Operational Manual
OP 4.07 - Water Resources
Management
OP 4.07
July 2015
These policies were prepared for use by World Bank staff and are not
necessarily a complete treatment of the subject.
Note: This document, which replaces the version dated July 1993, is based on
Water Resources Management: A World Bank Policy Paper (Washington, D.C.:
World Bank, 1993) and is consistent with Rural Development from Vision to
Action, a Sector Strategy (1997). It complements OP/BP 4.01, Environmental
Assessment; OP/BP 4.02, Environmental Action
Plans; OP/BP 4.10, Indigenous
Peoples; OP/BP 4.12, Involuntary Resettlement; OP/BP 7.50, Projects on
International Waterways; and GP 14.70, Involving Nongovernmental Organizations
in Bank-Supported Activities.
Questions may be addressed to the Director, Operations Risk Management,
OPCS.
1. Bank1 involvement in water resources management entails support for
providing potable water, sanitation facilities, flood control, and water for
productive activities in a manner that is economically viable,
environmentally sustainable, and socially equitable.
2. The Bank assists borrowers in the following priority areas:
(a) Developing a comprehensive framework for designing water resource
investments, policies, and institutions. Within this framework, when the
borrower develops and allocates water resources, it considers crosssectoral impacts in a regional setting (e.g., a river basin).
(b) Adopting pricing and incentive policies that achieve cost recovery,
water conservation, and better allocation of water resources.
(c) Decentralizing water service delivery, involving users in planning and
managing water projects, and encouraging stakeholders to contribute to
policy formulation. The Bank recognizes that a variety of organizations-private firms, financially autonomous entities, and community
organizations--may contribute to decentralizing water delivery functions.
Thus it supports projects that introduce different forms of decentralized
management, focusing on the division of responsibilities among the public
and private entities involved.
(d) Restoring and preserving aquatic ecosystems and guarding against
overexploitation of groundwater resources, giving priority to the provision
of adequate water and sanitation services for the poor.
(e) Avoiding the waterlogging and salinity problems associated with
irrigation investments by (i) monitoring water tables and implementing
drainage networks where necessary, and (ii) adopting best management
practices to control water pollution.
(f) Establishing strong legal and regulatory frameworks to ensure that
social concerns are met, environmental resources are protected, and
monopoly pricing is prevented. The Bank requires legislation or other
appropriate arrangements to establish effective coordination and allocation
procedures for interstate water resources. These issues are discussed in
the project documents.
3. Individual water lending operations are explicitly linked to the country's
priorities for reform and investment and to the Bank's program of support.
4. If inadequate progress by borrowers in these priority areas leads to
serious resource misuse and hampers the viability of water-related
investments, Bank lending is limited to operations that provide potable
water for poor households or conserve water and protect its quality without
additionally drawing on a country's water resources.
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1. "Bank" includes IBRD and IDA, and "loans" includes IDA credits and IDA grants.