6 December 2012: The World Bank has released a report on integrated urban water management (IUWM) in Africa, titled “The Future of Water in African Cities: Why Waste Water?” The report seeks to improve urban water systems by adopting a holistic view of all components of the urban water cycle.

The report argues that traditional approaches to water management are inadequate, and must be replaced with IUWM to manage complex problems across institutional, sectoral and geographic boundaries. It contains a review of the water management challenges and capacities of 31 cities in Africa, as well as examples on the implementation of IUWM in Africa and elsewhere. The report further stresses the need for IUWM in Africa, which it describes as the world’s most rapidly urbanizing region and where water demand is projected to quadruple over the next 25 years.

Examples of IUWM in African cities include: wastewater reuse in Windhoek, Namibia; decentralized wastewater treatment in Arua, Uganda; and integrated supply and demand management in Nairobi, Kenya. Various other wide-ranging issues addressed in the report are: urban resilience and the diversification of water resources, competition over water resources with upstream users, and sanitation and the contamination of groundwater.

The report was presented during a special session on IUWM held on 6 December 2012, at the AfriCities Summit in Dakar, Senegal. It is part of the World Bank’s Water Partnership Program (WPP), which aims to advance frameworks, guidelines, and pilot projects for IUWM in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, and Central Asia. [World Bank Press Release] [World Bank Water Practice Press Release] [Publication: The Future of Water in African Cities] [AfriCities Summit 2012]