmental Impact Assessment Law and have not undertaken required planning EA or have organized planning EA on their own without participation by the State Environmental Protection Administration. The rising tension between the environmental and nonenvironmental ministries has limited the role of planning EA as a participatory decision-making tool. In addition to bureaucratic politics, we find that weak public participation and underemphasis on social analysis in planning EA may have further compromised the utility of planning EA.     

Changes in water resources administration in Latin America

Traditionally, in most countries of Latin America, the management of water and water based services has been highly centralized in the public sector. Recently, as the role of government has been reconsidered, many services have been transferred to lower levels of government or to the private sector. At the same time, the emphasis given to water projects as basic development tools has given way to the environmental significance of good water management. Consequently, the approach to water resources management has been modified and space created for the adoption of some of the basic precepts enunciated in the Mar del Plata Action Plan and Agenda 21. In particular, in various countries consideration is being given to water management through river basin institutions .     

炼化污水“零排放”技术现状与发展趋势

在节能降耗、节水减排已成为国策的背景下,炼化污水集中处理达标排放的末端治理已经不能满足炼化行业发展,炼化污水"零排放"的实施将是大势所趋。在实施炼化污水"零排放"过程中,应深化开展水系统优化、技术创新集成等工作,将节能、节水、减排有机结合,突破制约污水"零排放"的技术瓶颈,并将技术成熟化、管理制度化,形成完整的炼化污水"零排放"技术体系,促进我国炼化企业的可持续发展。     

Deliberation and Scale in Mekong Region Water Governance

Understanding the politics of deliberation, scales, and levels is crucial to understanding the social complexity of water-related governance. Deliberative processes might complement and inform more conventional representational and bureaucratic approaches to planning and decision-making. However, they are also subject to scale and level politics, which can confound institutionalized decision-making. Scale and level contests arise in dialogues and related arenas because different actors privilege particular temporal or spatial scales and levels in their analysis, arguments, and responses. Scale contests might include whether to privilege administrative, hydrological, ecosystem, or economic boundaries. Level contests might include whether to privilege the subdistrict or the province, the tributary watershed or the international river basin, a river or a biogeographic region, and the local or the regional economy. In the Mekong Region there is a recurrent demand for water resources development projects and major policies proposed by governments and investors to be scrutinized in public. Deliberative forms of engagement are potentially very helpful because they encourage supporters and critics to articulate assumptions and reasoning about the different opportunities and risks associated with alternative options, and in doing so, they often traverse and enable higher-quality conversations within and across scales and within and between levels. Six case studies from the Mekong Region are examined. We find evidence that scale and level politics affects the context, process, content, and outcomes of deliberative engagement in a region where public deliberation is still far from being a norm, particularly where there are sensitive and far-reaching choices to be made about water use and energy production.     

教育系统会计集中核算的利弊及对策

教育系统会计集中核算，是指在不改变单位内部理财机制、资金支配权和财务管理的职能下，取消单位现有的银行账户，由核算中心统一在银行开设账户，集中办理资金支付结算，集中进行会计核算，集中管理会计档案。财政管理体制改革的一项重要内容就是实行会计集中核算制度。     

SUBJECTIVE DECISION-MAKING FOR URBAN WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT1

ABSTRACT: Bayesian decision theory provides a procedure for the use of subjective data in a decision-making situation related to urban water resources development. This procedure is effectual in pursuing a set of goals and in transforming individual or group indecisiveness into satisfactory decisions. This approach is highlighted due to its capability to incorporate seemingly unquantifiable, abstract factors into the decision-making process. It is realized that the soliciting of expert and general public opinion is indispensable in making choices for the welfare of the general public from alternative courses of action under uncertainty. The analysis presented here considers engineering alternatives, quality, quantity, cost and the intangible public response in an integrated effort for the selection of optimum strategies in urban water resources development.     

