Document

[Anonymous]. Submitted. South Africa: putting integrated water resources management into practice (English).

Background

At the advent of democracy in 1994, the ANC government seized the opportunity to formulate policies that could achieve an equitable and sustainable water resource use. Three National Acts were crucial in defining the working rules that dictated the institutional frameworks, as well as which stakeholders interacted over which resources and space;

(i) The National Water Act No. 36 of 1998 became the legal instrument for implementing the national water policy. The Act recognizes that "water is a natural resource that belongs to all people" and places the nation’s water resources in the public trusteeship of the National Government. This Act provides for the establishment of several statutory and non-statutory institutions in designated Water Management Areas and requires the formation of stakeholder participatory institutions, emphasizing the participation of previously disadvantaged rural communities. The Act outlines mechanisms for dealing with over-arching issues of water management across different types of uses and levels.

(ii) The Water Service Act of 1997 deals with water and sanitation services within delineated political administrative boundaries such as municipalities. This Act too provides for the establishment of several institutions that interface with water users, whether individual households (residential users) or industrial users. For instance it provides for the establishment of a Water Services Authority that regulates how water and sanitation services are provided and who provides them.

(iii) The Disaster Management Act of 2000 deals with the management of all manner of disasters including floods and droughts. While the National Water Act and the Water Services Act fall under the armpits of the National Department of Water Affairs (DWAF), the Disaster Management Act falls under the armpit of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Traditional Affairs. Public participation in disaster management at local levels is suggested to happen through ward committees, which lie in the lowest political voting boundaries.

In summary, this policy environment provides for separate institutional avenues for gaining access to water resources in general, to domestic water and sanitation services and to dealing with either excess water (floods) or moisture deficits (drought). In practice, such an environment requires that local communities understand the different institutional channels through which they can voice their concerns. Such multiple institutional environment is generally a source of frustration among community members as the Mthatha case below demonstrates.

Local responses

In response to the National Water Act, two Catchment Management Forums[1] (CMFs) emerged in Eastern Cape Province of South Africa during 1999. The Mthatha Catchment Management Forum (Mthatha CMF) emerged in Water Management Areas (WMA) 12 in the western end of the province (see Figure 1 on bottom page). It took responsibility for the overall management of the Mthatha catchment which is made up of three secondary catchments covering a total area of approximately 5500 km2 and a population of just over half million people of whom 91 percent are rural, living in small and remote villages.

Participation of poor rural communities in the CMF was taken seriously in the formation of both Forums. In Mthatha, in which the process received substantial financial and professional backup from DWAF, public and private media advertisement led to public consultation meetings and the inauguration of a management committee for the Forum. The nomination of a management committee was preceded with a workshop to identify crucial issues to be tackled by the Forum. Some crucial issues identified included the tackling of pollution of the MthathaRiver, domestic water supply needs for rural communities, tackling poverty and land degradation. Socio-economic statistics bear witness to the salience of these concerns; approximately 84 percent of households in the catchment earn less than two US dollars a month (DWAF 2002), the total area under irrigation is estimated at 293 hectares while there is potential in excess of 1200 hectares (DWAF 2002), while the economy of the catchment is dependent largely on livestock farming, with sheep and cattle farming providing a living for rural subsistence farmers, livestock water requirements are met mainly from the limited surface water sources, while substantial groundwater resources play a minor role. The catchment is generally under-developed and the area is characterised by a high degree of unemployment and high poverty levels. Constant outbreaks of cholera in the catchment is evidence of poor access to clean water by the majority of rural communities who depend, for their domestic needs, on water collected directly from the river.

Four years after the formation of the CMF, participation of local people in Forum activities became problematic with complete absence in most meetings of representatives from the 1055 communities that exist in the catchment. This was attributed to fact that the Forum did not address itself to several issues that were of concern to local people, one of which was the improvement of domestic water services to rural communities. The Forum on its part argued that such water concerns lay outside its jurisdiction. The Mthatha Forum, dominated by government and private stakeholder representatives, concerned itself with issues of generating a catchment management strategy and argued that the CMF was only a policy body with regards to water utilisation and quality issues and implementation role was a prerogative of municipalities and other related bodies.

The Kat CMF case study

About 350 kilometers to the west of Mthatha Catchment lies the KatRiverValley catchment falling in Water Management Area 15. The Kat Catchment Management Forum (Kat CMF) which emerged at about the same time as Mthatha became responsible for a catchment that extends approximately 80km north to south and covers an area of approximately 1700km2. It is characterised by a variety of land uses, ranging from export-oriented citrus farming and commercially oriented rangeland stock farming in the lower reaches of the catchment to community-based or small-scale agriculture and stock farming in the middle reaches of the catchment and commercial forestry in the north-western upper reaches (McMaster, 2002). The Kat catchment exhibits similar socio-economic conditions as those found in Mthatha catchment.

Unlike the Mthatha CMF, researchers from a nearby University facilitated the emergence of the Kat CMF.RhodesUniversity researchers undertook anthropological research that resulted into workshops in 17 villages from late 1999 to mid-2000. The aim of these workshops was to create environmental awareness (co-operative and responsible resource management). Upstream-downstream relationships between the villages was role-played and analysed. The awareness creation conducted through Participatory Rural Appraisal methods led to the build-up of the formation of the CMF in which broader issues relating to catchment management could be tackled. Since the focus of RhodesUniversity researchers’ activities was on the empowerment of previously disadvantaged communities, the CMF became dominated by a high representation of community members and the Forum is well rooted into the community structure of the rural KatRiver areas.

The Kat CMF, driven mainly by stakeholders from local communities has addressed itself to a wide range of issues since its inception;

It has engaged the local municipality in improving domestic water services in rural communities through boreholes. Rather than leaving these issues to local municipal water service institutions, it has participated in the discussion of these concerns.
Through its own initiative, it has accessed funds from the Department of Agriculture to implement a land regeneration project. The project employs local community members, a high percentage being women, to construct water traps across eroded slopes, burying the gullies with stones and planting fast growing plants in denuded landscapes as well as erecting fences around the excessively eroded areas to restrict movement of grazing animals. Sedimentation of the KatRiver from excessive soil erosion is a serious problem. Considering that majority of local people use water directly from the river, this project addresses a salient issue.
It has networked and established useful links. One such bilateral relationship has been with Spiral Trust, an NGO concerned with personal transformation and social change. Through this association, workshops for capacity building in diverse skills including small business management have been held in the communities.
It is engaging the Department of Agriculture to support groups of small-scale agricultural producers to start irrigation farming.

As result, the support and interest in the CMF among local people in the catchment is growing. Results from an informal survey in the catchment indicated that most local people new about the operations of the CMF specifically because of the land regeneration project which was providing an income to local people.

Lessons learned

The two cases demonstrate that

Institutional designs that involve the participation of local poor people require holistic approaches encompassing concerns from bucket to basin, from environment to poverty. Generally, if local community members are allowed or take responsibility to drive the management processes in multi-stakeholder participatory institutions, they are likely to address salient issues as the Kat CMF demonstrated, after all ‘ he who feels it, knows it’.
While experts, through their policies, have segregated avenues through which local people could access and manage resources that support their livelihoods, local people have an integrated view of these concerns. ‘S upermarket institutions’ or ‘ one-stop- shop institutions’ that provide holistic approaches to local concerns could be the answer to complex local problems.
When community members participate in water resource management by voicing their concerns, they also wish to act on those concerns. Mere dialogue is not sufficient in resolving domestic water concerns.

