Water is a vital resource for life, but a full 650 million people lack clean drinking water and 1 billion practice open defecation. Populations increase, economies grow, and urbanization continues, yet water supply has not kept pace. Dalberg works with governments, NGOs, businesses, and foundations to develop solutions that address the infrastructural, behavioral, and policy roots of complex, water-related problems. We enable our clients to plan, develop, distribute, and manage freshwater resources effectively to protect the lives and potential of people and our environment.

• We help to upgrade the global architecture for water resource management. We help clients articulate their strategies, coordinate with global, country, and industry partners, and build institutions and programs that effectively allocate scarce water resources across sectors and borders. We have helped clients create frameworks to effectively manage the entire water life cycle, from groundwater to tap.

• We create new business models. We help clients develop and refine decentralized and disruptive business models tailored to the needs of un-served and often migrating populations in rural and urban areas. In support of these models, we’ve established partnerships between government agencies and private businesses and investors to design and run water-related interventions.

• We identify profitable investment approaches. We identify niche investment opportunities in the $500 billion water market for investors and new entrants, based on analyses of financing needs, scalability, and how closely funds correlate to outcomes. We also work to develop investment vehicles for bilateral and multilateral institutions, including social impact bonds, grants, guarantees, and microfinance opportunities.

• We evaluate existing programs to adjust strategies. We conduct evaluations and reviews for major water programs and organizations in urban and rural areas. Our findings directly inform how clients adjust their programs to meet strategic objectives and the water needs of beneficiaries.

Practice area leads: NIRAT BHATNAGAR, MARK FREEDMAN

Learn about our projects here.