Water Resources Management Policies

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This paper analyzes the evolution of water resources management policies, looking at the key events which turned this common good into a commodity. In order to do that, there must be given a definition of ‘commodification’ and a background on the history of man’s relation with this asset. An analysis of the history of this asset and its transformations in the society will be followed by a case study which represents the first case of privatization of the water’s management. Thanks to the examined issues, this paper will look at the results of this change and the consequences it has.
In order to start this analysis, commodification must be described and defined.
By commodification we mean the marketing of goods that generally do not fall under …show more content…

As seen in the graphic, between 1990 and 2002 the “percentage of water loans requiring privatization” increased significantly. The UN’s 1992 “Dublin Statement on Water and Sustainable Development" is the first document that introduces the principle behind sustainable water management as an economic good. Despite the fact that international forums and United Nations agencies (Unicef, Unep, Undp, World Bank) have continued to publish the statistics regarding the lack of access to water and the importance of water for all uses, also promoting it as one of the UN Millennium Development Goals (no. 7), on the other side these organizations have always worked to change the status of the resource in order to make it marketable like other goods, making it possible for individuals and private capital to intervene in the management of the integrated water service and guaranteeing access to water for basic needs. The leitmotiv of the 80s - 90s was that water is a scarce resource. Subsequently with the intensification of the water crisis, also due to climate change, these elements were used to support the start of the processes of "privatization of the resource’s management" as the most efficient and economically sustainable way of guaranteeing the

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