Using Social Media to Discover Public Values, Interests, and Perceptions about Cattle Grazing on Park Lands

In the western United States, livestock grazing often co-exists with recreation, cultural resource management and biodiversity protection on federal and state protected rangelands as well as on many local government open space areas. While the value of livestock grazing for managing rangeland vegetation to reduce fire fuel loads and improve wildlife habitat is increasingly recognized by resource management professionals, public concerns, and conflict between recreationist and livestock have led to reductions in public land grazing. Traditional public input methods yield a constrained picture of people’s attitudes toward cows and public land grazing. Public meetings, hearings, and surveys, the most commonly used mechanisms for public land managers to solicit public opinion, tend to foster participation of organized special interests or, in the case of surveys, focus on a specific topic. General public input is limited. This study explored the use of personal photography in social media to gain insight into public perceptions of livestock grazing in public spaces. Key findings of this study include that many recreationist in grazed San Francisco Bay Area parks shared views, interests, and concerns about cows and grazing on the photo-sharing website, Flickr^TM that seldom show up at a public meeting or in surveys. Results suggest that social media analysis can help develop a more nuanced understanding of public viewpoints useful in making decisions and creating outreach and education programs for public grazing lands. This study demonstrates that using such media can be useful in gaining an understanding of public concerns about natural resource management.     

公众参与综合支持指数在环境影响评价中的应用

公众参与是环境影响评价工作中的内容之一。公众参与提出的建议和意见可作为环境规划管理决策的重要依据,应积极落实公众参与在环境规划管理决策的权力。采用公众参与综合支持指数研究公众对开发建设项目的支持程度,将公众参与分为强烈支持、比较支持、一般支持和反对4个等级。实例应用表明,公众参与综合支持指数计算结果与环境管理决策基本一致,公众参与综合支持指数可作为一种定量方法,为环境影响评价、环境规划管理提供决策支持。     

Collective Action in the Management of a Tropical Dry Forest Ecosystem: Effects of Mexico’s Property Rights Regime

Dilemmas of natural resources governance have been a central concern for scholars, policy makers, and users. Major debates occur over the implications of property rights for common resources management. After the Mexican Revolution (1910–1917), land was distributed mainly as ejidos conceived as a hereditary but unalienable collective form of property. In 1992, a new Agrarian Law was decreed that allows individual ownership by removing various restrictions over the transfer of land. Scholars have examined the reform mainly focusing on land-tenure changes and environmental fragmentation. This study examines how the new ownership regime is affecting collective decision-making in ejidos located in a tropical dry forest (TDF) ecosystem. Information on decision-making processes before and after the 1992 reform was gathered through 52 interviews conducted in four ejidos selected along a gradient including agricultural, cattle-raising, and TDF use. The new individualized land property system reduced collective action in ejidos but did not trigger it. Collective action responses to the 1992 reform were buffered by self-organization each ejido already had. Heterogeneous users who shared a short history and showed little understanding of TDF and low dependence on its resources seemed to explain why ejidos have not been able to share a sense of community that would shape the construction of institutions for the collective management of forest resources. However, when a resource is scarce and highly valuable such as water the same users showed capacities for undertaking costly co-operative activities.     

WATERSHED COUNCILS: AN EMERGING FORM OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT1

ABSTRACT: There is increasing interest in using watershed councils to provide information to public natural resource managers, particularly in the western states. Watershed councils are composed of interested governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders that form to collaboratively manage water and other natural resources at the scale of a watershed. This research is the first step in a multi-step policy analysis designed to answer the question of whether watershed councils are an improvement over traditional methods of public involvement in natural resource management. This paper outlines why watershed councils form and discusses their structure and operation. There is considerable variability in terms of watershed councils' goals, their effectiveness, stakeholder composition, their involvement in the “real” decision-making process, types of participation that are allowed, leadership, financing, decision-making procedures, efficiency, and temporal scale. These structural components are presented as a framework that can be used by researchers to develop criteria to evaluate watershed councils.     

