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Regulation As the World Bank points out in its report, building climate-resilient economies that can develop and grow in a warming world will require better ways of allocating scarce water resources, both across sectors and within sectors— especially agriculture— to its highest-value uses.
As well as achieving safety and sustainability objectives, good sustainable regulations will increasingly need to factor in economic opportunity. This could be achieved through planning and regulation, or using market signals through instruments such as prices and permits. In both cases there would need to be adequate safeguards to assure access to poor households and disadvantaged communities as well as the protection of the environment.
None of this will be easy. It will call for establishing credible institutions, policies and legal systems that can facilitate transfers of water in ways that benefit all parties to the transaction. It will require hard policy and planning work, but it is imperative that it be done.
Again in its simplest application, if you do not have the required skills and knowledge, you should not be touching a plumbing system. Good regulation is an essential protection that complements good plumbing systems.
Exposure to unsafe water, lead, asbestos, or any other health risk, has to be above achieving the best possible contract price.
This could be achieved through planning and regulation, or using market signals through instruments such as prices and permits. In both cases there would need to be adequate safeguards to assure access to poor households and disadvantaged communities as well as the protection of the environment.
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www. plumbingafrica. co. za February 2017 Volume 22 I Number 12