Specific recommendations for future work

It would be of special interest to study and document how the Kat CMF has been able to circumvent limitation placed on community driven multi-stakeholder institutions, which the Mthatha CMF failed to escape. This form of research could be achieved through a joint workshop between the Mthatha and Kat CMFs in which community stakeholders could engage stakeholders from government and private sector to discuss how productive water concerns at micro-level could be integrated into catchment level management plans. Such a workshop could provide the much-needed social learning among all participating stakeholders.

Notes

The author collected information for this case study between 2002 and 2004 as part of a PhD research study using ethnography as a research tool. In addition, an informal survey was conducted in both Mthatha and Kat catchment to establish household livelihood systems. The author is from Fort Cox College of Agriculture in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.

References

DWAF 2002. MtataRiver Catchment Management Strategy. Plan of Action. First Draft . Prepared by Ninham Shand in association with Goba Moahloli & Associates. Department of Water Affairs.

McMaster, A., 2002, GIS in Participatory Catchment Management: A Case Study in the Kat River Valley, Eastern Cape, South Africa. MSc. Thesis., RhodesUniversity.

[1] Catchment Management Forums are a form of multi-stakeholder platforms that deal with holistic water resource management and representing multiple economic sectors, ideally public, private and civil-society interests.

[Anonymous]. Submitted. Bulgaria: institutional constraints for multiple use of water (English).

Introduction

Since 1989, societies in the transition countries of Central and Eastern Europe experienced a simultaneous change from a centralized planned to a market-oriented economy and from a communist-determined to a democratic political system. They suffered numerous economic, political, and institutional constraints (Roland 2000). In addition, the agricultural producer cooperatives lost their economic power and their provision of social cohesion in the rural areas. In contemporary Bulgaria, and other transitional economies, the agricultural sector buffers the national economic decline. The recent development of small-scale subsistence farming has turned out to be a strategy, in particular, for the elderly rural population to cope with severe poverty.

The Bulgarian irrigation systems were built to serve large production units during socialism and do not meet the current diversified needs. At present, the facilities have largely deteriorated. Water losses in the irrigation system are estimated to amount to around 70% (Global Water Partnership 2000: 24; 82). The remaining scarce irrigation water resources have to serve multiple and directly competing water user purposes, i.e., subsistence farming including household plots, watering animals, agricultural production, and fish-farming.

Case Study Methodology

The study is based on six months of empirical fieldwork subdivided into three phases spanning two and a half years from 2000 to 2002. In the frame of this study, four village case studies were carried out in the Haskowo region of South-East Bulgaria. The main water source for irrigation is surface water, stored in microdams. Water is brought to the fields mainly via open canal systems. In most cases, farmers divert water from the canals to their fields by primitive gravity irrigation techniques. Two irrigation command areas were selected. In each area, two villages were chosen with one village located directly behind the water dam (top-ender) and the other further back—at the middle or tail-end of the canal and river system.

With the help of explorative and qualitative methods in the first two research phases, I analyzed, among other aspects, the rules-in-use which govern the daily practices of irrigation. I revealed power resources of local actors in the irrigation sector, which were perceived as decisive by the local actors. In the third empirical phase, interactive interview techniques with cue sorts were applied to rank these power resources in descending order (Theesfeld 2004b).

Multiple Water Use

According to different crop structure, size of the plots, and irrigation technology used, the requirements for irrigation water greatly differ between subsistence farmers and agricultural producers. In the case study region, subsistence farmers operate on less than half a hectare in total. The agricultural producers include a small number of midsized farmers operating between 3 to 40 hectares and on average 1 or 2 large tenants, and 1 or 2 cooperative farms per village operating on average up to 300 hectares each.

The water in the canal is not sufficient to serve all users at the same time. There is no ramified canal network and the practiced retaining technique does not allow for simultaneous irrigation. Thus, subsistence farmers who are usually cropping at the tail-end can extract less water from the system.

An additional infrastructure specificity is that subsistence livestock keeping is often supplied by watering livestock from a river. In most cases, river water supply and canal water supply are interdependent. Usually, the water guard at a barrage decides how much water is released into the canal and how much is retrained in the river. Watering livestock will thus subtract resource units from the same water resource that other actors want to use for irrigation.

A specificity in Bulgaria’a irrigation sector in transition is the fish-farming in the water dams. Fish farmers and crop farmers are often in conflict with each other. During the summer, i.e., the fish-growing season, the water level is either kept high for fish-farming or it is released for irrigation purposes. During autumn, the water level in the dam is either reduced to fish out, or the water is stored until the following spring irrigation season. The fish-farming business is part of the Mafia-like structures in Bulgaria. Thus, the microdams are heavily guarded and neither the water users nor the local authorities are willing to begin negotiations on the release of water for irrigation purposes.

Rules Governing Multiple Water Use

According to Ostrom et al. (1994: 37-50), an institutional analysis relevant to field settings requires the understanding of the effective rules, or rules-in-use. The incongruity of formal and effective rules is typical for transition countries and is striking also for Bulgaria’s irrigation sector. Effective water appropriation rules favor some water users and disadvantage other users and, likewise, favor certain kinds of water use. Limited sanctioning and enforcement mechanisms, as well as practically non-existent monitoring, mechanisms provide favorable conditions for opportunistic behavior and unequal opportunities to withdrawal water for different purposes.

Water Ordering and Appropriation Rules

Water users have to put in an advance order with the water guard if they want to irrigate. The formal rule stipulates that the guard must collect a certain amount of orders before he can open the barrage and fill the canal with water. Nevertheless, compliance with this rule varies. The first formal rule – a farmer who orders water and pays in advance has the right to irrigate – does not work in practice. The informal rule appears to be: when the canal is filled, irrigate to be on the safe side, whether or not you have ordered water. Accordingly, the water guard tries to collect the fees afterwards.

As regards fish-farming, formally the fish should not reach a level that would initiate a competition for water between irrigation and fish-farming. Although farmers in one case study village ordered water, the tenant of the water dam did not divert water into the canal.

In addition, the Irrigation System Company state firm (ISC) regional branch offers verbal advice to the water guards in ranking the crops for irrigation. For instance, only the pickles should be irrigated from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. During the day, priority should be given to eggplants, tomatoes, and peppers. Corn ranks third, as it needs a lot of water. It should mainly be irrigated late at night. Most cases of irrigation practice do not reflect these regulations.

A statement taken from an interview summarizes the second rule-in-use regulating the irrigation sequence: “Whoever is ahead of you at the canal is the first to irrigate. That is the law.” Most of the interviewees described the situation as chaotic. When the canal is filled, a tail-ender faces water shortage as everyone ahead of him irrigates, even though he ordered the water and may have even already paid for it. Subsistence farmers can usually only rent in plots from cooperatives or larger tenants at the tail-end of the irrigation canal, thus being disadvantaged according to the gap between formal and effective rules.

The third rule of irrigation from one canal is specified by physical power. Physical violence among the users of an irrigation system is symptomatic of inadequate assignment of spatial or temporal irrigation slots to appropriators (Ostrom 1992).

Monitoring Rules

There is almost no monitoring system for water appropriation. This situation leads to farmers guarding their fields around the clock. First, farmers wait for the water in the canal to reach their plot so that they can immediately start irrigating before another farmer begins. Second, they must supervise while irrigating, otherwise another farmer diverting water from a top-end position can begin irrigating, leaving them insufficient water to complete their irrigation turn.

Excludability and Sanctioning Rules

Water users who have not paid the water fee cannot technically be excluded from water diversion from a canal. There is no graduated and credible sanctioning mechanism, as described by Ostrom (1992) in the design principles for enduring, self-governing, common-pool resource institutions. The water guard that worked in one of the case study villages carried no authority. Formal sanctioning power is generally lacking. Violators caught when committing a crime, such as destroying the barrage that distributes water among different canals, are not sanctioned.

