Assisting local authorities in carrying out their responsibilities

Water, unlike electricity, cannot be transported over long distances. Water services are therefore managed locally; and it is there that the real problems arise as regards abstracting water, supplying water and treating wastewater etc.

So whereas States are responsible for defining national policy and laying down the general rules, it is local authorities who have to meet the needs of local communities.

Elected representatives and management teams in charge of municipal services must therefore be able to make reversible and informed choices concerning the sustainable management of their public water services. It is important that local authorities have the necessary technical and people skills as well as tailored financial subsidies in order for this to happen.

Adapting to expectations

Veolia Water endeavours to implement a socio-economic and cultural approach in order to better identify the needs of customers, their habits and expectations. The basis of this approach is listening to as well as understanding the different local communities, and how the various social groups within the community are organized. It uses an analysis of the current service provision and of the use that customers make of it.

This consultation process ensures that there is a good understanding of those needs that are a priority and what improvements the community expects to be made before putting forward a concrete action plan that could meet their expectations.

In their "Millennium Development Goals", which were clarified in 2000, the United Nations aims to halve the percentage of the population deprived of regular access to drinking water. In 2002 this goal was extended to include wastewater.

The December 2006 report by UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) on human development entitled "Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis" stated that additional annual funding of $10 billion would be required to achieve the Millennium Goals on condition that the technology chosen provided good value for money and was sustainable. It made clear that achieving these goals would lead to the saving of 1 million lives over a 10 year period, children would gain 272 school days and there would be an economic benefit of $38 million to local communities. It also requires that the conditions providing legal, contractual and financial security which are conducive to the raising of local and international funding are properly in place.

It is an important issue. What took centuries in Europe needs to be completed in just several years in the countries of the south. In addition, the infrastructure for clean drinking water as well as for sanitation - i.e. the treatment of wastewater so that it can be released back into the environment - needs to be built simultaneously. In Europe, there was a gap of almost a century between the two services.

This goal could be met on condition all financial resources are mobilized such as increasing public development aid and developing fair pricing policies; mobilizing local savings in order to involve the local communities themselves; and instigating new financial instruments which ensure a better distribution of risks etc.

But these efforts will have been in vain if true water governance has not been established in the first place. This entails a clear division of responsibilities among stakeholders involved in the water sector (local authorities, operating companies, associations or councils representing local communities etc.). The report "Financing Water for All" presented by Michel Camdessus at the 3^rd World Water Forum in Kyoto in 2003 reiterates that all water policy will lack direction if countries, lenders and local authorities do not make this a priority and do not set guidelines for themselves.

Private water companies are currently responsible for supplying drinking water to between 6 and 7 % of the world's population, while the proportion of the world's population which has access to wastewater systems operated or maintained by these companies is around 4%.

The importance of outsourcing services

Local authorities still retain control of water policy when they call upon the skills of private operating companies by outsourcing services. They outline what goals are to be achieved, set the price for the duration of the contract and retain ownership of the infrastructure. Private operating companies have to report to the public authorities to whom they provide technical and managerial expertise.

The management of water and wastewater services is a complex business which requires both great professionalism and an acute sense of responsibility towards the health of local communities and the protection of their environment. Whether the operating company be public or private, it has to be professionally capable of meeting these requirements.

Founded in France more than 150 years ago, Veolia Water is today the leading operating company for water and wastewater services with 5,000 operating contracts in 59 countries. Since the company was founded, it has met with a wide range of expectations from local authorities and a vast array of diverse local circumstances. However, Veolia Water has always been able to facilitate and keep up with the increase in hygiene and environmental quality criteria.