Water in a developing world: management of a critical resource

The United Nations Water Conference addressed a few questions implicit in this statement of the outlook. A concrete response was made to the request by the 1976 Habitat Conference that nations find ways of providing water of adequate quality to all their population by 1990. Steps were suggested to speed up the national efforts at water resource appraisal, planning, and operation. These involved recommendations to national governments assisted by regional collaboration and by global cooperation in sharing research findings, technical advice, and financial support. A great deal of knowledge, including that accumulated during the International Hydrologic Decade and the International Biological Programme, is not now applied effectively, and some of the well intentioned efforts are making matters worse.

The weaknesses and puzzles of water management in high income countries are displayed prominently in developing countries. Influ enced by cultural transfer, bilateral aid, and multi-national organiza tion, they abound in instances of excessively costly design and construction, of concentration upon technological measures to the disadvantage of community advancement, of casual neglect of social and environmental consequences, of legal systems inappropriate to natural environment and national aims, and of conflicts among administrative agencies with specialized missions.