Meeting the Millennium Deveopment Goals (MDGs)

Target 10 of the seventh Millennium Development Goal (where goal seven is to achieve environmentally sustainable development) is to halve by 2015 the proportion of people worldwide without sustainable access to safe drinking water.

While in many regions, the MDG agenda seeks to expand service delivery to increase access, systems in Europe and Central Asia already exist in most cases, albeit in poor condition as described above. While rural water supplies are generally considered to be lagging behind the urban with respect to access indicators, both are facing crises with respect to safety, reliability, quality, and efficiency of services.

The main problems relating to meeting the MDGs in the region are found in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Given the current state and rate of deterioration of existing infrastructure, the costs of restoring these systems in the medium to long term is likely to be exponentially increased unless urgent investments are made in the short term. Current costs for investments needed to restore some of the water supply systems have been estimated at about US $60 per capita, and if the pace of deterioration does not decrease, the cost of restoration by 2015 is estimated to rise to as much as US $200 per capita.

Estimated costs for meeting the MDGs for water supply and sanitation in the region (if rehabilitation is done in the short term) amount to about US $11 billion. However, if systems are allowed to deteriorate further, the costs of reconstructing the collapsed systems is expected to rise to about US $40 billion. The issue now is how to keep the existing systems functioning and prevent them from collapsing. This is why investments cannot be limited to expansion of coverage; urgent rehabilitation is needed. Where feasible, focus will be put on obtaining greater productivity from present investment levels, coupled with policies that promote financial sustainability, rather than on new capital investments. Where capital investments in water supply are critical, priority will be given to restoring and extending distribution systems and improving efficiency, rather than on rehabilitation of water treatment plants.

For all the CIS countries, investment to meet the WSS targets is estimated at US $1.2 billion a year, which is considerably more than current investment levels.