Water Availability

Water is a fundamental requirement for all life on Earth, and therefore plays an essential role in the development of human civilisation. This sets water apart from every other resource: it is indispensable. Since the emergence of the modern human race, life has been dictated by water availability. Indeed, the survival of hunter gatherers arguably depended entirely on rainfall cycles. As food production methods changed, so too did the usage of water, as communities began to harness its availability - so much so that entire ancient civilisations were centred around water sources, such as the ancient Egyptians and the Nile. The development of major human settlements is directly linked to proximity to water sources - today, over 50% of the world's

The economic categorisation of water
2.1. Economic theory
Various goods in the economy can be classified by two different criteria: excludability and rivalry. Excludability is the property of a good whereby a person can be prevented from using it, and rivalry is the property of a good whereby one person’s usage of it diminishes further use. Private goods are both excludable and rival, and public goods are neither excludable nor rival. In specific circumstances, a good can be rival but not excludable, and this is known as a common resource. As stated by Dobner, in cases in which water is available to all in abundance, it is classified as a public good. This definition changes in instances in which water is scarce. Here, one person’s usage of the resource has the potential to diminish the amount of water available to others, thus negatively affecting third parties. These negative consequences are known as negative externalities. In this case, water is defined as a common resource, provided it is available to all. If it is not, it is defined as private good.9 Negative externalities can either be mitigated through public policy or via the private

The second procedure involves the granting of specific licences and lease contracts to a private firm, which then pays for the utility’s maintenance. This is known as Private Public Partnership, or PPP, and is the most commonly used method of water privatisation. The third method dictates that the private firm sign a contract with the state in order to take over the water supply at a fixed administrative cost, without making a