Peri-urban Water and Sanitation Services (eBook)

​Dr. Mathew Kurian is Academic Officer and leads the Capacity Development and Governance unit at United Nations University Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES). Prior to joining UNU-FLORES, he served as Senior Water and Sanitation Specialist at Water and Sanitation Programme (WSP) of The World Bank where he led policy advocacy efforts related to rural water supply, wastewater reuse, and climate adaptation options in secondary towns. He began his career as a Robert McNamara Fellow at the World Bank where his work on land tenure reform was hosted by the Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI), New Delhi.   Upon completing his PhD in Development Studies from the Institute of Social Studies (ISS), Erasmus University, The Hague, Netherlands, Dr. Kurian was employed as Associate Expert (Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs) at International Water Management Institute (IWMI-CGIAR) where he undertook assessments of soil and water conservation interventions in the Mekong and Nile river basins. In 2009 as member of faculty at UNESCO-IHE, Delft, Dr. Kurian led the development of a policy note on urban sanitation and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for the Directorate General of International Cooperation (DGIS) in the Netherlands. While still at UNESCO-IHE, Dr. Kurian developed an online e-learning course on governance of water and sanitation services in developing countries.   He has published in the area of water institutions and policy and has mentored students of the MSc programme in environment and development planning while on the faculty of University College London (UCL). His experience in the field of capacity development includes training civil servants and managers of water utilities in Iran and Tanzania, consulting assignments with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Philippines and teaching undergraduate courses in human geography at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Vancouver, Canada. In his current function, he leads the design of public policy research, policy advocacy in support of evidence-based decision making and fund raising to support establishment of a nexus observatory network.

Preface 6
Acknowledgements 8
Contents 10
List of Boxes 12
List of Figures 14
List of Tables 18
Contributors 20
Abbreviations 28
Chapter 1: Introduction 33
1.1 Introduction 33
1.2 Urban Environmental Governance 36
1.2.1 Interdependence of the Water Cycle 36
1.2.2 Architecture of Water Service Provision 36
1.2.3 Governance Arrangements at the Peri-urban Interface 37
1.2.4 Common Pool Resources and Environmental Externalities 37
1.2.5 Institutions and Economic Development 38
1.3 Water and Sanitation Services: Infrastructure, Policy and Co-production 39
1.3.1 Equity Effects of Policy Intervention 39
1.3.2 Infrastructure and Contracts 40
1.3.3 Infrastructure: Cost and Price Considerations 41
1.3.4 Co-production and Service Delivery 42
1.4 Approach Adopted by This Book 43
1.4.1 Framework for Understanding Water Services 44
1.4.2 Institutional Environment 45
1.4.3 Contractual Hazards and Credible Commitment 45
1.4.4 The Poor, Decision-Making and Path Dependence 46
1.4.5 Time, Space and Information 47
1.4.6 From Development Aid to Cooperation 49
1.4.7 Service Delivery Reform in an Inter-connected World 50
1.4.8 Incremental Reform: Concluding Thoughts 52
1.5 Structure to the Message 54
References 55
Chapter 2: Neither Rural nor Urban: Service Delivery Options That Work for the Peri-urban Poor 59
2.1 Introduction1 59
2.2 Zooming Out: Beyond the Rural–Urban Divide 61
2.3 Emerging Landscapes in the Rural–Urban Continuum 63
2.3.1 Shifting Boundaries 64
2.3.2 Spatial Considerations and the Informational City 64
2.3.3 Peri-urbanisation: Trends in Africa, Latin Americaand Asia 65
