Towards effective water policy in the Asian and Pacific region (vol three: Theme Papers and Comments)

Water scarcity, the gap between human demand and the availability of water in the required quantity and quality, is a fundamental issue facing the water sector. In the Asian and Pacific Region, the supply of water is limited and unevenly distributed in time and space. Several areas are among the most water short in the world, while others are short in the dry season and vulnerable to devastating floods during the wet season. As populations grow, water shortages will increase, competition for water will intensify, and flood damage will escalate as property values increase and people and economic assets move onto the flood plains. This is only one aspect of the emerging water crisis in the Region - a situation that precipitated an innovative and highly successful regional consultative process as the Asian Development Bank undertakes the task of formulating its own water policy.
  
This volume, Towards Water Policy in the Asian and Pacific Region, Volume Three: Theme Papers and Comments, presents the keynote papers presented at the Regional Consultation Workshop – an important milestone in the consultative process. The papers focus on the four Workshop themes: the country institutional context, the basin management context, the urbanization context, and the economic and financial context. Also included are the comments of the regional experts on the keynote presentations, and a summary of the seminars where Asian Development Bank staff focused on the four themes.

Contents:

Chapter 1: The Country Institutional Context by Guy Alaerts
Comments:
Do Hong Phan
F.Mohideen
Prachoom Chomchai
Soenarno
Angel A. Alejandrino
Apichart Anukularmphai
Report of the ADB Staff Seminar

Chapter 2: The Basin Management Context by Peter Millington
Comments:
Hee-Seung Lee
Viktor Dukhovny
Weng Lida
Barkat Ali Luna
Report of the ADB Staff Seminar

Chapter 3: The Urbanization Context by Michael Porter
Comments:
Mardjono Notodihardjo
Xiangcan Jin
Soon-Bo Shim
Kiran Bhattarai
Report of the ADB Staff Seminar

Chapter 4: The Economic and Financial Context by Peter Rogers
Comments:
A. Vaidyanathan
Li Yuanyuan
Ramon Abracosa
M. Wickramage
Report of the ADB Staff Seminar