IRC Community Water Supply Management: List of Stories from the Field

List of stories

Stories by subject

Stories from the Field

List of Stories

May you have any comment or question on these stories, please contact either the person mentioned at the bottom of each story or Catarina Fonseca from IRC.

Cameroon

Stimulating community initiative (Batcham)

Sister Lola, was almost giving up in trying to keep the few pumps working. Without community cohesion in such a large village such as Batcham, carrying out participatory research proved to be complicated at the beginning . . .

When resistance is changed into commitment (Bokito Rural)

Bokito is a small fertile village with absent chiefs. They don't want to get back to their village because their children die of water related diseases. After an initial resistance of the community to the Participatory Research, not only the villagers were highly motivated as the provincial and divisional agencies played an important role.

A committed village leader (Nkouondja)

Nkouondja is known in the district for its improvement in the management of its water supply system. Leadership plays an important role in community cohesion and participation and the village has several community groups. Women overcame the initial constrains to their participation in decision making and have now a voice.

Colombia

Local watershed management to ensure a sufficient water supply (Campoalegre)

One of the main Campoalegre challenges is how to deal with the increasing population not only of their own community but also from the villages around, all served by the same water source. Partnerships with the Health services and with the local stone crushing company also have a double face.

Overcoming political interference (Ceylan)

The long tradition on community organisation and leadership shape the level of community management and participation in Ceylán. However, there are also serious political conflicts that need to be solved.

Women taking leading positions (La Sirena)

In La Sirena, a highly populated peri-urban area of Cali, women are leaders in the water sector. In a context of decentralisation and highly violent political conflicts vertical community management was overcome by more participative approaches. The process of strengthening local organisations materialised in the development of other activities in different sectors.

Guatemala

How seven communities joined hands for having water (Aguacatán)

In 1986, 7 communities in Guatemala joined efforts and built a water system that cost them US$140,625. After three years of serious technical and administrative problems, the system did not work. Together with Agua del Pueblo, a participatory action research was carried out, and 14 years later the Aguacatan is a model municipality, which moved beyond the water supply and is promoting integral community development.

Dealing with financial matters - from loans to water fees (Barrel Chiquito)

The community of Barrel Chiquito, through a process of trial and error, learnt to manage effectively their water project. Specifically, the ability of the women to direct the water committee, as well as to manage other community projects was finally recognised. The community management process was strengthened and developed with the support of ADP and the PAR methodology.

How to change ineffective management (Belén)

In Belén, a community highly dependent on an external agency, concentration of power and technical ability allowed corruption in the management of the water supply system. Through a long process of conflict management and change the community was able to make its own decisions and looking for alternative solutions, taking advantage of the resources that they had in the community and outside of it.

Kenya

Putting ownership where it belongs (Kiveetyo)

Although extensions to the initial system were initiated by the community itself, and more applications were being planned, the Kiveetyo community perceived the water system as owned by the agency that assisted in financing the implementation, instead of owned by themselves. Hence, the community contributed no resources to O&M, records were poorly kept, and the committee only felt accountable to the agency, not to the community. With help of a Participatory Action Research Team, this situation was changed.

One community, three water supply systems (Nyakerato)

Nyakerato has three different, separate water supply systems causing a lot of friction between the different groups served by the different systems. This in itself was an important obstacle for the Participatory Action Research team. However, some community members kept trying to improve their water supply situation.

Getting organised (Sigomere)

On request of the community, the Kenya Finland Western Water Supply Programme provided the community with several shallow wells fitted with hand pumps. Like many similar projects, the KFWWSP focused on community participation only as it related to the provision of free labour and locally available materials. Although the water committee started managing the scheme energetically, a number of problems arose, concerning for instance the community cohesion.

Women taking the lead (Yanthooko)

The Yanthooko the St. Martha women's group is an active women group focused on general development of their community and eager and ready to try innovations. The water supply system is a part of this. However, the group has not formulated guidelines and procedures for operations, and is highly inclined to dependency, even on issues they can handle themselves

Nepal

Combining the work of different support institutions (Gajedi community)

After the construction of several tubewells, managerial aspects were totally ignored, leading to the inefficiency of the system. With the support of different institutions funding complementary activities such as training, Gajedi overcame the difficulties and has several other strategies for the future.

Trying out different water tariff collection systems (Lele community)

Lele is historically a community rich in participation and involvement in development projects. After the construction of a water supply system, the community faced several problems. This story tells about creative ways of solving problems and how slowly women became key elements in decision making. It also describes the process and outcomes of the co-operation developed between the community and the district authorities.

The long path to a reliable water supply service (Rangpur community)

After the successful installation of handpumps, problems related with their management emerged. Through a Participatory Action Research, the community had an opportunity to gain experience and contributed to finding creative and sustainable approaches to improve their water supply systems.

Overcoming problems with a previous water supply system (Yampaphant community)

The Yampaphant community experienced several problems with one water supply system. Through a process of capacity building and experimenting different solutions to their problems they built a new water supply system able to supply water to all the taps installed and manage it in a sustainable way.

Pakistan

The importance of a local leader (Ghaziabad)

Ghaziabad is famous as a "model" village in Baltistan, because it has benefited from the rural development philosophy of Aga Khan. It also has a strong leadership, too strong, in the sense that the leader was dominating all the conversations and decisions. Bultistan is also well known for its rigidity of women participation in activities outside the house. This community solved part of this problems and developed a strong commercial attitude, reflected in the water supply management.

A traditional system of fining (Hasis)

The community of Hasis took the initiative to improve their water supply system. However, they didn't participate in any decisions concerning the construction of their water supply and concerning the management, no one knew who should do what. After thinking in-depth about water problems and finding solution to those problems, the community members have been able to solve water-related problems but also other problems existing in the village.

A village on the road to change (Hoto community)

Once relying on traditional water sources for survival and with long water rights dispute with a neighbouring village, the Hoto community built a water supply scheme and found creative ways of dealing with coverage and O&M problems. Women, who were initially excluded from all the meetings, played a prominent role in the decision-taking process later on, identifying sustainable strategies to solve the drinking water problem.

How to manage an originally unwanted water supply system (Pakora)

In Pakora, water availability is affected in the cold months. Women have to walk long distances and dig the ice in order to get clean water from the channels. This story shows how a first attempted to construct a water supply failed without the community participation. It also shows how the community, trough participatory research learn to deal with both physical and management problems.

Man in water committee meeting, Lele, Nepal