 commensurate allocation of the required financial means. Water utilities often lack operational autonomy, and their relationship with their political masters is ambiguous. They often have a poor management structure and find it difficult to attract the best staff. They are frequently in a poor financial condition because they are unable or unwilling to charge customers the economic rate for their services, and this then prevents effective reinvestment. Politicians often burden the sector with financial and regulatory arrangements that are ad hoc, unpredictable and not sustainable. That makes it impossible for water utilities to properly maintain their assets or attract necessary finance, and leaves them dependent on the fickleness of governments when it comes to funding their new investments. Lack of clarity about ownership of assets is often an additional obstacle to investment. It is true that the water sector may present opportunities for low-cost investments with a quick return. As this experience shows, financing water infrastructure is not restricted to one-off capital investments: sizeable recurrent spending is also required to operate and maintain the assets. If these outlays are not made, the infrastructure may deteriorate and even collapse. There is a growing acceptance of the need for full cost recovery in water services, but this must be done in a way that safeguards the needs of the poor. Valuing water has become critical to optimising investment and obtaining viable private sector participation in the efforts to raise the needed projected investments of USD 180 billion per year until 2025. 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 The emerging trends driving investment needs may be distinguished by the nature of the various country contexts. Broadly speaking it is possible to see differences between developed economies in high-income countries, transi