Community water supply: project effectiveness and sustainability

Abstract

Department Head: Michael J. Manfredo. ; 2008 Summer. ; Includes bibliographical references. ; Community managed water systems are some of the oldest forms of social organization, however, due to a number of postcolonial issues, such as dynamic political change, rapid population growth, environmental degradation, climate change, misguided development policies, and the shift from agrarian economies to market economies, these systems are in jeopardy of losing their resilience and effectiveness. These issues cause development practitioners to ask two questions: (1) what are the circumstances that contribute to the sustainability of rural water supply systems; and (2) what are the best ways to support rural communities in meeting their water supply needs? These two questions are explored by summarizing the major theoretical concepts and methodological practices of rural water supply development, and examining a case study of an ongoing water supply project in La Laguneta, El Salvador. The investigation of the theoretical underpinnings of current development thought and practice, and the application of those concepts during the preliminary phases of the project in El Salvador are then combined into a framework for assessing system effectiveness and sustainability: the Water Project Assessment Framework (WPF). The results of this research indicate that there are four major topic areas that contribute to water system sustainability and effectiveness, including the physical environment, the financial conditions, the socio-political context of the country and community, and a community's ability to access some form of outside development assistance, be it private, public, or non-governmental. Furthermore, this research found that participatory methods, when used during the assessment phase of a water supply project, support better information collection and communication, ultimately leading to more effective and sustainable water supply systems.