Power Abuse in the Irrigation Sector

The aforementioned examples of actual water appropriation practice indicate that incongruity of formal and effective rules facilitates the exercise of power by actors and, in turn, is a result of that process. Asymmetric provision with power resources among the actors affects various decisions and actions in the irrigation sector (Theesfeld 2004a). Table 1 summarizes examples of transactions in the irrigation sector that are affected by power abuse. Knight’s Distributional Theory of Institutional Change (1992: 126) focuses on power asymmetries of actors as the main determinant of institutional change. This theory helps to explain how power asymmetries influence the capacity of strategic actors to determine the content of rules.

Table 1 : Transactions in the Irrigation Sector Affected by Power Abuse

Transactions in the irrigation sector	Actors involved	Specific decisions affected by power abuse
Renting in plots from the cooperative	Water users ↔ cooperative	Who gets plots at top-end position along the canal?
Starting an irrigation turn	Water users ↔ neighboring water users at the canal	Who irrigates first, and who violates the water appropriation rules?
Paying for irrigation water	Water users ↔ water guard	Who refrains from paying, or who pays less?
Releasing water into the canal	Water users ↔ water guard	When, i.e., favoring whom, the water is released?
Closing the barrage of a microdam	Fish farmers ↔ water users	For how long is water not released into the irrigation canal?

The empirical approach to derive at power resources combines several stages: (1)filtering and exploring relevant power resources, (2) revealing and validating these power resources, and (3) having them valued and ranked recurrently by the respective actors. Using statistical procedures, it is tested if there are differences in the assessment of the power resources between different subgroups. The empirical results show with statistical significance that the power resources and their ranking are robust against the impact of belonging to different territorial, social, and agricultural producer groups. The power resources hold the following mean ranks: (1) unrestricted access to information is assessed as most important followed by (2) personal relationship, (3) trustworthiness, (4) cash resources for bribing, (5) menace, and (6) physical power and violence (Theesfeld 2004b).

Policy Recommendation

It became evident that while ignoring local power structures on the ground, the pure implementation of new formal rules, such as the Water User Association Act enforced in March 2001, may again lead to an abuse of power by individuals seeking for personal benefits. Power asymmetries among the newly evolving diversified actors constellation at the canal have to be reduced in order to allow for equal access to water for different kinds of purposes. Effective rules are needed that allow a provision of water for a range of different, even competing, purposes.

The perception of power resources by local actors can serve as a starting point and hint to specific policy measures required to ensure equal resource access. An empowered advisory service could provide information to farmers and simultaneously enhance communication. A farmers’ newspaper could be an easily accessible medium for spreading information. The Ministry of Agriculture’s current website is a good starting point for publishing general statistical data and providing a discussion forum on law-making processes.

Outlook for Further Research

Further research based on this case study should address the following questions: Which information-spreading measures for the rural and agricultural sector are elaborated and supported by the new Bulgarian government elected in autumn 2005, and how do these measures actually trigger down to the local level? Do pre-accession programs of the European Union facilitate access to information of small-scale farmers? Do we find empirical evidence that such measures reduce the predominant power asymmetries among the actors at the local level? Does this induce an institutional change towards effective local rules that allow for equal and multipurpose water use of the disadvantaged groups?

References

Global Water Partnership (ed.) (2000). Final report on Water Pricing in Selected Accession Countries to the European Union: Current Policies and Trends. A report produced for the European Commission – DG Environment. (EU contract number B4-3040/99/130877/MAR/B2) Sofia: Water Clubs in Bulgaria.

Knight, Jack (1992). Institutions and Social Conflict. WashingtonUniversity: CambridgeUniversity Press.

Ostrom, Elinor (1992). Crafting Institutions for Self-Governance Irrigation Systems. San Francisco: Institute for Contemporary Studies Press.

Ostrom, Elinor; Gardner, Roy and Walker, James (1994). Rules, Games and Common-Pool Resources.Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Roland, Gérard (2000). Transition and Economic: Politics, Markets, and Firms. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Theesfeld, Insa (2004a). Constraints on Collective Action in a Transitional Economy: The Case of Bulgaria’s Irrigation Sector. World Development 32 (2), 251-271.

Theesfeld, Insa (2004b). Institutional Change in Bulgaria’s Irrigation Sector in Transition – Power Resources of Local Actors. Schriften der Gesellschaft für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften des Landbaus e.V. “Perspektiven in der Landnutzung – Regionen, Landwirtschaften, Betriebe – Entscheidungsträger und Instrumente”. Band 39, Münster-Hiltrup: Landwirtschaftsverlag, 261-270.

[Anonymous]. Submitted. Cote d'Ivoire: use of water from wetlands in rural areas (French).

L’état ivoirien a construit très peu d’ouvrages d’approvisionnement en eau potable dans les villages de la Côte d’Ivoire dont le district de Yamoussoukro. Situé au centre de la côte d’ivoire, dans la région des lacs, Yamoussoukro est le deuxième district des deux districts de côte d’ivoire dont le premier est celui d’Abidjan.La particularité de ce district de cinq(5) grande entités de cinq(5) de plus 3809 km2 est essentiellement composée d’entités rurales.

En raison des financements inexistants dans le secteur de l’eau en milieu rural en faveur des populations dont la situation précaire est mise à jour après le regroupement des petits villages en gros villages, devenus villages modernes avec un nombre croissant d’habitants et le flux préoccupant des déplacés du à la situation de crise que vit la côte d’ivoire depuis 2002 les populations sont exposées à des toutes sortes de risque vu qu’elles consomment tout ce qu’elles trouvent en leur possession comme eau.

Au vu de ce contact, FCIEX a mené une recherche sur l'analyse de l'eau des marigots en milieu rural dont un documentaire à été réalisé à cet effet et présenté au forum alternatif mondial de l’eau en mars 2005 à Genève.

Tout au long de l’étude menée, il nous a été proposé par la majorité des femmes soit un pourcentage de 90% que leur souhait est que les valeurs traditionnelles locales soient prises en compte pour la réduction de la pauvreté dans le monde féminin et qu’un programme d’éducation soit mise sur pied pour leur éducation intégrale sur les problèmes liés à l’eau et son utilisation en milieu rural.

Les femmes évaluées par notre enquête révèlent que si nous réalisons des services d’approvisionnement en eau potable (hydraulique villageoise, château d’eau pompe à eau etc.…, il faut aussi leur trouver les moyens pour payer les factures; ce qui veut dire qu'il faut leur creer ou trouver les ressources (activités generatrices de revenu) pour pouvoir payer les factures. Il ya aussi que elles perdent beaucoup de temps dans un fil de 4h à 12h au minimumsoit 8heures arrêtées à attendre une bassine d'eau soit 20 littres d'eau pour une famille de 10 personnes. elles ne peuvent pas aller poursuivre leurs travaux champêtres. Elles peuvent être exposées aux problemes de nourritures (famine). L'enquête à demontré qu'il faut plutôt proteger les marigots et les puits par la construction des ceintures de protection pour empecher le ruisselement des eaux usées dans les eaux des marigots et puits à l'utilisation de la consomation locale dans les foyers des villages.inculquer une culture d’éducation sur l’eau et l’environnement pour préserver leur santé et gérer les services qu’ils ont déjà en leur sein parce que, les populations penses que tout ce qui est publique n’a pas de propriétaire et n’est pas bien entretenu.

