Governance issues lead to premature failures of water systems in remote areas - here's what NIA is doing about it

In Kenya, the Neighbours Initiative Alliance (NIA) is working with communities to address root causes of water system failures and strengthen water management committees. To support this work, they use the Integrity Management Toolbox for Small Water Supply Systems (IMT-SWSS) initially developed by Caritas Switerland and WIN to build capacity on integrity and create linkages between communities, county water officers, and national regulators.

The approach is transforming the way NIA works with rural communities and has led to coordinated, compliant, and transparent services, and increased revenue for water committees that enabled them to invest in sustainable energy supply and water source protection.

An interview with Jane Nyamwamu of the Neighborhood Initiative Alliance

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Can you start by giving us more information on NIA and its work? And in what context did NIA start working with the IMT-SWSS?

Established in 1996, Neighbours Initiative Alliance is a NGO that seeks to address the needs of poor and vulnerable pastoralist groups in Kenya. NIA's main mandate and core business is community empowerment through capacity strengthening, influencing and networking. NIA has experience implementing community-anchored programs in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), health and nutrition, food security, governance, and economic development.

Over the years, NIA worked to develop community water infrastructure, systems which were then handed over to management committees to run. The challenge was that the systems were not being managed in a sustainable way, leading to frequent breakdowns and the eventual failure of water projects after one or two years. In 2012, NIA adopted the IMT-SWSS tool to address governance and management issues and work to improve service continuity and sustainability.

What were some of the main challenges that you were seeing in community-run systems?

The key challenges we observed in community-run systems are either technical or related to management/governance. The technical challenges include:

• lack of technical knowledge on operation and maintenance,

• inactive connections,

• unprotected and polluted water sources, and

• non-functional infrastructure.

The management/governance challenges include:  

• lack of financial record keeping,

• misuse of resources during procurement,

• non-compliance with regulations,

• tariffs not enabling cost-recovery,

• high non-revenue water due in part to many illegal connections and low payment rates,

• leadership challenges, and

• undue political interference.

What has been your experience of working with the IMT-SWSS? In what way is the tool making a difference for small systems?

NIA has been implementing water projects since its inception in 1996. Typically, a training for water committees would last about three to five days, after which the system would be fully handed over to the committee. As mentioned, after one or two years the water system would often become non-functional due to technical and operational failures and a lack of resources and/or support. In addition, since many of the community members were illiterate, 3 to 5 days of training proved to be insufficient to enable them to manage their water system on a long-term basis.

Using the IMT-SWSS has brought about major changes, since it is not a one-off process. It prioritises continuous follow-up and mentorship with the communities, which leads to the identification of gaps that the managers of the water system can practically address. By tackling these gaps with targeted support in collaboration with system managers, we have also seen that this builds their confidence to be able to address a range of other issues.

The first step towards guaranteeing buy-in is to ensure that the county government leadership (Department of Water) is on board. This includes educating them on what the IMT-SWSS is and how it can assist in solving challenges. In turn, the county government usually recommends specific water systems that can be supported. Following this, two to three community meetings are held in partnership with the county government staff to inform the community on IMT-SWSS process and why their participation is crucial.

By using the IMT-SWSS, these small systems are able to:

• identify better management models that work for their particular situation,

• become compliant with the current water regulations, and

• transition into water service providers with high ratings as small water companies under the WASREB impact reports.*

WASREB’s framework (and the IMT-SWSS inputs on this) enables water management committees to better understand the legal implications of providing water services, and the rights and responsibilities of committees. It helps the community to understand that they have a role to play in service provision, which includes reaching out to other partners or facilitating collaboration. We have therefore seen enhanced partnerships among key stakeholders e.g. water users, management committees, regulatory entities (WASREB and WRA), and/or the county and national governments. Other stakeholders have also come to understand that water service provision requires a multi-stakeholder effort.

How, in particular, has the tool helped to empower women and marginalised communities?

In marginalised communities, for example in Kajiado County, where women and people living with disabilities were not involved in the management of water supply, the tool has enabled them to be involved in the planning, management and implementation of water service provision. This is because the tool specifically calls for the inclusion of vulnerable and marginalised groups. It has also given them knowledge about holding leadership to account at the community and government levels. In Enkongu Enkare, where the water system is managed only by women, the use of the IMT-SWSS helped the committee members to improve their approach to water service provision. Specifically, they prioritised fundraising for solar panels and the setting up of a token mechanism to improve the payment system. This was supported by SIMAVI under the Water Justice Fund Project.

Could you highlight a particular success story that is exemplary of the importance of working on integrity at the community level?

We have had a lot of success in Nyamira County, for example in Kemasare, Bomwagamo and Machuririati.

Improved water supply services

Nyamira County is largely rural. There are very few individual and institutional water connections. People mostly rely on surface and groundwater sources for their water supply needs. The IMT-SWSS intervention led to a decision to start treating water by chlorination and to ensure more transparency on system management. This increased users’ confidence in consuming clean and safe water and new connections followed, leading to increased revenue. In Kemasare, connections increased from zero to 150, and in Machuririati from 80 to 265 connections.

Registration as a legal entity

By engaging with WASREB and the IMT-SWSS tool, system committees came to understand the importance of registering as a legal entity to gain access to financial and/or technical assistance and legal support services, to acquire assets such as land, to seek redress in court, or to sign agreements as service providers.

Reduction of non-revenue water through improvements to operation and maintenance

Before the IMT-SWSS process, there were many operational issues, at times so severe that services ground to a halt. By focusing on governance structures, the schemes were able to improve revenue collection and thereby employ more competent staff like plumbers, finance officers, and operation and maintenance officers. With this change, there was an increase in metering and leak control, which helped control non-revenue water losses.

Better protected water sources

In all three of the systems, participants cleaned up the river as a key activity, to better protect water quality and supply. In particular, they removed blue gum trees to increase water quantities, and constructed washing bays dedicated specifically for washing laundry to reduce water contamination.

Realising gender parity

The role of women as key water users and decision makers at the domestic level has been better recognised in the communities. The use of the tool and its emphasis on including women and other marginalised groups into the management of the system, has resulted in gender parity in the make-up of committees.

Use of renewable energy

As a result of the IMT-SWSS’s focus on improving operations, as well as the stakeholder analysis sessions, the committees assessed resources they might have available to them to run their system more sustainably. Recognising the opportunity to reduce energy-related costs as well as dependence on fossil fuels, all three systems decided to prioritise the installation of solar panels.

Coordination and networking

There has been significant improvement in the coordination and working relationships between the county government and the water committees. Within the communities themselves, there is also a good rapport between the water management committees and users due to regular community meetings. In particular, vandalism of the pipelines – largely due to illegal connections - that was previously rampant has greatly reduced. This is due to users having a new understanding and sense of ownership over their own water system, as well as regular interaction with the management committees.

What possibilities do you see for future work with the IMT-SWSS, either in Kenya or more broadly?

With proper funding and training of facilitators, the IMT-SWSS has the potential to be deployed more widely across Kenya and in different countries. It could be adopted into government plans like the County Integrated Development Plans and Annual Plans. This would mean that county governments could use the tool as a means of continuously training rural water scheme managers as part of a public initiative, which may also inspire other countries to pick up the tool and support sustainable service delivery in rural areas.

*In Kenya, the Water Services Regulatory Board (WASREB) is the national regulator of water and sewerage services. Its mandate is to protect the interests of consumers and ensure that water services are efficient, affordable, and sustainable. WASREB guidelines propose a range of management models for rural water schemes, and if a scheme meets the requirements of WASREB, it can officially become a small water company in Kenya.