Water Policy and Regulation

Available and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all relies upon the collective action of interdependent stakeholders, playing their role effectively and efficiently (The Lisbon Charter ). Transitioning to such a water wise world starts with people –people that informs and implements the right enabling environment .
We often hear that the world faces a water crisis; what we hear less is that this is often a crisis of Public Policy and Regulation.

Policies and regulations affect our lives in many ways; they come into play when we open the tap or pay the water bill (quality criteria, service provision, pricing), when we take a walk near at the park to enjoy that beautiful pond (emissions, sharing of water resources) or when we sketch our next project to extend sanitation services in the next town (performance, technical specifications, etc.).

But they are also one of the top risks for water and water infrastructure projects. Additional or unforeseen requirements or misinformation about licenses can delay projects, affect the rate of return that an investment decision was originally based on, delayed approvals and changes in policy can make projects unviable, etc.
The Water Policy and Regulation agenda cuts across all areas of work at IWA, connecting regulatory authorities and practitioners to inform and implement an enabling environment that makes the water wise vision possible.
We do this guided by the Lisbon Charter by facilitating peer-to-peer dialogue and learning across regulatory functions –economic, health, environment and quality of service–; and collaborative governance, across sectors and especially with the research, science and technology communities.