Elles nous ont dit ceci :
"Nous sommes fatiguées d’être transformées sans cesse sans solutions alternatives positives durables pour nous les pauvres paysannes. construisez nous des citernes traditionelles pour recueillir l'eau de puits et cloturez nos puits que nous creusons nous même dans nos bafonds (marigots)".

Cette approche ciblée participative viendra en appui aux initiatives prévues dans le secteur de l’eau en augmentant leur efficacité, la qualité, la quantité, réduira également les taux de mortalité, l’absentéisme et la pauvrete de la femme vivant en milieu rural. Cette approche assurera également un environnement protecteur aux enfants, aux femmes et à la population en générale.

Ce etude vise uniquement les villages et les campagnes. L'application de l'etude reduira la mortalité des populations vulnérables affectées par les maladies des eaux usées consommées, en particulier les enfants affectées par les diarrhées, les vers, et les femmes, principales utilisatrices de l’eau, les populations et les communautés vivant des situations précaires.

[Anonymous]. Submitted. Colombia: water availability and multiple uses of water in a Colombian micro-catchment : English case study.

This case study by Clara Roa of the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) looks into the relation between water availability and water consumption for multiple uses in a Colombian micro-catchment.

Within the framework of the project "Youth in Research" coordinated by the Communities and Watersheds program at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture - CIAT, and funded by the Kellogg Foundation, the youth from the Los Sainos watershed (447 Ha) prioritized water availability in relation to water quality and land use, because of the scarcity periods suffered by the watershed community in recent years. This work consisted of a participatory research with youth of the watershed to answer the following question:

Where are the hot spots in the micro-watershed that through better management practices could contribute to reduce the risks of the community to experience water shortages and deterioration of water quality for all uses in the watershed?

To answer this question we addressed the following:
- What are the water needs of a rural family for domestic and productive uses?
- What is the water supply in the watershed and does it satisfy the needs for the zone?
- What is the relation between land use and water quality?

To quantify consumption and water use, simple equipment was used such as chronometers, recipients, and burettes; and for quality measurements, the equipment used was Hach© for pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, conductivity, total dissolved solids, calcium hardness and total hardness and the Oxfam© del Agua equipment for fecal and total coliformes.

The sampling and measuring period was a whole dry season (June to August 2005). It was found that water availability satisfies the current water needs, although with a reduction of water availability of between 15% and 20% the community would start to experience scarcity. Because the system of water supply does not have any treatment for coliformes, they are present even in protected areas, and all individual households need to treat the water for domestic consumption. A close relationship between land use and water quality is demonstrated. The negative impacts on water quality were clearly determined in the downs stream from the discharges of pig manure without treatment and downstream discharges from septic tanks with poor or no maintenance. The quality parameters with greater variability and land use dependent are conductivity, total dissolved solids, fecal and total coliformes, nitrates and phosphates. Other parameters such as temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, calcium hardness and total hardness depend more on topography and land erosion.

Great difference in water technologies are seen between the upper, middle and low sections of the watershed. The majority of the houses in the upper catchment have biodigestors, use less water in cleaning pig houses, and use sand filters; these technologies are in some cases, unknown to the people in the middle and low areas. It was showed during this study that these technologies were efficient because they reduce water pollution to the streams, improve water quality water for human consumption and allow a more efficient water use. Among the strategies for a more efficient water use, the community identified the implementation of these technologies in the whole watershed, achieving the support from the governmental institutions to improve and maintain these technologies, and the willingness of landowners to protect the streams and riparian areas.

Roa, Clara PRODWAT-english.doc

[Anonymous]. Submitted. Relaciones entre disponibilidad de agua, multiples usos del agua y usos del suelo en una microcuenca de los andes Colombianos.

The study is in Spanish

Roa, Clara PRODWAT.doc

[Anonymous]. 2005. Colombia: water availability and multiple uses of water in a Colombian micro-catchment (English & Spanish).

Summary

Roa,+Clara+PRODWAT-english.doc

Roa,+Clara+PRODWAT.doc

[Anonymous]. Submitted. Kenya: domestic water utilisation and its influence on the household livelihood of a rural community in Ukambani, Eastern Province (English).

Introduction

Water policy in Kenya recognises use for drinking purposes, but does not address its growing demand and competing uses. In rural areas, water resources are used for a combination of basic human needs and productive purposes. These economic activities such as vegetable gardens, cattle farming, beer brewing amongst others, are highly dependent on reliable and adequate water supply (Nicol, 2000). Water serves in a wide range of productive uses to secure food and non-food income for rural households. It is a productive asset for the poor and an economic good, which, can be combined with other assets to generate financial and non-financial livelihood benefits (Mokgope & Butterworth, 2001). The aim of this study was to assess how the local community make their livelihood choices, determine the role water plays in these choices and how it affects their incomes and their food security.

The study area is located in Eastern Province of Kenya covering the districts of Machakos, Makueni, Kitui and Mwingi, with a population of 2.5 million people scattered over an area of 44,680 km² (Moresmau & Hanne, 2004). Their main source of income is subsistence agriculture. Unfavourable climatic conditions in the region are one of the factors leading to frequent food shortage and increasing poverty. The Integrated Natural Resource Management Project in Ukambani (INRMU) funded by the Belgian Technical Cooperation (BTC) in collaboration with the Government of Kenya’s was chosen as the entry point for the study.

Methodology

The survey was carried out in January 2005 in Machakos and Makueni districts.The household was the unit of analysis as it is the basis of livelihood economic activities, resource allocation and utilization. 27 households in the project and 30 outside the project were sampled. Data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires and focus group discussion (Ochieng, 2005).

The main occupation of the sample population is farming (80.7%) followed by salaried employment (12.3%) and trading (7.0%). 82% of the households own land, with the average ownership being 3.6 acres.

Type of water access, storage capacity, water expenses and participation in a water activity was significantly (p<0.1) different between the households in and those not in the project. The type of water access is the best distinguishing water use characteristic. The source of water, type of water access, storage capacity and monthly water expenditure had a significant (p<0.10) influence on household choice to participate in productive water use. The distance from water source was not significantly different (p>0.10) and does not influence household’s choice to engage in productive water use.

Most household have communal water access compared to private water points. Majority of households with private water points (92%) participate in productive water use with (83%) of them participating in BTC project compared to 51% with communal access who take part in productive water use (table 4). This agree with the findings of Hope et al. (2003), in a study in a rural community in South Africa, in which they found a positive association between the ability to involve in irrigation of vegetables and owning private water-supply.

Only 37.5% of households with community water projects are engaged in productive water use. Thus some households despite being in the BTC project are yet to derive any benefits and are not involved in productive water use. Reasons for this include inadequate water storage capacity, and inability to raise cost-sharing component for participation in the project. Households may be involved in none water-related or water-intensive livelihood options such as preparation of snacks or beer brewing for sale.

The cost of water depends on the household water use and collection strategy. Households participating in income related water activity incur relatively higher water expenses. High cost of water during the dry season, discourage participation in income related water activity. Mokgope & Butterworth (2001) in their study on rural water-supply and productive uses in South Africa found a similar problem and stated that this affected households’ participation in water activities.

The region is susceptible to frequent water shortages. It’s unclear why several households have no storage capacity and get water on a daily basis which is inefficient, laborious and time consuming. It’s probable that this is caused by inadequate capital to install storage facilities. Those with ability to pump water participate in water dependant economic activity and have large storage capacities. Households who harvest rain water have also invested on storage facilities. Water storage capacity does influence household water utilisation pattern.

