COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT OF RURAL WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS (Community Water Plus) Dr. V. Kurian Baby, India Country Director, IRC National Stakeholder workshop New Delhi 20 September 2013

Key phases in the evolution of rural water sector policy

GLOBALLY POSITIVE PICTURE – WE ARE GETTING THERE 70% functional

Service delivery model options Ethiopia Mozambq u Burkina Uganda Ghana Benin India Honduras Sri Lanka Thailand Colombia South Africa USA Rural coverage (%); JMP, Community-based management  Private contracting (includes to NGOs or CBOs)  Local govt. /municipal Provider  Self supply  Association of community or user associations  Urban utility (public, private or mixed)  CBM Dominate RWSS Model Globally

Rural areas lag far behind urban areas 84% of the world population without improved drinking-water source lives in rural areas i.e. 743 million rural people against 131 million living in urban area (JMP 2010 Progress report) 75% of the world poor still live in rural areas (2008 WDR)

Increasing coverage is not the whole story Breakdowns, failures, non- functionality, slippage a tipping point which is now a threat to achieving the MDGs? Build on current progress, but shift from infrastructure to service delivery

Sustainability a Big Issue….. 30 to 50 % of facilities are no longer functioning after a few years Service Level (access, quantity, quality…) 12345Years Causes : Poor design, no ownership, inadequate service/technology, lack of capacity/ incentives, no O&M, lack of spare parts, water quality, source drying up, no back support, Capital investment /Project approach Adapted from IRC Waste of hundreds of millions of USD per country

Recent Evidences CBM emerged as a dominant rural service delivery model enhancing coverage globally Large Number of best practice CBM models across the world and in India However sustainability is a serious concern - critical post construction (PCS) gaps in service delivery 8

Whither CBM or Emerge CBM +? Sceptics argue against CBM as a means to attain sustainable service delivery Others argue for a community plus model for improving sustainability where –Governments to continue a critical role in providing predictable post construction support and professionalize CBM 9

RWSS in India: Why CBM Critical ? 10 India Community rural water supply sytems are orphans left out by partially implemented decentralisation and demand responsive sector reforms

RWSS in India: Why CBM Critical ? CBM has emerged as a dominant model of RWSS service delivery in India XII plan target 60% of RWSS operated and managed by LSGs and communities with at least 50% cost recovery Wash is constitutional mandate of PRIs (73 rd and 74 th amendment) Monolithic water boards and departments plan, design and construct schemes and hand over to PRIs/VWSCs de jure responsible yet de facto NOT-empowered CBM is critical for equity and subsidiarity 11

12 Investments in Rural Drinking Water – India (INR. Million) Five Year PlanCentralStatesTotal Cumulative 1951– – – – – – – – – – – * (*) XII Plan estimated outlay Challenge of Financing – Into a leaking bucket?

WATER SERVICES THAT LAST …13 Capital expenditure dominates Recurrent expenditure and support effort dominates Coverage rates Sector effort and costs 25%50%75% 100% Danger zone: as basic infrastructure is provided, coverage risks stagnating at around 60 – 80% Capital maintenance expenditure dominates Challenge of last mile coverage + asset management

Challenge of ‘Slippage’ – High Investment – low outcome trap: India Information presented at IRC Slippage roundtable Briefing, Delhi, June 2009 >30%

Challenge of Technology – increasing complexity 15 Strategic Plan 2011-’22 aim 80% piped water supply cover by 2022 Increasing complexity add fresh challenge to CBM Consumers demand better service level as income rises – XII Plan target 55 lpcd Major PCS challenge

India has many CBM success stories…. CBM best practices across India – (Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Gujarat, Punjab, UP etc.) Many non-documented models even in low performing states – however; Replicability and scaling up a are critical limitations There are critical post construction support gaps Cracks are seen in CBM questioning rationale/ sustainability We need to identify the limiting factors and evolve context specific modalities for sustainable CBM in India 17

Community Management Plus Support agency functions --- water quality, technical advice, capital maintenance, risk financing, tariff setting, training, monitoring etc. Service authority– adequate fulfilment of function Water security and source sustainability Adequate financing of different costs - Life cycle costs Transparency, governance and provider accountability External agency on-going support to community + enabling environment CBM + is Professionalization or professionalised support of community management 18

Research Objectives Investigate functioning, successful, community managed rural water supply programmes in India Determine the extent of support required to sustain services while retaining a valid level of community engagement. Analyse and categorize the different levels of support required for different types of rural water supply 19

Research Approach Research best practice/ successful 18 community based RWSS systems in India Assess how the level of community management impacts on indicators such as service levels, service provider performance and equity Collaborative - Consultative and Participatory - Engage with policy makers at national and State level for strategic guidance, validation and policies 20

Research Outputs Series of working papers and 18 case studies with Report on the successful models for management and support to rural water supply in India Policy briefs with the highlight findings of the research Guideline document with proposed categories of management models and support entities fit to different contexts in India Evidences for most applicable trajectories for development of CBM 21

Partners Consortium lead: Cranfield University, United Kingdom Members: –IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre (from the Netherlands), –Administrative Staff College of India (based in Hyderabad), –Centre for Excellence in Change (based in Chennai) –Malawya National Institute of Technology (based in Jaipur) –?? Work closely with national and State government agencies. 22

23 Thank You