2.4 Neither Urban nor Rural: Understanding Change at the Peri-urban Interface 67
2.4.1 Process of Change 67
2.4.2 Need for a Regional Planning Focus 69
2.5 Living Between Two Worlds: The Peri-urbanisation of Poverty 71
2.5.1 Differential Impacts on the Poor in Rural and Urban Areas 72
2.5.2 Decision-Making, the Poor and the Political Process 73
2.6 Service Provision at the Peri-urban Interface: Moving Beyond the Public–Private Divide 74
2.6.1 Private Sector Participation and Access of the Poor to Services 75
2.6.2 A Fault Line 76
2.6.3 A Role for Municipalities and Local Governments 77
2.7 Access to Basic Services on the Ground: A Wider Spectrum of Service Providers 77
2.7.1 Beyond International Private Sector Participation? 82
2.7.2 A Future for Simplified Sewerage Systems? 83
2.7.3 Co-production Options: Hybridity and Informality 84
2.8 Crossing the Public–Private Divide: Rethinking Service Delivery Options that Work for the Peri-urban Poor 86
Box 2.1 Environmental impacts affecting the rural–urban interface 68
Box 2.2 The Zero Growth Pact in the peri-urban interface of Mexico DF 74
Box 2.3 Building cooperation across municipalities in Brazil 78
Box 2.4 Who is responsible for service provision in peri-urban Chennai? 79
Box 2.5 Condominial sewers in Brazil 84
Box 2.6 Community toilets as a form of service co-production in Mumbai, India 85
Box 2.7 Scaling up sanitation in India through CLIFF 86
Box 2.8 Citizen co-production in Caracas, Venezuela 87
References 90
Chapter 3: Prospects for Resource Recovery Through Wastewater Reuse 94
3.1 Water Scarcity and the Need for Allocation 94
3.2 Water as an Economic Good 97
3.3 Urban Water Use, Sanitation and Wastewater Disposal 100
3.3.1 Urban Water Footprint 100
3.3.2 Water Stress in Cities: Upstream and Downstream Implications of Sanitation Provision 102
3.3.3 Sanitation and Waste Disposal Infrastructure in Cities 104
3.4 Valuing Wastewater as a Resource 105
3.4.1 Definitions of Wastewater and Typology 106
3.4.2 Overview of Planned and Unplanned Use in Agriculture 108
3.4.3 Drivers, Benefits, and Risks of Wastewater Agriculture 109
3.4.3.1 Drivers 109
3.4.3.2 Benefits 111
3.4.3.3 Health Risks 112
3.4.3.4 Other Risks 114
3.5 Sustainable Approaches to Sanitation and Wastewater Management 114
3.5.1 Design for Service Planning Approach 115
3.5.2 Ecological Sanitation 115
3.6 Conclusions 116
Box 3.1 The urban water footprint as virtual water flow into cities through food 101
Box 3.2 Economic development and sanitation service provision 103
Box 3.3 Planned reuse (Tunisia) versus unplanned reuse (Ethiopia and Ghana) 110
Box 3.4 Diseases most commonly associated with wastewater 113
References 116
Chapter 4: Climate-Based Risks in Cities 121
4.1 Introduction: Megacities and Climate Risks 121
4.1.1 Climate-Induced Urbanisation 128
4.1.2 Climate Risks for City Populations and Climate Change 130
4.2 Responses of Municipalities to Climate Risks 132
4.2.1 Municipalities, Climate Risks, Water and Sanitation 132
4.2.2 Floods, Pollution and Health Risks 133
4.2.3 Reduced Water Supplies and Temperature 135
4.2.4 Climate Change and Rural–Urban Interfaces 137
4.3 Conclusion 138
References 139
Chapter 5: Wastewater Management Under the Dutch Water Boards: Any Lessons for Developing Countries? 141
5.1 Introduction 141
5.2 Wastewater Treatment in the Netherlands 142
5.2.1 Historical Development 143
5.2.2 Changes in Policy and Legal Framework 145
5.2.3 Public Investment in Sewage Treatment 146
5.2.4 Evolution of Environmental Standards for Wastewater Treatment Plants 147
5.3 Scale of Wastewater Management by the Dutch Water Boards 148
5.3.1 Organisational Development 148
5.3.2 Transition Towards Centralised Systems 150
5.4 Influence of European Directive on Environmental Standards 151
5.4.1 Monitoring Environmental Standards 153
5.5 Tariff Setting for Wastewater Treatment Services 153
5.6 Emerging Trends 155
