selection of such systems, water managers in the 

 United States are accustomed to looking at the 

 components of water systems as a whole, at both the 

 "hard" technology (e.g., hardware) and the "soft" 

 technology (e.g., methodological know-how, analysis, 

 and management) . 



Institutional Mechanisms 



The mechanisms newly available in the Plan of 

 Action adopted at the U.N. Water Conference in 

 Argentina in 1977 and ratified by the U.N. General 

 Assembly should be reviewed. Assessment of water 

 resources, agreements on water access, as well as 

 funding mechanisms and international and bilateral 

 arrangements have all been considered under these 

 auspices. 



Other institutions and programs concerned with 

 efforts in this field include: the International 

 Reference Center (IRC) sponsored by WHO, which works on 

 dissemination of information processes, analyses, and 

 quality criteria; AID studies, which look toward 

 development of managerial sciences and engineering to 

 use socioeconomic and technical parameters for 

 identifying appropriate technologies; and the World 

 Bank, which is financing preinvestment studies and 

 economic and engineering projects relating to rural 

 waste disposal, development, and application. Other 

 possibilities are using private voluntary agencies and 

 the Peace Corps; the numerous training programs (AID, 

 WHO, IRC) ; the Intermediate Technology Group (london) 

 catalogue of equipment and approaches to rural waste 

 disposal and water supply technologies; the 

 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) , which deals with 

 rural supplies and on-site technologies; and the Pan 

 American Center for Sanitary Engineering and 

 Environmental Sciences in Lima, Peru. 



Proposed Initiatives 



The United states has already stated its intention 

 to assist developing countries in the provision of 

 domestic water supplies and waste disposal facilities 

 (United Nations 1977b: 5) by undertaking feasibility 

 studies, project planning, and training. To ensure the 

 success of such activities, planning should be 

 undertaken in collaboration with host country 

 ministries of health, water resources, and 

 development/finance. AID could support studies on 

 appropriate levels of technology, training, and 

 management in collaboration with such institutions 



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