Productive efficiency and allocative efficiency: why better water management may not solve the problem

It is commonplace for scientists and professionals who are not part of national and communal water discourses to have very clear views on what is economically and environmentally sound. They are certain of the fundamental principles which they claim should guide the development of policy. They believe that it will be possible to communicate the idea that `more can be achieved with less' and that `better water management' is something over which there can be a consensus. It will be demonstrated in the following analysis that only some ideal water allocation and management options are politically feasible. More importantly, it will be shown that the measures from which the most water use efficiency gains can be achieved are the ones for which `political prices' would have to be paid. These optimum options are, therefore, rarely addressed.