An Alternative to the Governance of Water Services in Mexico: The Model of the New Water Culture
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Social Sciences Research Journal, Volume 1, Issue 1, 1-15 (December 2012), ISSN: 2147-5237 1
An Alternative to the Governance of Water Services in Mexico: The Model of
the New Water Culture
O. Alberto Pombo and Ricardo V. Santes-Álvarez
El Colegio de la Frontera Norte
The conventional image of governance is yielding to novel ways of exercising power.
Initially The New Public Management (NPM) was promoted as the best alternative
to the conventional model to increase the efficiency in the delivery of services; but
the NPM is confronted with the idea that public action should favor the interaction
between actors rather than the material aspects of the management. This concept is
at the root of governance, which encourages good relations between public, private
and social, promising to be the best way to resolve matters in democracies. In water
management, several experiments suggest that the use of a "tripartite” model
guarantees resource governance by allowing the participation of public, private and
social sectors. The model of the New Water Culture (NWC) is an option that departs
from the conventional approach (which focuses on the demand side of the problem
and promotes solutions through public works) and public-private-partnership (PPP)
models (which considers the social sector only as a "client") to create a tripartite
model of administration with public-private-social participation. Although Mexico
has no experience of the NWC, there is a basis for implementation. In order to
implement it in Mexico there is a need to develop new institutional conditions, to
create innovative figures such as neighborhood committees for water management to
oversee the quality of services and define together with the administrative authority
the way the private sector associates with the public operator in order to improve the
quality of the service.
Keywords : new water culture, water management
1
The traditional system of governance that goal of providing an efficient service
demands the State to provide individual delivery. But the NPM was soon challenged
attention and solution of public affairs has with the argument that public work should be
generally resulted in unsatisfactory results. governed primarily by the quality of the
The search for alternative modes of relationship between actors rather than
governance was the subject of discussion material goals. This contrasting approach is
since late last century, resulting in the New the source of governance, a superior proposal
Public Management (NPM) with the essential of governance that seeks the good
1
O. Alberto POMBO, Professor-researcher at the Ricardo V. SANTES-ÁLVAREZ, Professor-
Department of Urban and Environmental Studies at researcher at the Department of Urban and
El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, Tijuana, Mexico Environmental Studies at El Colegio de la Frontera
e-mail:oapombo@gmail.com Norte, Tijuana, Mexico e-mail: rsantes@colef.mxSocial Sciences Research Journal, Volume 1, Issue 1, 1-15 (December 2012), ISSN: 2147-5237 2
relationship between public, private and civil country, however, there is still lagging behind
society. in the implementation of the NWC design.
Since the late nineteenth century water
resources have been a concern in many Conventional and Alternative Practices in
regions of the world as it approaches levels of Public Affairs
scarcity. It was argued the alleged inability of From Centralized Management to the
the state for providing efficient service, so the Public-Private Model
recurrent suggestion was that the
conventional model of management where The changes in governance that have
the state is a major player gives way to a occurred since the last decades of last century
design in which the participation of private have marked a turning point between a
enterprise is favored. The suggestion of this traditional system and other modes of
model "bipartisan" is part of the idea of the exercise of power. As noted by Kjær (2004:
NPM; arrangements between government 19-21), the traditional or Weber model, based
and private sector to provide infrastructure on principles of hierarchy (political authority
and public services complementing strength is based on a sovereign populace with a
and unique individual characteristics of each power that is exercised indirectly through
other. plural representation), neutrality (resource
Practices of public-private management management, economic and public affairs
of water in the world have allowed us to have nothing to do with private interests) and
recognize successes but also failures. Most public service career (officers are career
experiences in developing countries resulted bureaucrats chosen for their skills), faced
in a failure of the bipartite model, but of those challenges that motivated the search for
failures an alternative approach to alternative ways of managing public affairs.
