Socio-Economic Development Levels and Adequate Regulatory Policy for Water Quality Management

Rapid industrialization in a substantial number of developing countries has serious implications for the environment and human health and well being. Water resources such as river basins are particularly affected by industrial and municipal waste discharges which have led to severe effects on water quality. Current regulatory policies to cope with this situation are reviewed and their effectiveness compared. Major governmental instruments include legislation, planning instruments such as environmental impact assessment, effluent standards and charges, licensing, specification and subsidization of pollution control installations and direct interventions. In many developing countries the government acts in a dual role as developing agency and regulatory institution at the same time, which allows for introduction of environmental considerations and pollution control measures early in the industrial development process. Often the lack of an experienced and adequately staffed government machinery in the environmental sector hampers the regulatory agencies control function.