Households generate income by using water for selected productive uses like vegetable production, livestock production and water sales. The primary productive water use activity was crop production (46 %). The large variation in incomes from vegetable cropping may probably be attributed to the irrigation technique, the type of vegetable grown and targeted market. Encouraging export crops require proper infrastructure, proper storage facilities and enabling marketing policies. Although vegetable production show an important contribution to the incomes of the households in the area, its sustainability and impact on poor households require further investigation.

Income of the households in the project and households participating in water activity were significantly (p<0.05) higher having a mean monthly income of KES 13605.9 while households outside the project had a mean of KES 6489.4.

The most preferred methods of irrigation were drip, furrow and manual irrigation. Those using drip irrigation are 17.5% indicating low adoption rate for this water saving technology. Drip irrigation showed higher water use efficiency, thus water quantity per se, may not be as critical in productivity as opposed to the efficiency in its utilisation. Fewer households use drip irrigation as its installation is costly and the skill of installation is beyond the means of the average and poorer households.

Unexpectedly, 77.2% and 75.4% stated that high cost of water and low incomes respectively are not constraints to household water utilisation. It is probable that water at this moment is not fully priced to reflect its demand and value.

Conclusion

This rural community views water as a productive asset and is engaging in on-farm income related water activities. Off-farm activities are limited/less favoured. Private water access influence participation in a water related activity compared to communal access. Knowledge on water harvesting and storage techniques is important since water storage capacity influences household participation in productive water use. The absolute amount of water used has no significant effect on incomes but rather the water use efficiency.

Water utilisation is hampered by inadequate water storage facilities, poor water harvesting techniques and limited skill or opportunities in water income activities. Enhanced productivity is undermined by poor infrastructure, unstable prices, poor access to market and inadequate market information.

Recommendations

This study shows that

Private water access policy is likely to enhance productive water use.
Policies that promote efficient water use technologies can enhance household productivity
Marketing infrastructure and information is key to sustainable household productive water use

There is need to:

Evaluate optimal options for on-farm and off-farm productive water use
Assess opportunities for enhancing the participation of the poorest households in projects with cost sharing components.
Identify policies and constraints that affect adoption of technologies with efficient water use.
Determine the role of gender in household livelihood in relation to productive water use

References

Hope, R.A., Dixion, P-J., Von Maltitz, G., 2003. The Role of Improved Domestic Water Supply in livelihoods and Poverty Reduction in Limpopo province, South Africa, in International Symposium on water ,poverty and productive uses at household level, 21-23 January, Muldersdrift, South Africa, p. 94-108.

Mokgope, K. and Butterworth, J. A., 2001. Rural water supply and productive use: A Rapid Survey in SandRiver Catchment. WHIRL working paper (4), p.1-21.

Moresmau, V. and Hanne, P., 2004. Efficiency Use of Water in Ukambani-Kenya. A report by UNESCO and BTC-Kenya. Primex printers Ltd, Nairobi, Kenya. .p.28.

Nicol, A., 2000. Adopting a Sustainable Livelihoods Approach to Water Projects. Implication for policy and practice. ODI working paper (133). LondonUK.

Ochieng, N.C., (2005). Improved Domestic Water Utilization and Livelihood in Rural Kenya: MSc Thesis.GhentUniversity.

Note

One dollar equals KES75

Author

Consela Ochieng, Belgium (conselam@yahoo.com)

[Anonymous]. Submitted. Zimbabwe: multiple uses of water, gender roles and responsibilities, Chipinge (English).

This study was undertaken in Chipinge District in Zimbabwe during the period December 2004-February 2005. It focuses on Manzvire Village which is located approximately 85 kilometres from Chipinge town, along the Mutare-Chiredzi town highway in Ward 22. At the time of this study, about 514 households were in Manzvire, the majority ndau-speaking people. According to Mrs. Mabuyana, an active Village Committee Worker, about 289 households had access to individual Blair toilets and 180 had access to pit latrines. At least 45 households were said to have no access to any form of decent sanitation but were allowed temporary access to their neighbor’s facilities. In the village, there are 4 primary schools and 1 secondary school; 2 clinics and the Manzvire business centre. In Manzvire, HIV/AIDs and rural/urban migration means that at least 80% of the households are female or orphan-headed.

Data collection

The researcher conducted interviews and discussion using an appreciative inquiry approach to assess multiple uses of water and peoples’ preparedness to manage available water sources. This involved holding discussions with project stakeholders including UNICEF personnel, the Rural District Council (RDC), Ministry of Health, AREX, DNR, and community and District Water Supply and Sanitation Sub-Committee members. Focus group discussions revealed how women felt about their involvement in all developmental spheres in their locality and how they had been previously marginalized.

Other interviews with water point committee members and girl children helped to give an understanding of the norms and perceptions of how men and women share roles and responsibilities and in which type of collective action they are engaged. A feminist approach was used to examine the patriarchal and andocentric power structures in the village and the empowerment framework to assess changes in these power structures from different perspectives. Communities were able to indicate the allocation of tasks within their family and how they use water sources available to them.

Findings

Water sources and uses

There is no surface water in Manzvire village except for the SaveRiver, 16km away. People use boreholes and shallow wells as water supply sources. The village has 10 boreholes with at least 8 reported to be functional. The village has 10 boreholes with at least 8 reported to be functional. During community meetings, respondents, particularly women attributed naturally occurring water like the Save river to God. However, men, especially the elderly and the traditional leaders known as Mutape attributed river water to ancestors and power to control its uses was heavily vested in their Chief. It was quite interesting to note that ownership of man-made sources like boreholes was perceived as belonging to the community. As such, both men and women did frequent maintenance and timely repairs of the boreholes. They showed their willingness to pay to have improved water sources. This in itself is a clear testimony that the community-based management concept has indeed changed the mindset of the people. This is unlike in some areas where the communities still perceive boreholes as belonging to the government or donor agencies such as Plan International or World Vision and they are still very reluctant even to repair in the event that it breaks down. While the majority of the people expressed their willingness to pay for the establishment, operation and maintenance of water points, there was a general agreement that there were those unable to pay but could contribute in one way or the other. This was particularly the case with those advanced in age.

Classification of water uses

Villagers classified their water uses in the following categories:

Domestic: drinking, cooking, bathing, livestock watering, backyard gardening and laundry.
Productive: brick making, cooperative gardening, construction, and sugar cane production

Except for the Save river, all other water sources were within close proximity of most homes. In many homes, especially the female-headed ones, it was revealed that they needed water for both domestic and productive purposes. Focus group discussions showed that use of available water was highly gendered. For example, the interest of men was mainly on having water for their livestock and construction. However, other water uses were cited as beer making and baptism for example, along the Save river. People also get fish from the river, which they claimed formed part of their nutritional base and they also eke a living through the sell of fish. Women felt that accessibility of water points was very important to them like one woman pointed out; “ We no longer have the daily burden of walking about eight kilometers to get water”, . “We can now devote much of this time to our families and other productive activities such as gardening, which forms our daily livelihoods” (water point committee member, echoed in support of the previous speaker). About 70% of the girls interviewed, their daily uses of water were just similar to those of their mothers. Both boys and girls also indicated that water was very important for sanitation. They explained at their schools, there are now pour–flush toilet systems. As such, it was their responsibility to take water to their schools every day for cleaning toilets.

Contrary to the above, the youth interviewed expressed their interests in using the Save river as a swimming place, where they could spend the day, meeting friends and playing. On whether this was approved by their parents, one respondent sad, “ our parents do not like it but swimming is our hobby” reasons cited by about 80% of those parents interviewed were that many youth have drowned in the river and there was also possible contamination of diseases like bilharzia.