management development was born A first challenge was an overload of
characterized by the participation of three responsibilities. If initially the State acted as
sectors: public, private and social. This model regulator, concerned to preserve the order and
"tripartite" recognized under the name of provide basic infrastructure, soon extended
New Water Culture (NWC), was accepted by its delivery of services (education, health,
most international funding agencies, employment, etc.) leading to increase public
The experiences show that the spending and taxes. And although the new
governance of water demands social tasks were considered adequate, the State was
participation, access to information, criticized for be structured in a "stiff" and
consensus and monitoring of service delivery. hierarchical (Pierre and Peters 2000: 5), being
The NWC claims the importance of including unable to respond quickly and efficiently the
the social sector in the decision-making and demands of "customers" (Kjær 2004: 22).
implementation of infrastructure projects of This generated a crisis of legitimacy, because
water governance, from the governance point it was difficult to respect a government that
of view, the interaction of actors allows a fails in its responsibility to provide welfare; it
successful treatment of problems. also revealed a government with an
Currently, Mexico is making efforts to inadequate plan, inevitably requiring external
solve the problems of water governance, due economic support (Donolo 1999: 23-40,
to the growth and creation of new urban Pierre and Peters 2000: 9, 61-62; Vallespín
developments in various regions of the 2000: 123-126). In this regard, the organizedSocial Sciences Research Journal, Volume 1, Issue 1, 1-15 (December 2012), ISSN: 2147-5237 3
interests of the private sector were combined with a weak public administration.
strengthened to the same extent that the Moreover, it is questionable the intent of the
public sector pale. Thus arose the so-called managing some resources that are considered
crisis of governance in the seventies (Crozier basic beyond the sphere of the State thus
et al. 1975: 9, 12, Habermas 1999: 21-27, allowing the incursion of the private sector;
Pierre and Peters 2000: 51). A second mainly in countries where the instrumental
challenge, related with the government (legal and organizational) and human (policy)
overload, was the failure of pluralistic infrastructure has a centralized bias. The idea
representation, which meant that the vested of citizen political empowerment, for
interests in policy decisions were those of example, which assumes that lower-level
powerful organizations, earning them access public officials who frequently have wide
to the state administration and a presence in scope to exercise authority should be
various public committees, while the interests responsible for their performance to their
of the majority were relegated. The weight of customers and users (the local population )
these organizations led to formal rules that resulting in an improvement to the quality of
arise in negotiations and consultations, services (Kjær 2004: 24-30), is not easily
institutionalizing the links between those accepted in centralized models of
interests and decision-making structures of administration.
the state in the so-called corporate
governance (Kjær 2004: 22-23). Network Governance: Towards A Plural
The shortcomings of the bureaucratic Model
model detonated the proposed administrative
reform, the New Public Management, or The NPM was applied in both developed
NPM, in the eighties and nineties, with and developing countries. Paradoxically, says
different nuances that persists until present Kjær, “those who have launched the most
days, with the purpose of removing obstacles comprehensive reforms have often been the
to efficient service delivery. Such initiative countries with the least capacity to perform
proposes: 1) Deliberate change in the changes, [but they do it] because they
bureaucracy, 2) Innovation, 3) Improving the have very little leverage with which to resist
efficiency and effectiveness of services, and the demands of their donors” (Kjær 2004:
4) Prevent the uncertainty of rapid change in 31). In the Europe of the mid-nineties that
organizations. The path to reform is the model of administration was questioned with
transfer of private sector principles to the arguments like that "the effectiveness and
public, as well as privatization, competition, legitimacy of public action are based on the
creation of ad hoc agencies, decentralization, quality of interaction between different levels
and empowerment of citizens. of government and between them and
It can be argued that the success of the business organizations and civil society
NPM depends on the application of the full "(Prats 2005: 130). Prats certainly goes
recipe and that such a model contributes to further by introducing a new qualitative
the bureaucracy to do their job optimally. But variable, the quality of interaction between
clearly not all the ingredients of public- the actors, that was not present on the theory
private design have been included in the of public administration focused on
attempted reforms in different countries, so standards, performance measures, results,
the results are mixed; failed experiences are and money (Kjær 2004: 25; Natera 2005:
maximized when organized interests are 802). In that sense, reform of structures andSocial Sciences Research Journal, Volume 1, Issue 1, 1-15 (December 2012), ISSN: 2147-5237 4
procedures should follow a rationale of confirms the importance of a network policy
contribution to the interaction and the focus that addresses public issues in different ways
of analysis would have to pass to the and contributes to the quality of the
relationship between levels of public interaction.
