Topic Guide: Corruption in Water and Sanitation Sector

Water is becoming an increasingly scarce resource, with intensified competition over access to and control over water supplies.[1] In addition, private investment in water is growing in countries with high risks of corruption, weak governance and institutions, posing particular challenges for international investors.[2]

State-owned water and sanitation companies have often been shown to face many problems, such as overstaffing, high levels of unaccounted for water, lack of funds for investment and political interference in all areas.[3] Therefore, privatisation of water has been an option that was often posited as a “solution” to corruption in the 1990s, yet private investment in the water sector has had mixed results. On the one hand, it can play an important role in infrastructure financing, development and management, ensuring water supplies where the public sector cannot deliver.[4] On the other hand, it also brings major challenges to local populations. The Global South's water resources are increasingly owned and managed by Northern water firms who do not hesitate to turn off the tap if bills are not paid. In South Africa in 2002, for want of a $7 reconnection fee the community's previously free clean water supply was turned off by the private service provider, exacerbating a cholera outbreak which ultimately infected 140,000 citizens.[5]

Inadequate or complex institutional arrangements, weak environmental protection frameworks and the lack of adequate sanctions for environmental degradation all combine to leave corrupt actors plenty of room for manoeuvre.[6]

At the national level, water management may be the responsibility of more than one agency or ministry, with irrigation, sanitation, urban water services and hydroelectric infrastructure falling under the jurisdiction of different government bodies. It is therefore challenging to design comprehensive anti-corruption strategies for the sector. Watercourses are not confined to national borders, and differing governance arrangements in countries sharing the same water body can lead to regulatory loopholes that can be exploited for corrupt purposes.[7]
Water management is also mostly considered to be a technical issue and an engineering challenge in most countries, with little attention paid to corruption and its impact on the political and social dimensions of water management.[8] Faults in the delivery and quality of water and sanitation services are usually ignored until emergencies arise, at which point repair or improvement of these systems may be too late or too costly.[9]

In spite of its impact on human development and environment sustainability, monitoring the quality of water services is often costly and requires technological capital and capacities that may not be available to low-income countries. Contracting water quality assessments on a regular basis to audit the work of water inspectors may be costly and time consuming too. Nevertheless, clean-up costs are pricey, and the lasting environmental impact of corruption passes the bill to future generations.