On whether there were any restrictions on the use of water for productive use, the response was that anyone who wanted to use water for productive purposes was not limited so long he/she pays. However, sources used were those boreholes which were reported to have salty water. It is also quite interesting to note that there is no a limit to water for domestic purposes. The community views water as a basic human right, and every family was entitled to use the water but was supposed to contribute in one way or the other to sustain the available sources. However, boreholes were locked at night to avoid poachers and free riders . Free riders were those people who were not willing to contribute but wanted to use the water. Poachers were singled out as those people from other villages who would come at night with wheel-barrows and scorch carts to fetch water from this village. For each borehole, there was a water point caretaker, who was solely responsible for locking and opening to allow people access during the day.

Headwork construction has also allowed domestic animals to drink the water flowing when people are pumping water for drinking or other household uses. Some families have also planted banana fruit trees around water points

Gender roles and responsibilities

In 2003, UNICEF contributed approximately US $4,000 to the district for the rehabilitation of water supply sources, mainly bore-wells. Given high external contracting costs, the RDC adopted a community-based programming approach and targeted funds for community mobilization, training workshops, and the training of local well sinkers and headwork builders.

Women in Manzvire village were identified as key beneficiaries to receive training in water system operations and maintenance since many of the men who had received community training earlier had left the village to take up better paying jobs and some spent much time on drinking sprees. As a result, women suffered most in times of water shortages due to breakdowns of the boreholes.

Initially, in the male-headed households, the husbands felt threatened and disapproved their wives’ involvement in project meetings. UNICEF held an awareness-raising workshop in the village, outlining the benefits of training both men and women, which helped men begin to accept that their wives were equally important agents of change. Women were subsequently trained to ensure prompt repairs and proper maintenance of boreholes. They received skills training in latrine building and pump maintenance and tools and took on the role of mobilizing other communities in the same Ward.

Another challenge the women faced in the initial days was that the long traditional dress for Zimbabwean women inhibited work for the latrine builders, and overalls and work-suits were considered to be for men only. However, frequent community meetings with UNICEF and the RDC slowly changed the attitude of both men and women in the village and dressing code was loosened so that women could wear work-suits and overalls during construction or any other work like repairing boreholes.

Planning, selection of appropriate technology and site selection of new water points, as well as upgrading and rehabilitation of existing systems is increasingly based on both men and women’s participation. Women select technology they want and site locations. An elder remarked during one of the meetings, “I t is the women who spend much of the time with this resource and we saw it fit for them to have a bigger share when it comes to decisions”.

Once the women were able to become involved, however, they found that although they had increased power, their workload increased significantly. They still had to carry out their traditional reproductive and productive work, and now were also working on latrines and boreholes while some men continued to spend considerable time drinking. The men finally agreed to help decrease women’s extra burden by taking on responsibility for protecting water points from animals by fencing and putting cement around some deep wells.

At the household level, women dealt with the workload issues by working out a collective roster in which they assigned water and sanitation duties and tasks to each household for designated water points. This included regular cleaning and clearing of open drains to curb water logging to discourages mosquito breeding.

The women also established savings and credit clubs with revolving funds to purchase spare parts locally available to replace worn out parts and greasing oil. Some clubs also had male members. The women also established a cooperative garden. Initially each household made a monthly contribution from the sales of their vegetables and other produce from this garden. Husbands were also asked to make contributions to the fund when required. The women opened a Post Office Savings Bank account to deposit these community funds.

The community also attributed their success to effective leadership of their dedicated councilor, Mrs. Chirimambowa. They also could call upon traditional leaders to solve disputes if members did not meet their obligations to the group.

The Ministry of Health has been instrumental in training health educators, the Village Health Workers (VHWs). Villge Health Workers have a tremendous task of educating and information dissemination to the general public on health and hygiene good practices. In Manzvire, this has resulted in the formation of health clubs and other community-led initiatives. However, they lamented over their paltry monthly allowance, which they said were not helping them.

“ Although, we as UNICEF, have been instrumental in providing financial and technical support in the beginning, we strongly emphasized the building of local partnerships and local initiatives”, said Nicholas Moyo, Assistant Health Programme Officer. He explained that the credit should go to the RDC for effective community leadership. “We operate in various districts, but the impact in this district, particularly in ward 22 is quite encouraging”, he added. The capacity at district level has been strengthened by refresher courses attended at the Institute of Water and Sanitation Development, Harare and RDC’s increased capacity to assist the community through participation at conferences, workshops and seminars

Effective collaboration and coordination between Manzvire village and the council’s water division and with UNICEF has played a significant role in the project’s success. The skills and knowledge acquired in building women’s capacity to manage water supply systems stimulated further community-led development. The skills and knowledge acquired in building women’s capacity to manage their own water supply systems stimulated r further community-led development and with the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare trained the village groups as ward care supporters. Their role is to collect information on health related issues from households, to support home-based AIDS groups, and help nursing village AIDS patients.

Recommendations

From the above findings, the researcher recommends that there is need for the clear documentation of gender roles and responsibilities with regard to resource utilization and management, clearly showing the role of both people in society. Rural peoples’ attitude and their indigenous knowledge management systems need not to be taken for granted. As such, they should be integrated in the formulation of policies and guidelines for the management of water.

From this study, we see that water users at community level can effectively manage their water and sanitation resources and that women play a key role in this process since water has historically been regarded as ‘women’s domain’ in Africa (Azwidowi Mukheli et al: 2002: 731). In Manzvire, villagers showed a clear understanding of multiple uses of water, roles and responsibilities in use and safe guarding this precious resource were clearly identified.

The key lesson from Manzvire is that women are equally effective agents of change as such their equal representation and participation in water is quite essential. Women have increased time for other productive activities such as market gardening, which apart from giving them some cash forms their nutritional base. Recognisisng gender roles and responsibilities of all water users can greatly improve rural peoples’ livelihoods through productive water uses such as cropping, livestock watering and other dependent small scale activities.

References

Manase, G. et al. 2004. An Analysis of Gender Policies in the Water and Sanitation Sector in Zimbabwe, WARFSA Technical Report Series No.4. Institute of Water and Sanitation Development. Harare.

Makumbe, J. Mw, 1996. Participatory development, the case of Zimbabwe. University of Zimbabwe Publications, Harare.

Manzungu, E. 2003. An evaluation of rural communities’ water use patterns and preparedness to manage domestic water sources in Zimbabwe. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Volume 28, Elsevier Science Ltd. Amsterdam.

Mkandhla, M.. 2003. “Pro-Poor Strategies To Meet Basic Needs: The Case of Women and Rainwater Harvesting in Kajiado District, Kenya”. African Water Journal, Pilot Edition UN-Water/ Africa. Addis Ababa.

Mukheli, A. et al. 2002. “Is the Pungwe Water Supply Project a Solution to Water Accessibility and Sanitation Problems of Households of Sakubva, Zimbabwe?” Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Volume 27. Elsevier Science Ltd. Amsterdam.

Morardet, S. et al., 2005, How to finance multiple use water systems for the rural poor? Lessons learnt from the domestic water sector in the Olifants River Basin, South Africa.

Author

Luckson Katsi, University of Zimbabwe, Department of Civil Engineering, P.O. Box MP 167, Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe (luckson_katsi@yahoo.com)

[Anonymous]. Submitted. Nepal: one development opportunity leads to another (English).

