Additional Information USAID Integrated Water Resources Management Web Site

This Initiative will improve sustainable management of fresh water resources in developing countries.  It will accelerate and expand international efforts to achieve the UN Millennium Declaration Goals and implement the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation including halving, by 2015, “the proportion of people who are unable to reach or afford safe drinking water” and the “proportion of people without access to basic sanitation.” 
 
Partners
The Initiative involves more than 74 USAID Regional and Bilateral Missions and their implementation partners.
 
Partnership Targets
At WSSD, the United States committed to working with other governmental and non-governmental partners to address three key objectives over the 3-year life of the project (2003-2005):
 
Access to clean water and sanitation services: The U.S. proposed total funding commitments of $510 million over three years for water supply, sanitation and health activities. This includes investments of $60 million in USAID funding for the following partnerships: 

• In the West Africa Water Initiative, $5 million of USAID resources will support water, sanitation, and hygiene programs in West Africa; 
• In an urban water partnership, $11 million of USAID grant funds will expand and improve water supply and sanitation services in cities and municipalities, starting with Panama, South Africa and India;  and
• The U.S. plans to provide $45 million in technical assistance to improve the creditworthiness of local governments and assist them in obtaining local currency investment guarantees to encourage private investment in water services.

Improved watershed management: The United States will invest nearly $400 million over three years to promote management and protection of water resources at the watershed scale. Activities will include the development of regional and national policies and regulatory frameworks for joint and integrated management of shared water resources, using advanced technologies - such as Geographic Information Systems - for better watershed management and interventions to reduce contamination.  
 
Increasing the productivity of water: The U.S. will invest $60 million over three years to increase the efficiency of water use in industrial and agricultural activities. A critical goal is to reduce water losses from irrigated agriculture.

These investments will leverage as much as $630 million in additional private and public resources over the three-year life of the Initiative for developing countries around the world.
 
Progress Toward Targets 
In Fiscal Year 2003, the Initiative provided $329 million toward water resources management projects.[1]  As a result, more than 19 million people have improved access to safe water supplies and sanitation.  Major accomplishments include the following:

• Investment in local currency partial guarantees to encourage private investment in water services, coupled with technical assistance from USAID's Development Credit Authority, has leveraged $45 million in Morocco and Egypt;
• USAID's Peaceful Communities Initiative helped develop the first trans-border drinking water system in the Ferghana Valley of Uzbekistan and Kyrgystan since the countries gained independence from the Soviet Union;
• USAID wells and pipelines have nearly doubled the amount of water available for about 400,000 residents in the West Bank ;
• USAID funded the provision of emergency water supplies and the creation of a sustainable management system helping 35,000 people affected by recurrent droughts in Eritrea ;
• In Ghana, Mali, and Niger, USAID is participating in the West Africa Water Initiative (WAWI), a new alliance of twelve organizations announced at the World Summit for Sustainable Development that will help increase access to safe, affordable, and sustainable sources of water for poor and vulnerable populations ;  and
• USAID/Indonesia's water supply improvement and cost recovery program has enabled local water utilities to expand reliable coverage at sustainable and affordable rates to an additional 905,000 people this year.

Next Steps
The United States will continue to put high priority in this Initiative so that all targets will be met and/or exceeded by the end of Fiscal Year 2005.
 
Resources
The United States proposed a total of up to $970 million to be invested over the three years of the Initiative (2003-2005). It is anticipated that these investments will leverage additional financing of $630 million, bringing the Initiative total to more than $1.6 billion for water-related activities globally.
 
U.S. Government Primary Points of Contact
Agency for International Development: Alan Hurdus, USAID Water Team Leader, Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade (EGAT), E-mail:  alhurdus@usaid.gov 

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[1] In addition to this figure, USAID obligated $250 million to Iraq for improved water supply and sanitation systems.

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