How are Water Funds developed?
Water Funds are developed by following a 5-phased process: Feasibility, Design, Creation, Operation, Maturity.
Access state of the art guidance on how best to scope, design, monitor, and operate Water Funds.
Video
On average, how long does it take to develop a Water Fund?
Daniel Shemie • The Nature Conservancy
Components common to all Water Funds
While the exact process a Water Fund will follow may vary slightly based on local conditions and text, all Water Funds share 5 characteristics. Learn more below.
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Multi-stakeholder Governance
Assembling and aligning stakeholders with political influence and societal trust that bring credibility to the Water Fund and helps the institution initiate interventions. This includes stakeholders from the private companies, academia, civil society and the public sector all engaging at different levels of participation with the Water Fund (some as partners, some as promoters and some as allies). Work in this area is focused primarily on the Water Fund’s initial set-up, but may also be necessary in the early phases of interventions to assemble/organize relevant stakeholder support for these initiatives.
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Science-Based Decision-Making
Incorporating science into the decision-making processes of a Water Fund is critical for ensuring that those decisions are credible and defensible. Science-based decision-making can help to both drive up confidence in the Water Fund concept and consensus-building throughout its development.
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Finance
To develop and implement the Water Fund’s model for financial sustainability, which is capable of financing and ensuring the ongoing operation (including implementation of selected interventions and execution of other related activities) of the Water Fund.
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Implementation of Program Activities
To develop and execute projects related to interventions, such as natural infrastructure and other projects or parts of projects that help improve water security comprise these actions. Efforts here deliver tangible work products, such as reports, restored land, trees planted, and so on.
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Communications and Marketing
To lead ongoing communication and engagement of stakeholders that is necessary to create a shared vision of water security priorities and to generate collective and coordinated action to address these concerns. This area is necessary for the Water Fund to achieve its targets and goals and is closely linked to the water security challenges and associated interventions after initial support is obtained. This work results in behavior changes, namely further support for the Water Fund’s plans and projects.