CITIZEN INFLUENCE IN WATER POLICY DECISIONS: CONTEXT, CONSTRAINTS, AND ALTERNATIVES

ABSTRACT: The desirable proportion of citizen input into policy making and the proper mechanism for that input engender substantial conflict in the water resources arena. Nevertheless, discussions of citizen participation in water policy formation generally occur within narrow perspectives both with regard to the issues involved and the alternative mechanisms by which that participation can be realized. This paper examines the historical and current contexts of the controversies and presents a discussion of the alternative processes for citizen influence - called linkage. The linkage processes discussed include direct participation, citizen advisory committees, the pressure group model, the electoral model and the bureaucratic model. Each linkage process is discussed in terms of who is considered the public, how the public influence works, the limitations of the process, and what available water policy-related data suggest regarding the adequacy of the process.     

Coming to the table: collaborative governance and groundwater decision-making in coastal California

Collaborative governance is on the rise in the United States. This management approach brings together state and non-state actors for environmental decision-making, and it is frequently used in California for decisions regarding local groundwater management. This study examines groundwater decision-making groups and practices in a central California coastal community to understand whether groups meet specific collaborative governance criteria and whether and why certain subsets of the population are excluded from groundwater decision-making practices. It also identifies actions for better group inclusion. We find that small farmers, the Hispanic/Latino community, and the general public are often excluded from groundwater decision-making groups and practices due to unawareness, mistrust, and insufficient resources. Education and awareness as well as incentives could help increase inclusion. This study provides insights into more equitable groundwater decision-making groups and practices, and also calls for more critical examination of the current stakeholder approach to decision-making.     

INSTITUTIONALIZED INEFFICIENCY: THE UNFORTUNATE STRUCTURE OF COLORADO'S WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM1

ABSTRACT: This analysis identifies two basic structural features of Colorado's water management system which inhibit constructive reform and perpetuate inefficiencies in water use and distribution patterns. These features are: (1) the fragmentation of authority and influence over water, and (2) the estrangement of interest in reform from formal control over water policy. These interrelated features have continued to produce: sporadic, high conflict battles over proposed changes in the status quo; decision making which tends to exaggerate the importance of narrow, special interests while virtually ignoring legitimate interests of major sectors of the public; an inertia which discourages innovation; and an agglomeration of rules and water rights that are predicated on obsolete social and economic needs. Two radical proposals for reforming the state's water resource management system in order to overcome these problems and to enhance the probability that wise water policy will result are offered. These proposals are: (1) the abolition of the present system of water rights founded on the doctrine of prior appropriation, and (2) the consolidation of authority over water allocation in a single board of governors.     

A City Wide Assessment of the Financial Benefits of Rainwater Harvesting in Mexico City

We assess the potential financial benefits of rooftop rainwater harvesting (RWH) in Mexico City from the perspective of property owners and entrepreneurs. A bottom‐up approach was followed by evaluating RWH at individual buildings and aggregating the results to a borough/city level. We consider sector‐specific water demands, potable and nonpotable uses, and user‐specific water tariffs. We find that RWH is economically most beneficial for nondomestic users rather than for small domestic users, who are often the target of RWH interventions. Based on a net present value analysis, a potable RWH system is not favored for most domestic users under the current subsidized municipal water tariff structure. Our analysis only considers capital and maintenance expenses, and not other benefits related to increased access to water and reliability, or social benefits from a switch to a RWH system. If the initial capital expense for RWH is partly financed by transferring the water subsidy to an entrepreneur, then RWH becomes financially attractive for a wide range of domestic users. To improve water access in Mexico City, RWH is attractive in the most marginalized boroughs where water use is currently lower and precipitation is higher. For domestic users relying on trucked water, RWH can have great financial benefits. Our approach provides quantitative data with high spatial specificity, highlighting the places and types of users that would benefit most from RWH.