Recent moves by governments in lower-income countries to delegate responsibility for water management to lower levels of administration have had limited success. Progress is slow, governments are not delegating the needed powers and resources and have in some cases taken back the delegated responsibility.

Often local governments do not have the capacity to do what is required. Local groups and individuals are hampered by lack of access to key information and frequently by exclusion from participating in water decision-making....

In developing countries there are often significant and serious gaps between policymaking and its implementation, not least because of institutional resistance....There is very little evidence that governments in developing countries are strengthening their water budgets stakeholder participation and subsidiarity. Water stakeholders at all levels should not refrain from attempting to play a role in shaping policy outcomes and influencing political will. They must be increasingly prepared to manoeuvre in different social and political contexts.

This is not to suggest that water managers should choose political sides, but rather that they should be aware that policy-making and implementation involve politics. By knowing the political game and rules, they can make more strategic inputs into policy-making processes and other decision-making processes....

In continuing the work to improve water governance ...there is a challenge of having sufficient water, of the right quality, at the right place and at the right time.... The challenge remains to develop governance frameworks and institutions that are flexible and adaptive.

More attention needs to be given to resilient institutions and approaches that can govern or guide the complex... process of water governance central to long-term management at a regional, basin, aquifer or even local level.... This suggests that specific solutions ? the ideal solution ? may be less relevant and emphasizes the importance of enabling processes and frameworks that can be applied to resolve certain issues in situations of economic or other constraints and in contexts of change....

Many countries are currently at a crossroads about whether to provide the required political and financial capital to enhance efforts to improve water governance. ?Business as usual? is no longer a viable option. If investment levels and reform speed are not stepped up, countries? abilities to provide water and sanitation for all, increase food production, while maintaining the environment will be seriously compromised. This will, in the long- and short-run, curtail societies? prospects for development....