缺少资金，机构未能履行职能，加上对水的需求不断增加，促使许多国家在水务部门开展改革。这种改革主要是改善全国水务部门间的协调，鼓励主要利益相关者参与。改革的结果参差不齐。在有些地方，下放水资源的管理权和服务产生了良好的效果。但是，许多供水项目失败了，这说明在选择技术方面应该让地方做出决定，捐赠者之间也要改进协调。
各国（例如也门、马达加斯加、巴西、牙买加、斯里兰卡）新颁布的水法正在改变水务管理的规则，促使社区参与水资源的管理以及制定可持续水务管理政策。多年来出现了不同的权力下放模式。法国、摩洛哥、也门和巴西设立了水务管理机构，促进通过流域委员会在流域一级开展分权式管理和参与性管理。东南亚诸国家（泰国、菲律宾、印度尼西亚和马来西亚）设立了江河流域组织，促进地方做出决定并开展参与性决策。在吉尔吉斯斯坦，苏联的解体以及与咸海相关的环境问题促使政府进行改革，其重点是鼓励地方管理水资源，完善农场用水管理办法，并将运营和维护责任转交给水用户协会。在某些地方，提供服务方面的权力下放还提高了妇女在提供、管理和保护水资源方面的作用，从而改善了她们家庭的健康和卫生条件。但是，经验还表明，如果地方一级缺乏能力建设方案，在提供服务方面下放权力可能产生相反的效果。
若干国家成功的政策和机构改革已经改善了水的分配、资金筹措和管理。在墨西哥，法律和政策改革为建立强有力的水务机构奠定了牢固的基础。最近智利开展了法律和政策改革，处理用水权方面的冲突，例如农业、水力发电和其他用途之间的冲突。巴西政策改革的主要方面是制定和执行针对各地区和部门的战略，包括建立水资源管理局。摩洛哥和也门建立了江河流域管理署，给予公共城市供水机构自主权。虽然这些机构和政策改革十分不同，但它们的共同之处是日益强调市场分配办法的重要性，由利益相关者和私营部门参与，开展水资源综合管理，以期实现供水系统在经济和物质两方面的可持续性。
为促进可持续发展而管理水资源需要收集、解读和应用关于水资源的数据和资料。在大多数发展中国家，数据库的数量和质量都不够完备，不能充分说明基线状况或趋势。在许多地方，水资源监测网络不断退化，有些甚至无法运作，未定期收集关于用水的基本数据，也未评估供水系统的状况。建立可靠的水务信息系统需要资金，这一要求没有得到政府及其发展伙伴的充分重视。糟糕的数据就会造成糟糕的计划和方案规划。提交给可持续发展委员会的国家报告除了指出缺少关于水的质量和数量方面的资料之外，还指出了阻碍水资源综合管理的下列主要因素：缺少资金；管理当局之间协调不充分；国家和地方立法重叠与不一致。
在全球一级，全球国际水域评估(水域评估)——该方案由环境计划署牵头，由全球环境基金提供大约50%的资金——采用一种基于生态系统的办法来确定优先问题和对策，以期在国家和区域两级减少污染并管理国际水域。水域评估提出减轻66个跨界水域地区的问题可能需要采取的对策，从而促进水资源的可持续使用和综合管理。
原文如下：
Water policies and institutions
Lack of finance and institutional failure, exacerbated by increasing demand for water, have encouraged many countries to embark on reforms of their water sectors.
The main thrust of those reforms has been to ensure better coordination in the water sector and encourage participation by major stakeholders. The results have been mixed. In some cases, decentralized management of water resources and services has yielded good results. However, failure of a large number of water-supply projects indicates the need for local decision-making in the choice of technology, as well as better coordination among donors.
New water laws enacted in various countries (e.g., Yemen, Madagascar, Brazil, Jamaica, Sri Lanka) are changing the rules of water governance, involving communities in water resource management and the development of sustainable water management policies. Over the years, different decentralization models have emerged. France, Morocco, Yemen, and Brazil have created water management structures to promote decentralized and participatory management at the basin level through basin committees. In several countries of South-East Asia (Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia), river basin organizations have been established to promote local ownership and participatory decision-making. In Kyrgyzstan, the break-up of the Soviet Union and the environmental issues surrounding the Aral Sea have prompted reforms with a focus on encouraging local management of water resources, improving on-farm water management practices, and transferring operation and maintenance responsibility to water user associations.
Decentralization of service delivery, in some cases, has also promoted women's role in the provision, management and safeguarding of water resources, resulting in improved health and sanitation conditions for their families. However, experience also shows that decentralization of service delivery can be counterproductive in the absence of capacity-building programs at the local level.
Successful policy and institutional reforms have led to better water allocation, financing and management in some countries. In Mexico, legal and policy changes have laid strong foundations for building stronger water-sector institutions. Chile has recently introduced legal and policy changes to address conflicts over water rights, for example between agriculture, hydropower and other uses. The main thrust of Brazil's policy reforms has been formulation and implementation of region- and sector-specific strategies, including the establishment of a water resources management authority. Morocco and Yemen have created river basin agencies and granted autonomy to public urban water supply agencies. While there is much diversity in those institutional and policy changes, similarities include the increasing importance attached to market-based allocation, stakeholder involvement, private sector participation, integrated water resources management, and economic and physical sustainability of water-supply systems.
Managing water resources for sustainable development requires the collection, interpretation and application of data and information on water resources. In most developing countries, databases are inadequate, both quantitatively and qualitatively, not adequately characterizing either the baseline conditions or the trends. In too many places, water resource monitoring networks are deteriorating and some are not operational, basic data on water usage is not collected regularly, and conditions of supply systems have not been assessed. Reliable information systems on water require financial resources, a requirement that has not received sufficient attention from Governments and their development partners. The result of poor data is poor planning and programming. Besides lack of information on water quality and availability, the national reports submitted for the Commission on Sustainable Development point out the following major obstacles to integrated water resources management: lack of financial resources; insufficient coordination among authorities; and overlaps and inconsistencies between national and local legislation.
At the global level, the Global International Waters Assessment28 – a programme led by UNEP and funded about 50 per cent by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) - uses an ecosystem-based approach to identify priority issues and policy responses for pollution mitigation and management of international waters at the national and regional levels. Global International Waters Assessment promotes the sustainable use and integrated management of aquatic resources by presenting possible policy responses needed for alleviating problems in the 66 transboundary water regions.
