ABSTRACT
Water, a requirement for life, is critical to all production chains of the economy. In some major sectors of the economy, such as energy, investments have been generally well-linked to national planning. However, the link is not clear and well developed in water sector. The prospect of water scarcity and increasing environmental, economic, political, social and financial pressures, calls for coordinated decision-making so that water is allocated to maximize net benefits in a manner which will still be sustainable in the long run. Water is a primary or a complementary input to the whole range of economic sectors, such as agriculture, energy, industry, and services. These are the horizontal links of the water sector. The countries of the Middle East and North Africa Region all have water development plans, but they are at different stages of the process of preparing integrated strategic plans. The sector or program oriented models tend to be used only by small groups of model developers.
