10 The Future of Water in African Cities
create long-term and widely acceptable solutions. It is important to ensure that decisions are soundly based on shared knowledge, experience, and evidence; that decisions are influenced by the views and experience of those affected by them; that innovative and creative options are considered; and that new arrangements are workable and acceptable to the public (European Commission 2002). In African cities these arguments are even more important than in a European setting. In view of the weak capacity to enforce planning and regulation, African cities will have to rely on self-enforcement to a large degree, which will require continuous public involvement, acceptance, and approval. Other regions—and farsighted Africans—have already taken onboard the integrated approach. Responding to client demand, the World Bank’s Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Region has worked for several years on an operational framework for stronger World Bank engagement in IUWM in Latin America (World Bank, 2010). There is a growing chorus of water professionals (IWA, 2010), municipal leaders (ICLEI, 2012), and academics (for example, see UNESCO-IHP, 2009 and SWITCH, 2011), arguing that a new approach to urban water management is needed. In the words of an African academic, “meeting urban water needs in the twenty-first century will require a paradigm shift. Nineteenth century supply side solutions alone will not balance the ever-growing demand for water driven by rapid urbanization, shortage of surface and ground water due to climate change, and competition from agriculture” (Awiti, 2012). African city leaders agree that plans should be integrated—but currently they are not. As part of this book a knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) survey asked city leaders of African municipalities and utilities about the scope of their current water management plans and about their opinions of what should be included in a future plan. While the current plans typically do not include drought and flooding contingencies, rainwater harvesting, or drainage and solid waste management, city leaders overwhelmingly agree that such issues should be included in water management plans (see Figure 4).
The World Bank Response Is the World Bank water practice ready to respond to the African urban water management challenge with new ideas? This book suggests four avenues for the Bank’s response: Increase the use of an IUWM approach in World Bank project planning and design; promote pilot programs to demonstrate IUWM in practice in cities that have expressed interest;