It is true that we do manage ...

It is true that we do manage our water resources relatively well in developed countries, however this has not always been so. It is only since the industrial revolution and thanks to the wealth that economic development generated that we have been able to construct and maintain well-managed public water supply systems. In present day terms sustainable and improving water systems are funded largely by private enterprise and as such requires paying customers in all sectors of the economy... Therefore I would say that the primary reason why developing countries are still struggling to manage their water resources is poverty ... the lack of economic foundations on which water infrastructure can be built and sustained. Other common hindrances to effective development and management in the utilities sector are indeed related to greed and selfishness, but also desperate opportunism, leading to widespread resource theft by the general populace who can not afford to pay for such services in their current state of economic under-development... It is a chicken and egg situation, however, because one of the most essential ingredients for poverty alleviation and successful economic development is reliable water supply, therefore there is a strong argument in support of aid-funded water development as one of the most productive means to stimulate economic development.