organizations and between them and the The change of focus, which moves from
private and civil society, without forgetting structure-function to the interaction of actors,
the citizen as a reference for public action. is the source of governance; in fact,
However, it should be asked if the governance seeks the contribution to the good
responsibility of policy-making and decision relationship between public actors, and
making has to reside only in the government among them and the private and civil society,
and its bureaucracy along with business while taking into account two basic aspects:
interests, since the role of other stakeholders the citizen and the context of the problems
in public affairs is increasingly relevant. (Santes-Alvarez 2009: 46). Prats (2005: 131)
The directive to "minimize the State" notes that the interaction requires
immersed in the NPM as well as reflection on "extraordinary dose of strategic vision,
the quality of the relationship between actors conflict management and consensus
have been grounds for the evolution of the building" that is, a politically responsible
concepts of networks governance. Constant State vision. Meanwhile, in the configuration
reconfiguration of public service has of networks there is a vertical dimension with
impacted on the performance of government; overlapping structures revealing the
on the one hand, it has weakened the central ubiquitous hierarchy, which means that the
government's ability to direct society. Saward networks and hierarchy coexist, and in this
(in Kjær 2004: 32) notes that the center is configuration the State must have a higher
pierced because the core executive granted status and take the challenge to carry the
capabilities to the social sector, other state network on the right path (cf. Kjær 2004: 44;
actors, and supranational entities. But the Pierre and Peters 2000: 3-4). The system of
alleged weakening of the State is necessary governance that is generated (network
and the reforms challenge their ability to governance) needs to solve a key challenge:
reconfigure and be flexible in the face of the organizing “a deliberative public space based
complexity of the issues concerned, and the on procedural rules that feed back the
governments must react to the changing confidence in the structure of
political, economic and social scenes. The interdependence” (Prats 2005: 132). In
alternative seems to be a mix between addition, the issue of co-responsibility is yet
centrality and plurality, that is, the to be faced. In fact, co-responsibility,
requirement of a strong state must be added a understood as "the recognition and
policy for relations between interdependent acceptance of the parties, formal or informal,
actors, or networks (Kickert et al., in Kjær of the consequences of their actions or
2004: 35), to ensure another view of affairs. omissions, as well as of the differential
On the other hand, the reforms have impacted weight with respect to shared goals," is
the governance at the local level, with a essential to governance; it is “the fee that
transition which in itself sums up the matter: should cover those who have voice, vote, and
a movement of local government to are made, modified or prevented their
community governance involving a interests” (Santes-Alvarez 2009: 30, 45).
complexity of private sector and public Undoubtedly, shared responsibility (public,
organizations (Rhodes 1996: 658). This private and social) that proposes a pluralSocial Sciences Research Journal, Volume 1, Issue 1, 1-15 (December 2012), ISSN: 2147-5237 5
model of governance networks will make design, construction, operation and
sense if it leads the plurality of interests to maintenance of public infrastructure and
better governance. services. The argument is that a successful
partnership would combine the strengths of
Water Governance: Issues And Solutions both sectors to establish complementary
Global Issues relationships. The underlying logic is that
both public and private sectors have unique
In the decade of the seventies the issues characteristics that provide specific
of economic growth and the distribution of advantages for projects or provide services
profits were discussed by the development efficiently.
