Water supply and sanitation (W&S) sector: Drinking water is a basic need and has no alternatives, and proper sanitation is of fundamental importance for individual and public health. This sub-sector has high risks of corruption because of monopoly positions of the providers and the large sums of money involved in investments, rehabilitation and operation and maintenance (Plummer&Cross, 2006; Shordt et al., 2006).
Of all the water that humans take out of nature, some 70 percent goes to irrigation even more in countries with large irrigation sectors such as Australia, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Mexico, Turkey and Uzbekistan (TI, 2008). Irrigation usually takes place in projects spread throughout multiple farms and companies, which makes it difficult to monitor. Furthermore, irrigation also has weak regulatory frameworks, thus generating excessive payouts for the powerful (WGF et al., 2011).
Hydropower is the generation of electricity from the use of water through turbines. Its share of global electricity consumption in 2010 was 16.1 percent (Worldwatch Institute, 2013), and it is expected to become more prominent on the global energy scene in the decades to come. Any discussion of Hydropower invariably leads to a debate about large dams and the role they play in the provision of water, energy and related services. Corruption features prominently in this debate. There are more than 45,000 large dams in 140 countries, and about two-thirds of them are in the developing world, where new construction is also heavily concentrated (TI, 2008).
