Financing the Urban Water Sector in the United States of America, with Possible Implementation in the Sultanate of Oman

Abstract

The world has been experiencing a change in water and sewage infrastructure ownership and management. At one end, the public sector in developing countries has been moving towards engaging the private sector in the management and operation of water and sewage sectors. In the United States, the trend is catching up, even though there has been a mixed experience in the involvement of the private sector. While most urban facilities are owned by the public entities of the concerned urban centers, striking up a balanced involvement of both sectors is gradually taking shape. The paper focuses on financing urban water and sewage sectors in selected areas of the United States. An attempt is made to assess the viability and suitability of utilizing some of these methods in the Sultanate of Oman. The distribution system in the Sultanate of Oman is managed by the public sector; like in other countries, the private sector is getting involved on a gradual basis. There is more reliance on the private sector to manage the water sector worldwide. Can this happen in the Sultanate of Oman? The method will rely on analysis of the available data and the researcher’s work experience in the financial sector.