These water challenges contain both environmental (e.g. depletion of local water resources, untreated wastewater) and economic dimensions, (e.g. cost of inaction to catch up with expanding infrastructure needs, water losses, lack of resilience to floods) and in this regard, are critical green growth obstacles. While there is increasing recognition, in particular by the Metro Cebu Development Co-ordinating Board (MCDCB), of the urgent need to tackle these problems in order to ensure the sustainable long-term development of the Province, this section proposes alternative or complementary policy recommendations to the existing WSS strategies, following OECD and non-OECD countries and cities’ experience in this sector. However, MCWD only serves 57% of the population (1.2 million residents) in its franchise area, the remaining population being served by Community Water Associations or private suppliers (JICA and MCDCB, 2015).