ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the issues surrounding water, investment and the sustainable use of water resources. It focuses on the area of water privatisation and its relationship with the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The GATS has a substantial capacity to influence the water and sanitation services sector, perhaps more than any other instrument, as it enables member states of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to nominate their water markets to be subject to global trade rules and market access. The rise to dominance of neoliberal economic policies in Western democracies in the later 1970s brought privatisation back to the fore and supported the creation of the water market as people know it today. The possibility of liberalisation and uncertainty surrounding service classification under the GATS raises significant issues for water managers and challenges regarding sustainability and sustainable water management. The nature of water supply and water infrastructure tends towards natural monopoly and encourages longer-term investment and ownership structures.