agencies. It was said that to promote growth
and equity, it was necessary to modify Table 1
conventional standards, and in poor countries Water in the International Agenda
to increase productivity and improve access Relevant meetings:
to basic public services like water supply and Mar del Plata Conference (1977)
sanitation (World Bank 1980). Since then, Declaration of the International
water resources have become increasingly Decade for Water Supply and
important, especially as demand-availability Sanitation (1981-1991)
ratio is at levels of scarcity in many regions Global Consultation on Safe Water
(El Colegio de Mexico 2003) of the world. and Sanitation for the Nineties (New
The inclusion of water issues on the Delhi 1990)
international agenda is corroborated by the Conference on Water and
series of events that have occurred over time Environment (Dublin 1992)
(Table 1). In this journey, large sectors of the Conference on Environment and
society have become aware of the dimension Development (Rio 1992): Chapters 18
of water as an essential element for life and and 21 of Agenda XXI provide special
development processes, as well as the attention to water management
consequences of unsustainable forms of United Nations declaration of the
water resources management as in many International Decade for Action
urban and tourist projects. 'Water for Life' 2005-2015
Changing patterns of growth and equity Influential organizations:
was part of the alleged inability of the state as
Water, Sanitation and Health
a provider of services resulting in a "crisis" of
Program, World Health Organization
governance (Crozier et al. 1975). The
(WHO 1997)
alternative to the conventional centralized
IMF: International Monetary Fund
model of management was to allow private
sector participation. For water resource World Bank: Financial support for
management, the initiative promoted was the development
Source: Authors
“public private partnership (ppp)” or
“bipartite model"; the model dictates According to the Canadian Ministry of
arrangements between government and Municipal Affairs, the public-private
private entities to provide public partnerships although an alternative to
infrastructure and related services. This is a creating new infrastructure and related
model of joint investments, risks and services, they “are not a substitute for a strong
responsibilities in areas such as finance, and effective governance by the governmentSocial Sciences Research Journal, Volume 1, Issue 1, 1-15 (December 2012), ISSN: 2147-5237 6
[... which] remains responsible for generating implementation of mixed public-private
projects and services so as to protect and model of water in urban areas have been
promote public interests "(CMMA 1999: 5). mixed.
As shown in Table 2, the results of the
Table 2
Experiences with the Bipartite Model in the World
Place Outcome
USA: Atlanta, Seattle, Keystone (S. Dakota),
Veolia y Tampa Bay (Florida); Indianápolis; El SUCCESS.
Paso; Burlingame (California).
África: Senegal, Ghana y Lesoto. FAILURE. Due to inadequate planning.
The different schemes negatively impact
the poorest segments of the population by
reducing their access to safe drinking water
due to high tariffs.
Latin America: Argentina and Bolivia. FAILURE (nineties). Forced privatization
of large scale utilities promoted by the
World Bank
Brasil, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, NO EVALUATION YET (recent
Perú, Uruguay, Argentina y Bolivia. experiences). Strengths and weaknesses of
the model are yet to be evaluated.
Source: Authors. Data from: Finnegan 2002; Barkin 2004; Ogunbiyi 2004: 1; UNESCO 2005; Ouyahia 2006, IDRC,
2007; NCPPP 2007.
These experiences allows to recognize conquerors were amazed when they first saw
mistakes and successes, and propose an the hydraulic complex of Tenochtitlan,
alternative approach to management that consisting of aqueducts and works for flood
emphasizes three key aspects of water: 1) It is control, navigation, agriculture and fisheries.
essential for development and social welfare In colonial times, the viceroyalty constructed
(World Bank 1980), 2) It is necessary to monumental works of distribution, storage
analyze both its supply and its treatment as and drainage that sustained cities as well as
wastewater, because both conditions are agricultural emporia, mining and ports.
