In 2000, Oxfam, funded by DFID, constructed 37 water pumps in the neighborhood, which is one of the most disadvantaged areas of the city. And between May 2006 and April 2007, DFID has supported Oxfam with almost £1 million to carry out similar water projects in North and South Kivu in eastern DRC.

"Mama" Sophie Mena has lived in the Ndjili Kilambo district of Kinshasa for most of her life. She survived the civil war and still suffers from the severe neglect of public services, such as the provision of drinking water. The cleaner water from the new pump has measurably improved her family’s health. She said:

"The national water system, which should serve this area, is very bad. The water only flows at 3am when, because there is no electric lighting here, it is very dangerous for dwellers in the area to go out. And the water is dirty and makes us sick.

"During the day we can take water from the spring, but this is not properly maintained and also not safe to drink."

"Without this pump we would have suffered a lot. Once, before the new pump was installed, the water from the national system stopped flowing for an entire month, and we had to walk a long way to fetch water. Before the pump, my children would often have diarrhea or amoebas, but now they are ill less often."

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http://www.dfid.gov.uk

The concept of integrated water resources management (IWRM) has been around for some 60 years. It was rediscovered by some in the 1990s. While at a first glance, the concept of IWRM looks attractive, a deeper analysis brings out many problems, both in concept and implementation, especially for meso- to macro-scale projects. The definition of IWRM continues to be amorphous, and there is no agreement on fundamental issues like what aspects should be integrated, how, by whom, or even if such integration in a wider sense is possible. The reasons for the current popularity of the concept are analyzed in this paper, and it is argued that in the real world, the concept will be exceedingly difficult to be made operational.

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http://www.geog.ox.ac.uk

The availability of adequate, safe water is critical to health, economy and environment. This is not only true for the arid and semi-arid regions of the world, but also for the humid regions. Insufficient water supply will seriously hamper the welfare of people, industrial and agricultural production and the quality of the environment. However, excess of water, resulting in floods and inundation, may cause many casualties and seriously damage property.

Human society depends very much on a timely and reliable supply of water and adequate handling of excess water. Climate change has the potential to alter the water boundary conditions of society.

The resources of water are highly irregularly distributed in both space and time. The Amazon carries 20 percent of global average runoff, while the Sahel region receives less than 1 percent. Thirty percent of the total runoff of Africa flows in a single river basin. Many regions receive their precipitation during a brief, intense rainy season. This large variability is responsible for many of the problems facing water management. Although the driving forces of the distribution of water are natural, mankind has intervened heavily in the flow of water. Man has built dams, reservoirs, canals, irrigation systems, dikes and sluices, all to ensure a proper operation of the natural system for human purposes. Nevertheless, modern water management has to deal with increasing stresses. Climate change has the potential to alter these stresses.

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http://www.carthago.nl

As the Himalayan glaciers melt due to climate change, China is one of the countries most vulnerable to the drying up of its water supply.

Without access to clean and adequate supplies of fresh water, communities will be unable to improve agriculture-based livelihoods or improve health conditions.

Yet increasing demands by industrial and urban users and increasing levels of pollution are creating serious shortages of clean and adequate water supplies for countries around the world.

Read the article (website)
http://www.china.org.cn

With respect to water management related to agricultural production there are, broadly speaking, three agro-climatologic zones: the temperate humid zone; the arid and semi-arid zone; and, the humid tropical zone. In principle, types of cultivation practices may be distinguished as:
1. Rainfed cultivation, without or with a drainage system, and
2. irrigated cultivation, without or with a drainage system.

Dependent on the local conditions, different types of water management with different levels of service will be appropriate. In drought prone regions agriculture is normally impossible without an irrigation system. Drainage systems may be applied for salinity control and the prevention of waterlogging.

The sector vision of Water for Food and Rural Development indicates a required duplication in food production over the forthcoming 25 years and gives general recommendations how this increase can be achieved. The major part of the increase in production would have to come from already cultivated land, among others, by water saving, improved irrigation and drainage, and increase in storages.

Especially in the developing countries, huge efforts are required to feed the growing population, to improve the standard of living in the rural area, and to develop and manage land and water in a sustainable way.

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http://www.wg-crop.icidonline.org/

Rapid population growth, poverty and changes in lifestyle contribute to growing scarcity and threats of water and environmental degradation. In areas where overall availability is small and where additional withdrawals are difficult and expensive, scrunity of water use and sectoral allocation assume prime significance.

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http://www.sida.se

This 5-year project will be implemented in the agro-pastoral regions of Dosso and Tillaberi. The objective is to enhance surface and ground water management by promoting the construction and development of irrigation structures, small-scale irrigation techniques and efficient resource management.

The project will adopt a participatory and decentralized approach to develop 1,200 ha for flood recession cropping and 680 ha for irrigation farming, and also regenerate close to 9,500 ha of degraded lands. In particular, it will help to address problems of land tenure, community natural resources management, structuring of farmers’ organizations and women’s empowerment. The main components of the project are: (a) Infrastructure Development; (b) Agricultural Development; (c) Capacity Building and (d) Project Management.

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http://www.afdb.org

Improving water resources management anywhere, most would now agree, is largely a matter of institutional change. Institutions are specific to individual countries, and institutional change must take place within the cultural and political contexts of those countries. What can be achieved, how it can be achieved, and how it will work if implemented is quite different in Mexico than it is in Bolivia, just as it is quite different in France than in the U.S. The authors here have tried to emphasize the importance of cultural and political context, and to provide some suggestions as to how they may be taken into account.

International lending agencies can have considerable influence upon the improvement of water resources management in LAC. But this is only influence, of course, and often it is quite limited. Internal factors will always be far more influential in determining what happens, and this is how it should be. But they also believe that there is great room for improvement in how lending agencies use their limited leverage, and how effectively they work in concert with in-country entities and with each other.

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http://www.iadb.org

Securing safe and reliable water and sanitation services for all is one of the leading challenges facing sustainable development. All but a few OECD countries have connected 100% of their populations to safe water supplies, and the majority are connected to wastewater treatment. Progress has also been made in developing countries but there is still a long way to go.

A comprehensive list of relevant OECD documents has been prepared on the following issues:
Financing water supply and sanitation systems
Monitoring aid for water
Pricing water
Improving governance of water resources
Achieving sustainable management of water in agriculture
Making water clean and drinkable

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http://www.oecd.org

The water crisis is a critical issue for governments and societies worldwide. But poor people face this crisis on a daily basis. The sustainable management of water is crucial to efforts to eliminate poverty. Poor people’s lives are closely linked to their access to water and its multiple uses and functions.

The Department for International Development (DFID) recently published a water strategy paper, Addressing the Water Crisis. This takes as its starting point the connections between lack of access to water and associated natural resources, poverty entrapment and increased risk of disease, and reduced livelihood opportunities at a local level. It also highlights the broader constraints this poses to agricultural and industrial growth.

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http://www.ourplanet.com