Getting ready for the Anthropocene: Overcoming obstacles on the development path for municipal water and sanitation services

Dale Whittington, Céline Nauges and Richard Damania
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Dale Whittington: UNC - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, MBS - Manchester Business School
Céline Nauges: TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - UT - Université de Toulouse - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement
Richard Damania: WBG = GBM - World Bank Group = Groupe Banque Mondiale

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Abstract: This paper describes three phases that cities go through for the delivery of municipal water and sanitation services, identifying the main political, technological, socio-institutional, financial, public health forces of disequilibria that push cities along this development path. Data from the Global Water Intelligence and the World Bank's International Benchmarking Network show that most of the countries with utilities with limited piped water coverage (Phase 1) have an annual GDP per capita less than US$5000. In contrast, most countries with an annual GDP per capita greater than US$10 000 have close to universal piped water coverage (Phase 3). We find no statistically significant relationship between country-level water scarcity and the average water prices charged by utilities in a country. We discuss a comprehensive policy mix with four components that municipal water utilities need to address the growing water deficits as rising demands confront limited supplies: (1) reduction of nonrevenue water, (2) source diversification, (3) reduction of customer water use, and (4) establishment of financial reserves to address climate-related emergencies.

Date: 2025-05
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Published in Environmental Research Letters, 2025, vol.20 (n°6), ⟨10.1088/1748-9326/add750⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05183821

DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/add750

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