5.6.1 Technical Efficiency and Resource Recovery 155
5.6.2 Combined Billing of Water Supply and Sanitation Services 156
5.6.3 Benchmarking Water Boards 156
5.6.3.1 Indicator 1: Plant Functioning 158
5.6.3.2 Indicator 2: Finance 158
5.6.3.3 Indicator 3: Environment 159
5.6.3.4 Indicator 4: Environmentally Conscious Operation 159
5.6.3.5 Indicator 5: Innovation 159
5.6.3.6 Indicator 6: Organisational Innovation 160
5.6.3.7 Indicator 7: Customer Satisfaction 160
5.7 Lessons for Developing Countries 160
5.8 Conclusions 161
Chapter 6: Financing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for Water and Sanitation: Issues and Options 162
6.1 Introduction 162
6.2 Results-Based Financing in the Water Sector 164
6.2.1 Infrastructure Financing Trends 164
6.2.2 Private Investments in Infrastructure: Lessons from Telecom and Energy Sectors 166
6.2.3 Importance of Legal and Policy Frameworks 167
6.2.4 OBA Approach to Financing Service Delivery 170
6.3 Leveraging Behaviour Change in City Planningand Sanitation Financing 172
6.3.1 Predicting Demand for Capital Investment 173
6.3.2 Donor Deliberations on Aid Harmonisationand Budget Support 174
6.3.3 Enhancing Accountability and Capacity of Local Authorities 175
6.3.4 Private Participation in Service Delivery 176
6.3.5 Linking Budgetary Allocation to Accomplishment of Policy Objectives: The Role of Rating and Reward Systems 178
6.4 Reform Pathways: Consolidating Sources of Financeand Knowledge 181
6.4.1 Mixing and Matching Resources from Publicand Private Sectors 181
6.4.2 Leveraging Local Finances to Facilitate Improved Access to Sanitation Services 181
6.5 Conclusions 182
Box 6.1 Private participation in sewerage financing, Malaysia 165
Box 6.2 Fiscal decentralisation and service delivery in India 169
Box 6.3 Limitations to shifting risks to service providers 171
References 183
Chapter 7: Budget Support for Local Government: Theory and Practice 184
7.1 Introduction 184
7.2 Context, Definitions and Functions 185
7.2.1 Basic Terms and Macro-variables 185
7.2.2 Actors and Classic Norms of Behaviour 186
7.2.3 Cyclical Timetables and Strategies 187
7.2.4 Uncontrollable Budget Items 188
7.3 Inter-governmental Transfers and Budget Support 188
7.4 Approaches and Trends in Budgeting 190
7.4.1 Line-Item Budgeting 192
7.4.2 Performance Budgeting 192
7.4.3 Planning–Programming–Budgeting 193
7.4.4 Management by Objectives (MBO) 194
7.4.5 Zero-Based Budgeting 194
7.5 The Budgetary Process 195
7.6 Concluding Thoughts 198
References 198
Chapter 8: Information’s Role in Adaptive Groundwater Management 200
8.1 Introduction 200
8.2 The State Apparatus and Delivery of Public Services 202
8.2.1 Centralising, Fragmented and Aggregate Information 202
8.2.2 Information and Public Representation: Consumers Versus Citizens 204
8.3 Rural Water Supply in India: Data Incongruities and Evidence Based Decision Making 206
8.3.1 Legislative Approach to Policy Implementation 206
8.3.2 Feedback Loops Between Policy Intervention and Environmental Outcomes 207
8.3.3 Science and Practice of Groundwater Management 208
8.3.4 Accounting for Spatial and Temporal Variation in Groundwater 210
8.4 Information’s Role in Facilitating Adaptive Management 211
8.4.1 Relationship Between Aquifer Characteristics, Water Quality and Health Impacts 211
8.4.2 Implications for Water Quality Monitoring Strategies 213
8.4.3 Community Level Adaptive Management 213
8.4.4 Information Communication Technology and Enhanced Accountability 214
8.4.5 Water Resource Audits: Reliability, Frequency and Dis-aggregate Information 216
8.4.6 Informing Design of Incentives7 for Source Protection (ISP) 217
8.5 Conclusions 218
References 219
Chapter 9: Making Sense of Human–Environment Interaction: Policy Guidance Under Conditions of Imperfect Data 221
9.1 Introduction 221
9.2 Policy and Institutional Context 222
9.2.1 Farmer Adoption of Soil Conservation Practices, Luang Prabhang, Laos 222