inseparable (Gunnerson 1991), 3) citizen However, the distribution of rain in the
participation is central to local actions; thus country is uneven: about 56 percent of the
encouraging reform policies prevailing in land is arid and semiarid, 37 percent sub
managing the water emerging concepts such humid and only 7 percent is wet (Conabio,
as integrated management and collaborative 1998). Arid regions are located in the north
participation (Simon and Laurie 1999; Barkin and central part, while the wetlands are
2006a; Gilbert 2007). located in the south, mainly in the slope of the
Gulf of Mexico. In addition, despite the great
The Mexican Situation diversity of ecosystems and physical
conditions, the national average natural water
The hydraulic tradition of Mexico goes availability per capita is 4.505 m³ / person /
back to pre-Hispanic times, Hispanic year, ranking Mexico as a country with lowSocial Sciences Research Journal, Volume 1, Issue 1, 1-15 (December 2012), ISSN: 2147-5237 7
availability of water according to to assure legal certainty on land use; and
international indicators (Conagua , 2005). sustainable and comprehensive water
The uneven distribution and scarcity make up management. The characteristics and
increasing social problems, economic and objectives of the water management model
environmental impact on development of the are part of the concept of economic
country, which is compounded by the lack of development and the central idea revolves
efficiency in use by the different productive around its use for growth. In this context, the
sectors and public policies ineffective. rights and obligations of users for the
Together, these factors affect the sustainable exploitation of national waters are reflected in
use of water. the Public Registry of Water Rights, in two
In Mexico, regulations and instruments for official documents: 1) the authorizing title
water management have a history going back granting of the use of national waters, federal
to the end of the nineteenth century. By 1888, zones, extraction of materials, construction,
the General Law on General operation or use of water infrastructure and 2)
Communications initiated the legislative the wastewater discharge permit authorizing
tradition of waters was followed by the the discharge into receiving bodies of water
Federal Jurisdiction Water Use Act of 1910, owned by the Nation, establishing certain
which classified the sources of supply, quality conditions of the discharge.
regulated water uses and formalized regime Furthermore, the Federal Law establishes the
concessions. In 1926, it enacted the Federal obligation of users to pay a contribution for
Water Irrigation with, which led to the the use of national waters based on the
National Irrigation Commission, which principle that "those who use more water pay
initiates the construction of monumental more and also does those who discharge more
water works. In 1934 the Water Act National pollutants "(Velazquez 2003). Clearly, water
Property and their respective Regulations in is considered as an input to increase
1936 and in 1956 and 1958, respectively, the productivity.
Law on Subsurface Water Use and In the area of management, the model is
Regulation, which then began to regulate the completely centralized, with vertical
extraction and use of water from this source. instructions flowing downstream. The main
In 1972 the Federal Water Act was issued, strategy involved the construction of large
and in 1975 the first National Plan was hydraulic works to direct and control the flow
published, which to date remains a of the resource (Ortiz et al. 2008). Perhaps
requirement of planning. Since 1982 when because of this, the experiences of water
the Federal Law included for the first time management in Mexico are not encouraging;
fees for use and development of national the main criticism lays in the enormous
waters, surface and subsurface there have environmental impact of watershed
been two major reforms: the introduction of transferring and inefficient management
quotas based on regional availability (1986), services (Barkin 2006b). Also, there are
and consideration of charges for discharge of accusations of aquifers overexploitation, and
contaminated wastewater (1991). inability to implement conservation policies,
The declared main objectives of the treatment and reuse both by local operators
National Water Act of 1992 (NWA) are to and the federal enforcing agency, Conagua.
promote an integrated water management; to The problem suggests the relevance of an
increase the participation in financing, alternative management with active
construction and management of waterworks; participation of new actors.Social Sciences Research Journal, Volume 1, Issue 1, 1-15 (December 2012), ISSN: 2147-5237 8
As noted above, the NWA considers service under concession from the public
private participation in financing, service utility. Experiences with the
construction and operation of federal water bipartisan model begin to appear in Mexico,
infrastructure and in providing relevant like the service concession in Aguascalientes,
services. This is done on three premises: 1) the semi-privatized system in Saltillo,
participation and private investment is a Coahuila, and the desalination system and
means not an end in itself, 2) the federal water sewage treatment in Los Cabos, State of Baja
infrastructure will not be privatized because California Sur (Garza 2006; Barkin 2006a;
the law does not alter the nature of public Pombo 2008). Perhaps the most instructive
good that has under Article 113 of the example is at Los Cabos, where drinking
Mexican Constitution, and 3) the law does not water is the limiting factor for development in
provide mechanisms for change of general. As Pombo (2008) reports, with an
ownership, but only mechanisms of absolute limitation to the provision of water
participation and private investment for from conventional sources, the supply occurs
efficiency and capitalization of domestic through desalination plants. From an
goods. The three new figures that are created economic perspective, it is the only
in federal water management, in addition to alternative for real state and hotel investors to
traditional public procurement for works, continue in business, while from the
supplies and services regulated by other laws, viewpoint of environmental impacts such
are “turnkey contracts”, concessions for the facilities produce limited effects that are
provision of services using the hydraulic mostly due to electricity consumption and
infrastructure already built, and concessions brine discharges at sea.
