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Policies and instruments – mixing
policy cocktails
To succeed in the face of some of the largest threats to environ-
mental degradation, human health, and productivity, it is not
sufficient to address only urban contamination or wastewater,
we also need to consider water supply. Governance frameworks
should clarify and link the roles of central and local authori-
ties and communities, including rural areas and industry; pro-
mote public responsibility; and where appropriate, facilitate
private investment and involvement in wastewater processes,
particularly with regard to operational quality, maintenance
and upgrading. The use of environmentally sound technolo-
gies including green technologies and ecosystem management
should be used more actively and encouraged, particularly in
rural areas, both with regard to water supply and wastewater
production and management.
Wastewater management must address not only urban but also
rural water management throughout the watershed and into
the coastal zone. It must also look to the future and be able to
meet the needs of a growing population under changing cli-
matic conditions. Meeting these challenges requires long term,
coordinated and integrated national plans and organization as
this cannot be dealt with alone by municipalities, individual
sectors and rarely individual nations. It will require a much
stronger role for good governance and an active public sector
working across sectors and perhaps international boundaries
to solve these challenges drawing on a range, or cocktail of pos-
sible strategies, policies and instruments.