Water and Development: A Complex Relationship

Abstract

The water resource has a wide range of interactions in socio‐economic development processes. Water projects that enhance the attributes of water, or control its negative effects, may stimulate development and have been used as development tools. However, studies of the impact of water availability and investment in water projects on development have produced mixed results, with some studies focusing on the United States detecting no positive correlation between water and patterns of socio‐economic development. These findings may not be universally applicable due to the impact of such variables as extent of direct governmental involvement in development, level of water availability, and prevailing mix of economic activities. Water must be viewed as one of several elements of the growth process with potential to become a limiting factor. Thus, water development cannot be used indiscriminately as a mechanism to stimulate socioeconomic advancement, but appropriate attention must be given as part of a broad assessment of the many interacting factors important to socio‐economic advancement.