About CM

Definitions and interpretations

Community management has become the leading concept for implementing water supply systems in rural areas in developing countries. It was seen as an answer to the large scale break down of water supply systems and the failure of governments either to provide clean water itself, or to devise a system where other agencies would supply it reliably and consistently. The idea that communities should operate and maintain water supply systems themselves, came partly from an erosion of belief in the idea that central governments were any good at supplying things for their populations, and partly from the positive belief that communities have the skills and motivation to meet their own essential needs.

What are the elements that distinguish community managed systems from other models for service provision?

Under what circumstances is it the best or most appropriate management option?

Many different methods have been used and are still being used to strengthen the capacities of communities to manage their own water supply systems. Demand responsive approaches, different participatory methods (1), training and capacity building all aim at increasing responsibility and capacities in the community. It has been assumed that, once a new water system had been installed in a rural community, success or failure in sustaining it would be determined by factors within the community, such as the level of skills, the quality of the leadership and the willingness of community members to pay for water.

Now after more than two decades of applying the concept, it is time to look back and consider the opportunities and constraints of community management in bringing water to the millions of people in need of it. Is community management the right way to increase both the sustainability of water supply systems and the coverage of safe and reliable water supply in rural areas?

If we want to increase the sustainability of rural water supplies and increase the coverage of water supply services in rural areas, than we have to look beyond the community and throw out a challenge about the institutional support that communities need to maintain their systems once the implementing agency pulls out. Our conclusion is that communities cannot bear alone the full responsibility for managing their water supplies. Community management, it turns out, does not mean that the outside agencies drive off into the sunset and everyone lives happily ever after. Indeed, a comprehensive and effective framework for institutional support is needed if we want to keep the systems working after ‘handing over’.

(1) Check http://www.worldbank.org/html/fpd/water/rural.html.

Women in Lele, Nepal, meet to discuss problems with the community water supply