for the construction and operation of new But Pombo also noted that the economic
infrastructure. growth in Los Cabos based on a technology
It is evident that in the sector’s policies such as desalination is indirectly creating
there is a trend towards greater private large social and environmental problems.
involvement in providing public services and This is because the solution to water supply
the pursuit of economic efficiency in a design for the hotels creates, paradoxically,
ruled by market behavior. The rigid increased demand for domestic supply given
framework of conventional governance has that the growth of the tourism industry
contributed to the spread of this model, since intensifies labor migration to the area,
after the enactment of the NWA water pressing local authorities to meet that
services were transferred to local authorities, demand. The installation of a desalination
although this transfer did not come with an plant for community service through the
allocation of financial resources. The result of bipartite scheme became the best option, so
this decentralization is that about 2500 local that from November 2006 it is operating in
operators lack the resources to continue Los Cabos a plant that provides water to the
providing the service and are forced to yield public water authority. One of the biggest
to private operators. challenges for local authorities is to design
The premise of water management is mechanisms to distribute the costs of
expanding service coverage and sanitation for desalination of the resource to the entire
the welfare of people. Along these lines, the population served (Pombo, 2008).
investments and professionalization have Pombo pointed out that in Los Cabos
given way to the combined management market forces create a scenario where the
model, where the private sector provides the tourist developers themselves treat their ownSocial Sciences Research Journal, Volume 1, Issue 1, 1-15 (December 2012), ISSN: 2147-5237 9
sewage, in what might be considered an New Water Culture (NWC): Example of
archetype for tourism development for other Tripartite Model
parts of Mexico where the industry is the
main source of pollution (Pombo 2008). As A proposal generating growing sympathy
Los Cabos hotels are near total reuse of water, among large international organizations like
the possibility of the beaches being affected the World Bank or the World Health
by sewage pollution is substantially reduced, Organization is a water management model
thus preserving the aesthetic value of the called "tripartite" model. The initiative,
beaches and resulting in significant economic which includes public, private and social
benefits by ensuring the quality of the actors originally emerged in Spain as a social
recreational facilities. movement opposed to the national water
Criticism to the bipartisan of the model policy of the Government of 1999-2004,
has also emerged. The main criticism is that which proposed an ambitious infrastructure
by privatizing a vital resource it violates the program to build huge dams and other public
fundamental right of universal access to works that would facilitate the water transfer
water; the argument is that only those who on a large scale from the Ebro River in the
can afford it will have access to the resource. northeastern region of Spain to the semi-arid
It is also argued that this model has failed to south (Barkin, 2006a).