Background

This case study is based on projects implemented by Nepal Water for Health (NEWAH) in communities in the Eastern Region of Nepal as part of its goal to “improve the living standard of the Nepalese people in greatest need through equitable and sustainable delivery of safe water, health and sanitation services,” especially to women, poor and marginalised groups in remote and rural part of the country. The three project communities Sandhane, Sanodhappar and Jagretar were identified through surveys as communities deprived of development opportunities and without access to potable drinking water and adequate sanitation. People often suffered from water-borne diseases due to the use of unsafe water.

Starting from 2001 NEWAH implemented integrated drinking water, hygiene education and sanitation projects in these three communities in a phase wise basis in collaboration with Panchawati Village Development Committee (VDC), Panchawati Rural Development Center (PRDC), NEWAH’s long-term local partner and Srijansil Yuwa Samaj. The community was provided piped drinking water systems and partially subsidised latrine facilities along with hygiene education and trainings on health & sanitation, community management skills, masonry and kitchen gardening to sustain the programme as well as to improve their livelihood opportunities.

Communities

The 169 households from Sandhane, Sanodhappar and Jagretar communities of Panchawati VDC, Ward No. 9 in Udayapur district with a population of 914 people, live five hours difficult bus ride and an hour's walk from the district headquarters. The coverage of water, sanitation and literacy level is very low in this part of the district comprising of majority of communities deprived of development opportunities (coverage of improved source of water and sanitation was 69.7% and 24.4% respectively in the district (National Population Census 2001)).

Until two years back people bought vegetables from the local market despite the entire community consisting of farmers. Water, health and sanitation were major problems. Women had to walk long distances to fetch water. Due to open defecation and use of contaminated water, diseases such as diarrhoea, worms, jaundice and scabies troubled them a lot, mainly children. People had to spend money for their medical expenses.

Methods

Integrated drinking water, hygiene education and sanitation projects were implemented through the joint financial, technical, and management support of Panchawati VDC (local government unit) and NEWAH and collaborative efforts of local based NGO PRDC and Srijansil Yuwa Samaj. NEWAH does not implement any projects directly. It believes in providing safe water and sanitation services through communities and local partners and seeks to work with local government bodies to support the decentralisation initiative and to increase their accountability in water and sanitation service provision.

Piped water systems were constructed through community involvement and latrine construction was promoted at household level through partial subsidy. A project management committee representing both men and women was formed. Management trainings were provided to institutionalise and strengthen it and to build the capacities of its members for proper management and smooth operation of the project. The training focused on topics such as development, communication skills and its barriers, local participation etc. Similarly, masonry and caretaker trainings were also provided to develop human resources able to construct and maintain the systems.

During the health and sanitation training to the committee members, practical knowledge on contraction and control of diseases, the importance of personal hygiene, household and environmental cleanliness, importance of latrines, how faecal oral contamination occurs, diarrhoea etc. was provided. The training was aimed at building capacities of the committee to bring positive changes in the attitudes and beliefs of the people and motivate active participation of local men and women in the development of their community.

Likewise hygiene education classes were also conducted for the community people on topics like germs and contagious diseases, personal hygiene, faecal oral contamination, importance of latrine, proper management of wastewater and cleanliness of drinking water etc.

A two-day kitchen gardening training was organised to impart knowledge about kitchen gardening practices, management and collection of wastewater to grow vegetables in empty areas nearby houses, and promote production of healthy vegetables for self-consumption and income generation. Use of new technical and scientific methods, knowledge about seasonal seeds and ways of using manure in the vegetables were also taught to the participants.

Results

Now people are able to drink clean water through the 26 tap stands constructed, and eat fresh vegetables simultaneously as kitchen gardening practices has increased rampantly. 158 latrines have been constructed in the community. Hygiene behaviour practices such as hand washing, covering food and drinking water and household and environmental cleanliness has improved. 83 of the households use garbage pits to dispose their wastes, 136 households use dish drying racks to dry their utensils, 90 households are involved in kitchen gardening and 65 households in Sandhane use improved cooking stoves.

Vegetables good for health and prosperity

A secondary school teacher from Jagretar, Yagya Raj Bhandari says, "before the implementation of the project only 10% of the households from this community used to eat vegetables with their meals, but now every household eat vegetables regularly." He feels that besides the grains being saved, eating vegetables on a regular basis has also had a positive impact on the health of the people.

Now many family households have also started selling vegetables. Dak Kumari Magar from Sandhane says she has enough money to buy stationary materials (like pencils and books) for her children from selling her kitchen garden vegetables. Earlier there was a lack of drinking water in the community, let alone the possibility of vegetable farming without any irrigation facilities. The locals previously had no knowledge or skill about kitchen gardening or availability of seeds. Now since every tole (cluster) has a water point, the problem of water has been solved and through the project the consumers have also gained knowledge about kitchen gardening. Maheshwor Dhungana from Jagretar informs that people have started taking interest in growing seasonal vegetables and farming pigs, goats and chicken.

Utilization of free time

After the implementation of the project the time consumed in carrying water has been saved. Calculating the time, Samjhana Bishwakarma a local woman expresses, "earlier we had to walk 40 minutes to fetch a gagri (pot) of water. This means spending 3 hours 20 minutes to fetch at least minimum 5 gagris of water required in a day. Now since the water point is only 5 minutes away from the house, in the time spent earlier to fetch 1 gagri of water, we now fetch 9 gagris of water." Now the time saved is utilised for farming, cleaning, relaxing and other miscellaneous activities. According to Rupesh Bishwakarma's experience the school children can concentrate on their homework from the time saved in carrying water.

Use of acquired skills for income generation

Bimal Nepali a resident of Maubasi, Panchawati VDC who acquired masonry skills through the project, has learned to construct water points and water tanks and is now earning a good living. He says that he earns around 30 to 35 thousand rupees annually through his skills.

Fundraising supports development of the community

Sandhane Project Management Committee member Awi Bahadur Magar says the changes noticed in the community is mainly because of introducing the community management concept, skill based knowledge, mobilisation of local means and resources during the implementation of the project. This also developed the feeling of self-reliance among the people. The maintenance fee collected from every consumer households in the community amounts to more than Rs. 22 thousand. This capital has been mobilised to provide loans for buying vegetable seeds, breeding domestic animals, for health check-ups and to carry out other income generative activities. Magar also reported that this committee has been able to register itself in the District Water Resource Committee.

Positive changes in the committee

Presently the users committee in each of the communities sits for regular meetings to discuss about their drinking water and sanitation progress and problems as well as about the community forests, roads and irrigation facilities. During such meetings discussions on how to increase the literacy level of out of school children, animal husbandry and new agricultural methods are also held and experiences are shared, informs the committee Treasurer Manju Magar. The Sandhane committee has recently constructed the community building through their own resources and uses it to conduct community activities.

Discussion: reasons for social upliftment

According to Social Mobiliser Ekraj Niraula who works on behalf of the District Development Committee (DDC) local development fund, the economic condition of the community has improved after the implementation of the community managed drinking water system in this sector. Kitchen gardening has increased, sanitation conditions have improved and medical expenses have been reduced, time spent in collecting water has been saved and this saved time is used for income generating activities. People have also learnt to save money. These are the main reasons behind improvement in the economic condition of the community. Lately there has been an increase in the number of children attending schools in these communities. There is unity among the community due to whichparticipation of people in community programmes have increased. Males have become more gender sensitive. Both male and female work equally. People sit for community meetings regularly. This reflects that people have developed a feeling of social ownership in all these communities.

