his includes policies, regulations and strategies covering drinking water supplies, the protection and conservation of water quality and quantity, and aquatic ecosystems. In order to promote better management many are moving to integrated ecosystem and watershed management approaches, and several have created institutions that focus on specific water issues such as apportionment. At another level there are also collaborative bodies that link specific federal, provincial and territorial spheres of interest - for example, the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, which developed water quality guidelines. China Only 47% of the Asian population have improved sanitation coverage, by far the lowest of any region of the world. Asia has 80% of the global population without access to improved sanitation, and almost two-thirds do not have access to improved water supply. With just 31% coverage, the situation is much worse in rural areas than in urban areas, where coverage is 74%. Water supply coverage is 81%, the second lowest after Africa. Like sanitation, coverage is lower in rural areas (73%) than in urban areas (93%). Currently, approximately two-thirds of the Asian population live in rural areas, but by 2015 the urban population is projected to represent 45% of the region's total, and should reach just over one-half by 2025. This population growth and shift will place enormous strains on already overburdened urban services. If adequate INFRASTRUCTURE TO 2030: TELECOM, LAND TRANSPORT, WATER AND ELECTRICITY - ISBN 92-64-02398-4 © OECD 2006 5. THE IMPACTS OF CHANGE ON THE LONG-TERM FUTURE DEMAND FOR WATER SECTOR INFRASTRUCTURE provision for sanitation in large cities is taken to mean a toilet connected to a sewer, there is a lack of adequate provision in cities throughout Asia. Not only is China the world's most populous country, but its geographical sweep is huge. There are thus major differences between regions, and any generalisation can be very misleading. Renewable water resources have been estimated as 