Water management futures practice questions.

The Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, brokered by the World Bank, set out how India and Pakistan share the rivers of the Indus basin. What did the treaty establish?

• Pakistan uses the three western rivers, India the three eastern rivers
• Every river is shared equally through a jointly staffed basin authority
• India controls all six rivers and pays Pakistan annual compensation
• The basin is administered by the United Nations until a final settlement

Answer: Pakistan uses the three western rivers, India the three eastern rivers

Allocating whole rivers rather than shares of a common flow made the treaty enforceable without day-to-day joint operation, which is why it survived several wars until India placed it in abeyance in 2025; the cost is that each state remains exposed to what the other builds upstream.

A city facing rising water stress introduces rising block tariffs, so that water used above a modest monthly allowance costs several times the basic unit price. How is this measure best classified?

• Supply-side management through new storage infrastructure
• Demand-side management using a price signal
• Supply-side management through interbasin transfer
• Demand-side management through legal prohibition

Answer: Demand-side management using a price signal

Demand-side measures change how much water people choose to use, and a tariff does this through price rather than a ban, keeping essential use affordable while making discretionary use expensive.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile, begun in 2011, has been the subject of long negotiations between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt. Which issue lies at the centre of the dispute?

• How quickly the reservoir is filled, since filling cuts downstream flow
• Whether the dam will raise the salinity of the eastern Mediterranean Sea
• Ethiopia's refusal to permit commercial navigation on the Blue Nile
• Sudan's proposal to divert the White Nile eastwards into the Red Sea

Answer: How quickly the reservoir is filled, since filling cuts downstream flow

Water stored behind the dam during filling is water that does not reach Egypt in that year, so the argument is about the filling schedule and about rules for drought years, not about whether the dam may exist.

Singapore's water strategy combines imported water, local catchments, desalination and reclaimed NEWater. What is the main strategic advantage of this combination?

• Diversification reduces dependence on any single source or supplier
• It removes the need to treat wastewater before discharge
• It guarantees the cheapest possible unit cost of water
• It allows demand to grow without any pricing or regulation

Answer: Diversification reduces dependence on any single source or supplier

The four taps are a resilience design: a drought, a treaty dispute or a plant outage can each be absorbed because no single source is indispensable. Diversified supply is usually more expensive per unit, and Singapore also prices water and regulates demand.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile raised a dispute with downstream Egypt. Which feature of the basin makes the dispute structural rather than temporary?

• Upstream states control the flow on which downstream states already depend
• The Nile carries too little sediment for any reservoir to be useful
• Both countries lie in the same climatic zone with identical rainfall
• The river has no international agreement of any kind covering its use

Answer: Upstream states control the flow on which downstream states already depend

Where a basin crosses borders, the upstream state holds the physical power to store and time the flow while the downstream state holds the prior use. That asymmetry persists whatever the individual project, which is why basin-wide institutions rather than single-project deals are the usual recommendation.

A city replaces a flat water tariff with a rising block tariff, where the price per cubic metre increases once a household passes a basic allowance. What is the intended effect?

• Discretionary high-volume use is discouraged while basic needs stay affordable
• All households pay the same amount regardless of how much they use
• Water use rises because the first block appears cheaper than before
• Revenue falls, forcing the utility to reduce treatment standards

Answer: Discretionary high-volume use is discouraged while basic needs stay affordable

The design separates a needs block from a discretionary block, so the price signal falls on garden watering and pools rather than on drinking and washing. It is the standard answer to the objection that pricing water penalises poor households.