U.S. Department of State 1 US Government Support of Water Safety Plans in Urban Areas: A Common Sense Approach to Improving Drinking Water Dano Wilusz U.S. Department of State 5 th World Water Forum March 17, 2009

“ Environmentalism was a political choice. Now we all have to be environmentalists.” - Abdullah Gul, President of Turkey 2 Why Scale up?

– The State Department is responsible for developing and advancing U.S. foreign policy. – In 2005 the Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act mandated for the Department of State to work with other U.S. agencies to develop and implement a strategy “to provide affordable and equitable access to safe drinking water and sanitation in developing countries.” 3 U.S. State Department and Water

Two Stages to Scale-Up No WSPs Few WSP Projects Many WSP Projects 1. Pilot 2. Scale-up

Scaling up WSPs – Stage 1 No WSPs Few WSP Projects Many WSP Projects 1. Pilot 2. Scale-up

– Increase access to drinking water – Improve water resource management – Increase the productivity of water resources 6 Why Pilot WSPs? WSPs address all three U.S. strategic objectives.

– Increase access to drinking water – Improve water resource management – Increase the productivity of water resources 7 U.S. Water Objectives WSPs address all three of the U.S. Objectives.

– Increase access to drinking water – Improve water resource management – Increase the productivity of water resources 8 U.S. Water Objectives WSPs address all three of the U.S. Objectives.

– Increase access to drinking water – Improve water resource management – Increase the productivity of water resources 9 U.S. Water Objectives WSPs address all three of the U.S. Objectives.

Scaling up WSPs – Stage 2 No WSPs Few WSP Projects Many WSP Projects 1. Pilot 2. Scale-up

– Linden, Guyana – Tarija, Bolivia – Spanish Town, Jamaica – Vicosa, Brazil 11 USG Supported WSPs – Hyderabad,India – Pune, India – WSP/LAC Network

– Capacity Building – Policy Reform – Impact Evaluation 12 USG Strategies to Scale-up WSPs

– Capacity Building – Policy Reform – Impact Evaluation 13 USG Strategies to Scale-up WSPs In Hyderabad, developing training manuals for instruction at local technical institute

– Capacity Building – Policy Reform – Impact Evaluation 14 USG Strategies to Scale-up WSPs In Jamaica, exploring ways to use legislation to mandate WSPs. Source: “”Water Safety Plans: A Tool to improve Health and increase Prosperity”, Presented by WHO At World Water Week 2008

– Capacity Building – Policy Reform – Impact Evaluation 15 USG Strategies to Scale-up WSPs In Pune, doing baseline survey to see the change after WSP implementation.

16 In summary… – WSPs can complement a comprehensive water strategy. – Strategies to scale-up: Capacity building Policy reform Demonstrating impact. Source: “Water Safety Plan: A Manual for Pilot Study Areas of Hyderabad”, DRAFT

17 Thank you... Photo by Stephanie Adrian, EPA