Lessons learned

Easy access to water saves time for other activities especially that of women and to reduce dropout rate of school children
Income generating activities implemented side by side with the project helps to win confidence of the people
Socio-economic impacts were brought about by easy access of water making possible kitchen gardening practices and animal husbandry
Development of community feeling, ownership, greater participation, unity, motivation and activeness among people to implement various activities
Regular and timely monitoring is effective
Hygiene education classes are helpful for self realisation and improvement in hygiene behaviour and sanitation practices
A regular maintenance fund helps to sustain the project and in the meantime can be used for saving and credit purposes

Author

Laba Hari Budhathoki, NEWAH, Eastern Regional Office, Biratnagar (c/o Anamika Singh asingh@newah.org.np)

[Anonymous]. Submitted. Jordan: greywater treatment and use for poverty reduction in Jordan (English).

INTRODUCTION

Water supply in Jordan is limited, and the lack of new water resources and the level of competition between different water uses like domestic, industrial and agricultural are expected to increase in the near future. Applied research conducted by the Inter-Islamic Network on Water Resources Development and Management (INWRDAM) on decentralized wastewater treatment and use over the last five years has focused on a holistic approach for the development of “state-of-the-art” modular on-site and low-cost greywater treatment and use units at the household level, and implementing capacity building of the local peri-urban communities to enable them to practice sustainable Urban Agriculture (UA). The research focused on optimization of the modular low-cost units for greywater treatment and drip irrigation techniques and crop selection for home gardens. These practises enable saving of freshwater and help safeguard the environment, increase income and strengthen the role of women in the process of proper management of scarce water resources.

Two projects, “Post Project Evaluation of Permaculture Techniques” and “Greywater Treatment and Reuse in HomeGardens” were conducted in the town of Ein Al-Baida, Tafila Governorate, in the southern part of Jordan funded by research grants from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada (IDRC). A third project entitled “Community Involvement in Reuse of Greywater to Improve Agriculture Output” was financed by the Jordanian Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation of Jordan (MOPIC). This project benefited more than 800 households in 90 peri-urban sites throughout Jordan providing greywater treatment units and drip irrigation systems.

The aim of this case study is to concentrate on the methods and results of INWRDAM greywater treatment and use.

Technologies

On-site greywater treatment methods developed by INWRDAM were designed with low cost and ease of construction in mind as well as low operation and maintenance costs. They aim to yield greywater of a quality suitable at least for restricted irrigation.

The 4-barrel system

This system is an improvement of the two barrel kit. Two tanks each with 220 liter capacity and filled with gravel media that act as anaerobic filters are inserted between the pre-treatment tank and final storage tanks. The four barrels are lined up next to the other and interconnected with 50 mm PVC pipes.

Once solids and floating material settle in the first barrel, the relatively clear water from the first barrel enters into the bottom of the second barrel. Next the water from the top of the second barrel enters into the bottom of the third barrel. This water passes through the gravel lumps (2-3 cm size graded gravel) and from the top of the third barrel is taken into the fourth. Anaerobic treatment is accomplished in the two middle barrels. Anaerobic bacteria get established on the stone surface so that when the greywater passes through the stones, the bacteria works on breaking down components of the organic material in the greywater. The last barrel acts as a storage tank for treated greywater. As soon as this barrel is filled, a floating device switches on a small water pump which then delivers the water through the drip irrigation network. For an average family home, 20-30 trees (olives, fruit etc) that are planted in the domestic garden can be irrigated.

With a residence time of 1 to 2 days in the 4- barrel treatment kit, the influent greywater undergoes treatment equivalent to between primary and secondary treatment and meets the World Health Organization’s guidelines for restricted irrigation.

The confined trench system

Two plastic barrels and a dug trench filled with gravel media constitute the confined trench system. The first barrel functions as a grease, oil and solids separator and thus acts as a pre-treatment or primary treatment chamber, where the solid matter from the influent greywater settles and the floating components such as grease and soap foam float and can be removed regularly. A trench is dug close to the first barrel with approximate dimensions of 3 meter length, 1 meter width and 1 meter depth. This is lined with an impermeable polyethylene sheet of 400-500 µm thickness. The trench is then filled with 2-3 cm size graded gravel. Pre-treated wastewater from the first barrel enters the bottom part of the trench from one side and follows slowly to the other end. The sides of the side trench are plastered with a mud layer so that the liner sheet is not punctured by sharp stones. A 120 liter capacity plastic barrel is perforated and buried in the gravel at each end of the trench so that treated wastewater flows throughout the trench and upwards to fill this barrel. As soon as this barrel is filled, a floating device switches on a small water pump which then delivers the water through the drip irrigation network. Residence time of greywater in the trench is 2-3 days under anaerobic conditions. The confined trench unit can serve more than one nearby family sharing the same garden plot and it also can deliver more water quantity between pumping cycles.

Results and discussion

This project resulted in many direct and indirect benefits to the community and the environment. Women in the community benefited most from this project through training workshops, dialogue and learning-by-doing and acquired new skills to build a productive garden. The monthly domestic water consumption decreased by about 30% for all greywater users and income of the poor increased on the average by US$50 to US$ 150 per month. Many beneficiaries no longer had to pay a large portion of their monthly income for emptying their septic tanks. Many families started to copy and imitate the practice of their neighbours with respect to greywater use.

INWRDAM has also succeeded in promoting similar greywater activities in other Islamic countries, such as Lebanon, where greywater reuse is being adopted in a cluster of six towns. More projects addressing grey water use are now being implemented in Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon with an emphasis on conserving fresh water, improvement of sanitation and generating extra income for the poor in peri-urban areas and promoting sustainable urban agriculture practices. A recent evaluation of INWRDAM greywater projects by an external evaluator indicated that: “INWRDAM has contributed to raising the profile of greywater use both in Jordan and in other parts of the world”.

Recommendations for further work

The following recommendations can be made regarding the appropriateness of greywater use technologies:

The scheme or technology should be a felt priority in public or environmental health, and both centralized or de-centralized technologies should be considered
technology should be low-cost and require low energy input and mechanization which reduces the risk of malfunction
technology should be simple to operate, be locally labour intensive, be maintained by the community, and not rely on expensive chemical inputs such as chlorine or ozone to meet quality guidelines
treatment should be capable of being incrementally upgraded as user demand or quality standards and treatment guidelines increase.

References

Bino, J. Murad and Al-Beiruti, S. Greywater Treatment And Reuse Project, Tafila, Jordan (2000-2003). Conducted by the Inter-Islamic Network on Water Resources Development and Management with financial support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

Author

Shihab Al-Beiruti, Head of Services and Programs Section, The Inter-Islamic Network on Water Resources Development and Management (INWRDAM), PO Box 1460, Jubieha-Amman, 11941, JORDAN (shihabinw@nic.net.jo)

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Document

Background

Local responses

The Kat CMF case study

Lessons learned

Specific recommendations for future work

Notes

References

Introduction

Case Study Methodology

Multiple Water Use

Rules Governing Multiple Water Use

Water Ordering and Appropriation Rules

Monitoring Rules

Excludability and Sanctioning Rules

Power Abuse in the Irrigation Sector

Policy Recommendation

Outlook for Further Research

References

Introduction

Methodology

Conclusion

Recommendations

References

Note

Author

Data collection

Findings

Water sources and uses

Classification of water uses

Gender roles and responsibilities

Recommendations

References

Author

Background

Communities

Methods

Results

Vegetables good for health and prosperity

Utilization of free time

Use of acquired skills for income generation

Fundraising supports development of the community

Positive changes in the committee

Discussion: reasons for social upliftment

Lessons learned

Author

INTRODUCTION

Technologies

The 4-barrel system

The confined trench system

Results and discussion

Recommendations for further work

References

Author

Pages