develop sustainable management because the The NWC is rooted on the principle of
revenues of the water utilities do not recover sustainable development (idea based on the
the actual costs of providing the service, also, integration of economic development, social
the analysis of experiences in Latin America welfare and consideration of environmental
also shows that "corruption is an inherent part limits) and proposes a comprehensive
in the privatization of water" (Hall et al. assessment of the proposals in relation to the
2001). The list goes on: often the model has social appropriation of water in terms of the
failed to fulfill the promises of efficiency and limited availability of resources,
effective expansion in coverage, and the considerations of social justice, appreciation
extensions made of the networks have been of the multiple environmental values of water
offset by cuts in service caused by the from the local perspective and the
inability of large segments of the population simultaneous analysis of supply and
to pay for the service (Hall 2001, Hall et al. sanitation. The Management tools to operate
2001; Barkin 2004) the model are property rights and collective
participation. Both emerged from the
New Water Culture approach of Integrated Management of Water
Resources, which aims to design new policies
Recent experiences in different countries that include the fundamental principles of the
favor reforms to the conventional modes of NWC that asserts that water policies should
water management. The breach is growing encourage two key issues: 1) objectivity and
between the model which assumed water impartiality on the operator agencies together
demand and supply solutions promoted with adequate information and technical
through public works programs (Barkin, expertise in the process of decision making,
2006b), and an alternative approach that 2) inclusion of the needs of the ecosystems,
offers a comprehensive sustainable particularly the availability of water when
development. taking the administrative decisions for
resource allocation.Social Sciences Research Journal, Volume 1, Issue 1, 1-15 (December 2012), ISSN: 2147-5237 10
Because water is a regionally limited credibility and confidence in local
resource, the NWC also points to the need for government and private sector. Worldwide,
an assessment, both socially and there are examples where the approach has
economically and ecologically of the best been applied to the NWC for different cases
uses of water. Summarizing its basic of water and sanitation management (Table
principles, the NWC defines four hierarchal 3).
core functions of water in the environment: 1. The Peruvian case is illustrative: the main
Water for Life (basic dignity bottom line). actions of that experience (World Bank-
Clean water as a human right for the PASRALC 2007) consisted of: 1) approving
individual and collective welfare should not the basic bylaws to establish the legal
be denied to any part of society, not even framework required in the provision of
using the pretext of financial distress. 2. services, 2) installing a supervising
Water for ecosystem maintenance. Ensuring neighborhood community council ; 3)
the integrity of the exploited aquifers for promoting the hiring of local or regional
urban water supply and that the quality of the specialized operators and 4) transfer the
discharges does not threaten the health of the services to the specialized operator. This
receiving ecosystems. 3. Water for general initiated a tripartite alliance where, on the one
social activities. This includes urban hand, the local municipal government fixed
services, health, sanitation, and social water fees (by virtue of its legal authority),
cohesion by equitable supply to all groups. 4. but with the consent of the population and the
Water for economic growth and development establishing of explicit levels of quality and
in general. Any productive activity and of coverage; local authorities are still the owners
course the quality of life and social welfare of the infrastructure but the people and the
require water as a basic input. specialized operator support the task of
According to international experience, the improving and expanding the system in a
tripartite model has greater sustainability participatory management model,
because: 1) the ownership and commitment establishing the rights and duties of users and
of people to the system, 2) the ability of the the specialized operator. On the other hand,
user to monitor the quality of the service , 3) the population, through a local community
transparent accountability, 4) the board, monitors the quality of service that
identification of opportunities for investment users receive. Finally, the expert operator
planning and execution; 5) the neutralization hired by the city provides water services and
of political engineering and patronage, 6) the sanitation.
shared vision of development and 7) theSocial Sciences Research Journal, Volume 1, Issue 1, 1-15 (December 2012), ISSN: 2147-5237 11
Table 3
Alternative Experiences in Water Management
Lusaka, Zambia Monthly Card Water Payment System,
Resident Development Committees
Malawi Piped Supply for Small Communities
Durban, Metro Water: Private Sector Partnerships to Serve the Poor
Sudáfrica Semi-Pressure System with Ground Tank
Guinea Leased Contract Water Supply
Ivory Coast SODECI's Experience in Water Provision
Kano, Nigeria Public Toilets with Private Management
India Cost-Effective and Appropriate Sanitation Systems in Sulabh International
Social Service Organization
Sri Lanka Community Micro-planning (the model later spreads to Bangladesh, South
Africa, Poland, Chile and some Central American countries)
Burkina Faso Demand metering to improve services of urban sanitation
Uganda Safe Water Supply and Sanitation and Waste Recycling and Re-Use
Tanzania Ibungilo Community Clean Water Supply Project
Colombia Community as Drinking Water Provider in a Low-Income Area
Brasil Rehabilitation of Urban Areas; Guarapiranga Project
Bolivia Pro-Poor Water and Sewer Concessions
Formal and informal networks of water suply
Chile Program of protection of high Andes wetlands, Rural water supply program
Perú New water operators, Changes in the management model to improve the
sustainability of water supply and sanitation in small communities.
