James Winpenny
Wychwood Economic Consulting

"One of the themes [at Stockholm World Water Week] is energy, and the in the last 10 years the debate about hydropower has changed totally. We’re not talking about whether hydro should happen but where it should happen, what kind of hydro and so on, and I think that’s a big step forward. It’s been accompanied by a massive increase in the amount of funding for hydro, particularly from Chinese loans and that’s a big difference and I think that’s a healthy sign.

I think there’s a greater understanding also about the importance of putting water on a proper financial basis and the three Ts is a short hand way of describing that ultimately water has to be paid for by users and tax payers, since there is no guarantee that transfers from other countries will continue. I hope in the future water will be regarded as a basic service which has to be properly priced and properly funded. And I think a lot of the emotion and the religion should be taken out of water and it’s treated in a more pragmatic way, because we need to raise the money to keep water flowing and cover the essential costs of providing this service. "