Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Government - Essay Example strialized City in heart of this country, a highway was constructed, cutting across the major watershed supporting the City’s underground water supply to reduce into half the travel time from the Export Processing Zone to the International Ship-building Yard on the other side of the island. Hundreds of trees were cut to give way to the approximately 100-kilometer road traversing the mountain ridges. Since, the mountains were already cleared and accessible to motor vehicles, affluent City dwellers started building houses on the cleared areas. Soon, a large portion of the watershed turned into a housing and commercial district. A couple of years after the opening of the highway, water supply seriously dropped. It was estimated that with the current rate of extraction will soon overtake the recharging rate and fresh water supply will be gone in less than 15 years. An alarming level of E. Coli bacteria brought about by fecal contamination was also found in the water. This sad reality happening is not only happening in developing countries like the Philippines. Even developed countries have problems of similar nature. A serious review of water governance policies is in order. Water supply plays a vital role for sustainable development, be it in developed countries or developing countries. The use and abuse of water supply and the blatant disregard or ignorance of its management can cost a city even an entire country a fortune. Water shortages and water quality degradation are seriously affecting prospects for economic and social development in countries all over the world. However, most of these fatal mistakes can easily be avoided with a good water governance system. Water governance refers to the range of political, social, economic and administrative systems that are in place to regulate the development and management of water resources and provision of water services at different levels of society. This must be instituted at the regional, national and local