Experiences in strategic planning
Pilot project to improve water and sanitation management and sustainability
in a small districts
Source: Altaf and Hughes 1994; Goethert and Hamdi 1997, Simon and Laurie 1999; World Bank 2001; CARE-
PROPILAS 2005; People et al. 2006, Gilbert 2007; World Bank PASRALC 2007.
New Water Culture (NWC) Outlook in regulations that set the stage for property
Mexico rights and a market for utilities. There are
national experiences of the bipartite model
Mexican water policy pretends to direct that sets the stage (Barkin, 2006b; Pombo,
water management towards the conservation 2008) and open the possibility of
of the hydrological cycle, comprehensive and implementing a more advanced model. The
sustainable use of resources, and improving missing link is institutional development. For
the quality of life, among others. In order to example, there should be generated the figure
reach those goals changes in the legal system of neighborhood committees, with at least
must be made (Carabias et al. 2005), creating three functions: 1) Monitor the quality of
a good opportunity to include the principles services, 2) Determine the authority along
of NWC in the upcoming legislation. with the quality and price of water and a
In Mexico there is no practice of membership fee (refers to marginal cases,
application of this model, but there establishing a basic provision of water at aSocial Sciences Research Journal, Volume 1, Issue 1, 1-15 (December 2012), ISSN: 2147-5237 12
special price) 3) Define the authority along up agencies, among other settings, where a
with the partnership with the specialized public-private arrangement sets targets based
agency. on standards, performance, results and
Mexico is still developing its water money. The tripartite management
policy, but with no doubt it should be directed approaches a network governance model that
towards integral management. The country is emphasizes the importance of interaction
making efforts to solve the problems of water between different actors, where stakeholders
and sanitation supply. The dynamics of are developed in an area of responsibility and
development is promoting new urban ideas, the state guarantees the quality of the
and validated models are required to guide relationship.
effective management and promote The NWC is an example of this, it is
sustainable development for the citizens and proposed as a viable alternative for
the ecosystem. Real state development is an sustainable ecosystem development, as it
opportunity to implement new strategies to incorporates all stakeholders in the process of
prevent the negative effects of inadequate water management. The experiences
planning already happening in other parts of reviewed for the elaboration of this article
Mexico, in that context the model of the show that the main challenge for its
NWC should be perceived as the most implementation is to articulate rights and
advanced management tool available to responsibilities among the players assigned to
regional planners to prevent failures of the the three main universes in a governance
past and to promote sustainability in the framework that promotes better interaction
management of water resources. for the integral development of society. Water
management involves multiple interests,
Conclusions which are manifested locally. In this sense,
collective participation in the planning
The evolution of water management process and decision making has proven to
models is related to the development strategy be a good tool to produce equitable and
and the institutional structure of a country. holistic solutions. Participation of
The image of development of a society is the stakeholders should be pursued in an
result of the most permanent and structural atmosphere of mediation and consensus,
national economic policies, the way a society which discuss and understand different points
uses its resources, relates to other societies, of view and propose alternative solutions (see
and make their own institutional structures, Ruelas 2006) and in a scenario of
(Sartor 2006). In the evolution of water responsibility. The governance of water
management in the world we identify three requires an approach with these
models: 1) Government run management, 2) characteristics.
Public-private management, and 3) Tripartite Mexico's water policy should be directed
management, or public, private and social toward integrated management, effective
management. The first corresponds to the water governance requires this. New real
Weberian model of governance based on state developments create opportunities to
principles of hierarchy, neutrality and public apply better planning strategies and here it is
service career, where the state is the suggested that the model of the NWC opens a
governing body of public affairs. The second route to press forward these initiatives.
is the design of the NPM proposed
innovation, improvement in services, settingSocial Sciences Research Journal, Volume 1, Issue 1, 1-15 (December 2012), ISSN: 2147-5237 13
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