Attracting the Private Sector to Urban Stormwater: A Feasible Task or Just a Pipe Dream?

Abstract

Private sector participation (PSP) in stormwater drainage and management systems is desirable for two reasons: firstly, for its capacity to contribute resources, allowing existing public budgets to be used for other purposes, and secondly for its capacity to introduce management efficiency. Despite the apparent simplicity of this conceptualization, in practice, such participation does not occur simply out of a desire to improve service delivery. Private and public partners have their interests, which are, on the private side, the profit margins and deadlines for return on investments, and on the public side, representing society, the obligations of equity, universality, continuity, and the sustainability of service provision and infrastructure. Reconciling these often‐contradictory aspects requires complex and sophisticated political, institutional, organizational and regulatory structures aligned to provide incentives, resources, and involves everyone. Without exhausting the subject, this article addresses several aspects related to the attractiveness and participation of private initiatives in urban stormwater management and discusses some international examples with a special focus on Brazil.