ABSTRACT
Investments in water-related projects have formed a large proportion of total public investment. The crisis perceived in public sector management is therefore of considerable relevance to the management of the water resource. The issue of management failure facing water resource management systems in region goes beyond their institutional form and is too complex to resolve by application for reform of administrative systems. The evolution of water management is related to general developments in State involvement in the economies of the region. In the quest for growth, for higher levels of income and improved standards of living, the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean have given considerable attention to the harnessing of water resources. Investments in the control and regulation of river flows have expanded parallel to, and as part of, the general expansion of the public sector and of the role of the government in the economy in many countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
