물인프라 건설단계 이후의 효율적 관리를 위한 중앙과 지방정부의 역할 = The Financial Strategy and Governance Policy for Effective Management of Water Infrastructure

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The aim of this study is to suggest financial policy and governance structure for effective and sustainable management of water infrastructure. The study i) identifies the current financial status and problems in managing the investment and operation for the water infrastructure, ii) analyze foreign cases of finance policies and governance issues for the water infrastructure management, and iii) suggests improvement plan for the water infrastructure management, the financial allotment system and appropriate governance policy.
Under the policies driving expansion of water and sanitation services (WSS), WSS business in Korea have the problems of lack of plan and fund for re-investment and the structural, financial and, systematic problems. Moreover, counterplans for the impacts of climate change such as urban inundation/drought and the change for diversified demands are required. The financial structure of WSS industries is characterized by low level of cost recovery from tariff and the regional gap in the financial structure. It causes the financial pressure on the local governments and also elicits difficulty in the investment on renovation in the deteriorated facilities. Also, the governance of WSS industries through performance evaluation is not covering sustainable financing and reasonable investment.
The study suggests improvement plans in threes fields which are business structures, financial structures and governance.
The system establishment for the water infrastructures services is needed in order to operate the business effectively and make investment on time. The study suggests following strategic methods. i) The industry restructuring and the establishment of region/basin management system are recommended to improve the competitiveness, economic efficiency and regional balance, ii) establishing the asset management system is needed for the efficient management of WSS, iii) strategic financial systems such as possibility evaluation on resource supply and liability on the losses from inefficiency are recommended for the sustainability of finance management.
The study also considers diverse measures to improve the financial structures in the water infrastructure sector such as i) support on the establishment of the asset management system and on the re-investment, ii) establishing ‘re-investment fund’ and loan support for sustainable financing of water infrastructure, iii) reasonable cost-sharing of the expanded service for climate change adaptation.
Finally, the study presents the following effective measures to improve the governance structure. For the WSS: i) improvement of the performance evaluation system, ii) establishment of the governance system in response to the climate change, iii) industry restructuring and establishment of the region/basin management system, iv) securement of a specialized regulatory system through an environmental regulatory organization which is suitable for integrated watershed management and a national economic regulatory organization in national level.