9.2.2 The Mekong River Basin in Lao PDR 223
9.2.3 Bio-physical Characteristics of the MSEC Catchment in Lao PDR 225
9.2.4 Socio-economic Profile and Crop Production System of Lak Sip Settlement 225
9.2.5 Analytical Approach 226
9.2.6 Household Sampling Strategy 228
9.2.7 Data Collection Techniques 229
9.3 Discussion of Study Findings 229
9.3.1 Evidence on Soil and Nutrient Loss: Fallow Period and Agricultural Yields 230
9.3.2 Potential Economic Benefits 230
9.3.3 Social and Political Acceptability of Improved Fallow Technology 232
9.3.4 Farmer Access to Benefits of IF Technology: Institutional Environment Versus Institutional Arrangements 233
9.3.4.1 Rigidity of Land Tenure Reform Process 233
9.3.4.2 Poor access to Information 235
9.3.4.3 Price Fluctuation 235
9.4 Conclusions 237
References 238
Chapter 10: Approaches to Economic and Environmental Valuation of Domestic Wastewater 240
10.1 Concepts and Methods 241
10.1.1 Background 241
10.1.2 Methods of Valuing Externalities 241
10.1.2.1 Direct Methods 242
10.1.2.2 Indirect Methods 243
10.1.2.3 Replacement Cost (RC) or Averting Cost (AC) 245
10.1.2.4 Travel Cost Method (TCM) 245
10.1.2.5 Hedonic Pricing Method 246
10.2 The Case Study 247
10.2.1 Sample Design 247
10.2.2 Origin of Wastewater 247
10.2.3 Extent, Incidence and Disposal of Wastewater 249
10.2.3.1 Domestic Wastewater 249
10.2.4 Total Wastewater Generated 251
10.2.5 Quality of Wastewater 251
10.2.6 Impact of Wastewater on Local Communities 253
10.2.6.1 Impacts on Agriculture and Livelihoods 254
10.2.6.2 Wastewater Agriculture: Costs and Benefits 254
10.2.7 Health Impacts 258
10.2.7.1 Health Impacts on Washer Men/Women 259
10.2.7.2 Impact on Rural Water Supplies 260
10.2.8 Health Impacts on Livestock 261
10.2.9 Costs and Benefits of Wastewater Use 262
10.3 The Way Forward 263
10.3.1 Wastewater Management Options 263
10.3.2 Framework for Sustainable Wastewater Management 265
10.3.3 Life Cycle Cost Assessment: A Framework for Integrated Planning 265
10.3.4 Implications of LCCA on Project Costs and Tariffs for Water Services 267
10.4 Conclusion 267
References 268
Chapter 11: Benchmarking Water Services Delivery 270
11.1 Introduction 270
11.2 Definition and Evolution of Benchmarking 271
11.3 Benchmarking Methodology and Application 274
11.3.1 Classification 274
11.3.2 Process 275
11.3.3 Outcomes 275
11.3.4 Application in Water Utilities 277
11.3.5 Experience in the Dutch Water Sector 279
11.3.6 Experiences Elsewhere 283
11.4 Other Performance Assessment Methods 285
11.4.1 Community Score Card 285
11.4.2 Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys (PETS) 288
11.4.3 GIS-Assisted WaSH Mapping 290
11.5 Conclusions 291
References 293
Chapter 12: Planning Clinics: A Primer 294
12.1 Introduction 294
12.2 Case Study: City Wide Sanitation Planning, Jakarta, Indonesia 296
12.2.1 Project Area 296
12.2.2 Preparation of City Sanitation Strategies 297
12.3 Decision-Making Under Uncertainty 298
12.3.1 Policy Process, Budgeting, Information Flow 298
12.3.2 Planning Clinics: Vision, Goal, Action Plan 299
12.3.3 Mapping Concentrations of Poor and Access to Services 300
12.3.4 Building Consensus for Identified Priorities 301
12.3.5 Resources, Risks and Timelines 301
12.3.6 Monitoring Framework 302
12.4 Conclusion 302
12.5 Appendix: Public Revenue and Expenditure Trends 302
References 303
Chapter 13: Conclusions: Governance Challenges in Urban and Peri-urban Areas 304
13.1 Introduction 304
13.2 Changing Municipal Territories 305
13.3 Emerging Questions: Emerging Challenges 307
13.3.1 Globalisation of Urban Spaces 308
13.3.2 Information, Measurement and City Indicators 310
13.3.3 Effective Coordination of Funds, Functions and Functionaries 312
13.3.4 How the Peri-urban Poor Access Services 316
13.3.5 Financing 318
13.3.6 Inclusive Cities 320
13.4 Future Directions 322
References 323
Index 325