The Lake Atitlán basin experiences serious problems of water pollution, soil erosion and forest and biodiversity losses. Action was taken to establish the Authority for the Sustainable Management of the Atitlán Basin. However, barriers such as lack of public participation, institutional coordination and investment funds have only ensured limited success. The key lesson learnt is that the main barriers to an integrated management of water resources in the basin are strongly interlinked.
In Turkey, operations and maintenance for irrigation systems was highly centralised, but this imposed an increasing institutional and financial burden on the government. Action has consequently been taken to transfer irrigation management to Water User Associations. The key insight from this case is that legal reforms should accompany institutional changes to enable full benefits to be gained.
The Lake Basin Development Authority was set up to manage the entire catchment area of all rivers draining into Lake Victoria. However, its performance was not to the expectation. A further, action was taken to decentralise management and priority was given to achieve access to basic water requirements for the poor, as well as quality of water and improving availability of water for livestock and irrigation. The key lesson learnt is the importance of a participatory approach.
More than twenty (20) stakeholders in St. Lucia from Ministries of Public Utilities and Finance and other government agencies, the private sector, non-governmental organisations, water and wastewater managers, legal practitioners, among others were trained in the area of Water Financing in a workshop held in St. Lucia on May 28th and 29th, 2013 put on by the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) and the National Water and Sewerage Commission (NWSC) of St. Lucia.
The China Office of UKDFID organized a Roundtable Meeting on Sustainable Development on October 26, 2010 in Beijing.
The sixth SADC Multi-Stakeholder Water Dialogue was held on 1-2 October 2013 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Lusaka, Zambia. The dialogue was sponsored by DANIDA and other cooperating partners (German Cooperation, Australian Aid, UK Aid).
The DIKTAS Project (2010 – 2014) is initiated by the aquifer-sharing states and is a full-size GEF regional project, implemented by UNDP and executed by UNESCO. The activities of the project focus on Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro. Several other countries and international organizations have also joined this challenging project and provide valuable contribution to realisation of its objectives.
The lack of laws and regulations, as well as good administration and management, contribute to poor water governance. In the Naranjo river basin, action was taken to implement IWRM after initiatives stemming from individuals with personal conviction of its importance. This has led to the creation of some formal legislation and the process of implementing IWRM. This consequently illustrates the potential important role of individuals in driving policy change.
The Kumbo water supply system has always had contested ownership claims. After decades of protest, action was taken and management was transferred to Kumbo Urban Council, resulting in the establishment of an inclusive and participatory community water governance structure. From this, the lesson can be learnt that the command and control paradigm can provoke social and political instability. The case also demonstrates how community based platforms can enhance community mobilisation and participatory governance.