The objective of this paper is to
examine the challenges in the water sector faced by Armenia
today, and outline options for management and allocation of
its water resources in the future, considering the need for
a stable, transparent apublic sector management framework
and sustainable resource use for long-term private
investment and job creation, and for appropriate balances
among water uses for domestic, industrial, agriculture,

This report serves as a guide to the
utility and relevance of water quality prediction modeling.
It draws upon examples from recent World Bank water
resources and wastewater management projects. The goal of
the guide is to provide a broad-based understanding of the
water quality prediction process and to evaluate the
relative merits and cost-effectiveness of using water
quality models under field conditions. The guide build on

The intensive development of tourism in
the Gulf of Aqaba presents both an opportunity and a dilemma
for Egypt. Intensive tourism, if left unmanaged, can inflict
irreversible damage on coral reef and desert ecosystems and
curtail the area's economic potential. Together with
current projections for a rapid expansion of the tourism
base in the Aqaba coast, degradation from mounting
recreational activities give rise to serious concerns about

Cooperative management, and development
of Africa's international rivers holds real promise for
greater sustainability, and productivity of the
continent's increasingly scarce water resources, and
fragile environment. Moreover, the potential benefits of
cooperative water resources management, can serve as
catalysts for broader regional cooperation, economic
integration, and development - and even conflict prevention.

The Water Resources Sector Strategy
(WRSS) supports implementation of the Bank's 1993 Water
Resources Management Policy, using the experience updated
internationally, with water resources and management. This
country Water Resources Assistance Strategy (CWRAS)
identifies the Philippines principal water resource
challenges, the current situation, how the Bank is assisting
at present, and what it should in the future. In summary

This issue, which serves as the annual
review on the environment, looks at the Bank's work
from July 2002 through June 2003, dedicated this year to
Water and the Environment, on the occasion of the Fifth
World Parks Congress in Durban, South Africa. Following the
overview, which reviews progress in the implementation of
the Environment strategy, the report presents viewpoints on
ways to move forward in delivering water as committed in

Since the early 1990s, Jordan has
initiated efforts toward far-reaching stabilization and
structural reform. The reforms have aimed at laying the
foundations for a reduced role of the state,
private-sector-export-oriented-growth, employment, poverty
reduction, and overall improvement in the welfare of the
population. Due to this intensive effort, inflation has been
reduced, the current account of the balance of payments has

The review focuses on development and
the environment in Yemen, particularly analyzing the
environment resource base, where renewable fresh water is
scarce, mainly ground water, and its over exploitation is
one of the country's major environmental problems.
Fisheries resources are also important, while oil and gas
are significant resources contributing to some eighty five
percent of Yemen's export revenues. Environmental

The study reviews Niger's water
resources, and planning process, through its short- and
medium-term water investment program, and priorities in the
water supply, and sanitation sector. Critical challenges are
examined for improving its complex water resources
management to support economic growth, given its landlocked
situation, with diffuse, and mostly rural population, and
immense, untapped fossil aquifer supplies. Despite multiple

The study reviews the challenges water
resources management faces, and the opportunities for policy
formulation towards sustainable development in Argentina,
where regardless of prudent public finances management,
water resources management remain disproportionately
backward compared to regional, and international best
practices. Hence, within a frame of reference on the
country's population, institutions, and legal

Located in the heart of Mali, the Office
du Niger (ON) is one of the oldest and largest irrigation
schemes in Sub-Saharan Africa. The French, who began the
scheme in 1932, planned on developing about 1,000,000
hectares over a period of 50 years. The original objectives
were to: 1) supply the French textile industry with a large
share of its needs in cotton; and 2) significantly
contribute to food security for the whole Sahelian region of

Over the past thirty years, most of
Sub-Saharan Africa has seen rapid population growth, poor
agricultural performance, and increasing environmental
degradation. Why do these problems seem so intractable? Are
they connected? Do they reinforce each other? If so, what
are the critical links? This book tests the hypothesis that
these phenomena are strongly interrelated. The finding -
that this nexus is very much at work in Sub-Saharan Africa -