watergov

The effects of climate change can result in greater social inequality, disproportionately impacting vulnerable communities that often have less capacity to cope with these impacts and may face greater difficulties in accessing basic, safe, and reliable water and sanitation services. Additionally, universalizing access to water and sanitation by 2030 would require approximately USD 27.3 billion annually, which implies nearly quintupling the investment made in 2019 (UN Water, 2017). In this regard, regulations and regulatory practices in the water and sanitation sector play a key role in addressing these challenges and must adapt to the new reality. Modernizing and adjusting the regulator and regulation, providing flexibility and an integrated vision, is essential to ensure resilience, adaptation, efficient use of water resources, decarbonization, and a circular economy in the sector.

The WaterGov offers a transformative opportunity for governments, regulators, and other stakeholders to enhance policies and regulation in water supply and sanitation services. Utilizing innovative tools, it assesses and supports benchmarking and improvement processes based on a referential model of good practices. It strengthens the regulatory framework and institutions, improves the sector's legal framework, facilitates reform processes, and supports the creation of new regulatory entities. It is a valuable contribution to modernizing water governance and improving the quality of services provided to society.

Benchmark WaterGov is a powerful tool for analyzing public policies and regulation, which helps to provide a clear description of the sector's characteristics in its key aspects. Based on a solid diagnosis, action plans are developed to define a path for improving the performance of sectoral institutions in each country. In many countries, the modernization and empowerment of regulatory institutions remain pending tasks, crucial for supporting the achievement of universalization and efficiency objectives in water and sanitation services.

Universal access to drinking water and sanitation services is not only a fundamental human right but also vital for achieving sustainable development in all its dimensions. Therefore, it is essential to establish robust regulatory models that promote inclusive and equitable solutions, ensuring that no one is left behind in the pursuit of water and sanitation coverage and quality.

WaterGov becomes a valuable guide for decision-makers and regulatory bodies. We fully trust that its application will significantly contribute to improving people's quality of life and achieving the sustainable development goals.

The development of better water and sanitation services involves: good public policy, which is the strategy to improve water services; effective regulation, which acts as the accelerator for implementing this public policy; and effective, efficient, and sustainable management, which operationalizes this public policy on the ground. The regulator is a central piece in this framework and should act as a balancing instrument in the implementation of public policy alongside the utilities that provide services to customers. WaterGov was designed and developed as a model of good practices aimed at supporting regulators in enhancing their organization and the regulatory model of services.