URBAN WATER INFRASTRUCTURE NATO ADVANCED RESEARCH WORKSHOP SUMMARY 22-27 JUNE 1989 KYLE E SCHILLING P E Workshop Director The Workshop was based on the recognition that all NATO countries are concerned with similar water infrastructure issues. Present problems are aggravated by aging and neglected facilities, by inadequate financing and by water management institutions reflecting the needs of an earlier era. Service needs to be provided for expanding populations, at the same time that corrective measures must be taken for decaying older urban centers, resulting both from neglect and expiring service life. These needs exist within the framewode of other competing and conflicting uses for existing and yet to be developed water sources. The problems have generated some highly visible national debates over financing due to the large sums involved. Despite differences in the age of the North American, European and other societies, the technological ages of water supply and storm water systems are much the same and provide a common denominator in the worldwide trend to urbanization. Examination of approaches to urban water management also indicates that they are generally based on past experience and institutions created in a non-urban era. The physical, financial and institutional alternatives are consequently often out-of-step with current urban environment. Historically, the supply of adequate water and efficient storm water management have also been top priority items with water quality and other aspects of environmental protection assuming a lower priority after basic supply needs have been met.

Globalized Water presents a compilation of voices that forms a unique scientific exploration of contemporary water management models and governance issues. The book describes the water paradox—how a local resource has become a global product—and the implications of this in how we identify challenges and make policy in the water sector. Over the last 20 years, the foundations of local and national water systems have been rocked by a wave of changes. The authors in this book, experts in a wide range of disciplines, address the resulting debates and issues: water as a commodity and patrimony, technological rent, liberalization and privatization, the continuing evolution of water management and policy at the European level, decision making and stakeholder participation, conflict and consensus, and the inevitable growth of counterpowers at the local and international levels, promoted by the advocates of sustainable development. The selected case studies are from Europe (primarily France but also Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Portugal), Latin America (Argentina, Bolivia), the United States, Lebanon, and India. From this diverse collection of comparative perspectives and research methods, Globalized Water seeks to advance interdisciplinary research, contributing to a new and dynamic role for social sciences and governance on water.