Presentation - OECD workshop on the performance of utilities for wastewater, Oriana Romano - OECD

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TRANSPARENCY AS A
DRIVER FOR
PERFORMANCE
OECD workshop - The performance of utilities for wastewater
collection and treatment- 31 January 2023
Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE)
Oriana Romano
Head of Unit, Water Governance and Circular Economy
Cities, Urban Policies and Sustainable Development Division

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Water management in cities
Source : OECD 2016 ,“Water Governance in Cities”
(48 respondents/water departments, top 5 ranking out of 65 words)

3. © OECD | Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities | @OECD_Local |
Key Factors affecting urban water governance
Source : OECD 2016 ,“Water Governance in Cities”

4. © OECD | Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities | @OECD_Local |
Perceived information gap to urban water management
Source : OECD 2016 ,“Water Governance in Cities”
➢ Scarce availability of wastewater
statistics on wastewater flows treated
➢Some wastewater flow may be
underestimated
➢Illegal wastewater
➢Run-off and urban stormwater
separately tracked and monitored
➢Lack of disaggregated data

5. © OECD | Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities | @OECD_Local |
Transparency of the service provision
Source : OECD 2016 ,“Water Governance in Cities”
The OECD Water Governance Initiative
Performance of water utilities
➢ Utilities’ health
➢ Probability that a water
utility will experience a
performance problem
➢ Staff
➢ Equipment
➢ Operation
➢ Service quality

6. © OECD | Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities | @OECD_Local |
Improve transparency through the OECD Principles on Water Governance
OECD (2015), OECD Principles on Water Governance,
oe.cd/48w
Legal and institutional frameworks
Promoting legal and institutional frameworks that hold decision-makers and stakeholders accountable, such
as the right to information and independent authorities to investigate water related issues and law
enforcement.
Accountability and control mechanisms
Address health and environmental risks from emerging pollutants and plastics in treated and untreaded
sewage discharges.
Capacity building
“Replicate the cultural rigour shown on drinking water compliance in wastewater operation”.
Plans and stakeholder engagement
Adopting multi-stakeholder approaches and wastewater plans. Links with urban plans.
Data collection and monitoring
Develop an easy and transparent access to WWS data that can reduce the risks of asymmetric information.
Collecting data from operators. Monitor infrastructure.

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Website: www.oecd.org/cfe
Thank you for your attention!
Oriana.ROMANO@oecd.org