Dear Joe,

Such an interesting study.....

It is important to consider how rural communities can be supported to increase their access to drinking water, and investments in hydraulic works may be a useful strategy. However, it is also important to ensure that any investments are appropriate to local contexts, as well as ensuring that rural communities have the capacity to maintain and repair any infrastructure that is put in place. In addition, it is important to consider how water resources can be managed sustainably in the long-term, to ensure that rural communities have access to the resources they need in the future.

Generally, considering your study, my recommendations for strengthening the resilience of rural communities to drinking water shortages include:

1. Investing in infrastructure and technology to improve access to drinking water sources, such as pipelines, pumps, wells, and tanks.

2. Encouraging and supporting the development of water conservation and management practices, such as rainwater harvesting, water recycling, and composting.

3. Educating communities about the importance of safe water practices and the potential risks associated with untreated water sources.

4. Promoting the use of alternative water sources, such as groundwater and surface water, when possible.

5. Developing and implementing policies and regulations to promote equitable access to safe drinking water sources.

6. Facilitating the development of local organizations and networks to improve access to safe drinking water sources and to share best practices.

7. Supporting research and development of innovative technologies to improve the quality and quantity of drinking water sources.

8. Working with local governments and stakeholders to ensure that drinking water sources are prioritized in development plans and budgets.

Dear Peter Donkor

Thank you for answer.

Your Proposal are very relevant.

The last suggestion is a big concern in Côte d'Ivoire. Most of local government dont target hydraulic project. As you said it's very important to reorient the strategic priorities of Local Government.

Jonathan Aser Engelvin Seri Peter Donkor

Addressing water shortages, especially drinking water, is an important issue especially in the rural contexts, which has been remaining an issue less attended by agencies (both state and non-state), thinking that rural areas have their own water sources. Given this (wrong) notion, rural areas were grossly neglected in terms of creating sustainable solutions for water supplies. This is not withstanding the fact that many countries do have rural water supply systems in place, though the extent of coverage and level of efficiency of these systems are always matters of debate.

That said, we need more stronger and sustainable solutions to address the water scarcity problems in the rural areas in particular, as water security is emerging as a pernicious issue. While interventions from various agencies (state, market and civil society organisations) are happening in the rural contexts, very often, such interventions appear to be driven by top to bottom approaches than bottom-up initiatives. Efforts are needed to develop water supply systems based on need based and design-specific approaches.

Viswanathan P. Karthiayani Peter Donkor

Thank you for your proposal

Speaking of bottom-up initiatives, I also think that this is very important. A participatory approach can contribute to a sustainable management of water facilities. The problem that leads some researchers to advocate for centralized management of water facilities by local governments or private water structures is the weakness of local initiatives and the inability of local communities to manage water facilities by themselves in a sustainable way.

I believe that if the system is redefined by involving new actors in the management system of the facilities in rural areas (Village Pump Management Committee, local governments and pump repairers). Today, the local governments have disengaged from the management framework of hydraulic structures in rural areas. There is a need to redefine the system.

I am writing an action research project in this context: Experimenting with a model of co-management of waterworks in a region involving rural communities, local governments and other stakeholders.

This is a very practical-oriented study you have chosen as it deals with practical needs of rural communities. Timely and relevant as the study is I would suggest you find time to also take a walk into the past while keeping a keen interest in the study area's geomorphic and other geophysical characteristics, ascertaining whether or not there have been any significant shifts over time that could have impacted on the social landscape in terms of livelihoods and access to ecosystem services. A walk into the past will reveal how these communities managed to sustain their existence for whatever period they have been living there without such major concerns as being experienced today. Then you track changes over time both in the socio-economic and cultural dimension, and the governance and technological shifts as well as environmental change and associated climate impacts. Appropriate recommendations should be sought after getting rid of plausible drivers of the status quo. The following questions may help in sniffing for such clues:

1. For how long have these communities inhabited the study area? Or were these communities elsewhere before and relocated to the current settlement in the recent past? If so, would this move have exposed them to limited ecosystem services accounting for the situation they are in today?

2. What demographic changes have over time been observed?

3. What have been their traditional sources of water?

4. Have there been any significant shifts in their livelihood systems/sources?

5. What major changes occurred over time in water sources, in terms of availability and quality?

6. What are the indigenous mechanisms commonly employed by the locals in response to water scarcity? Is the scarcity perennial or seasonal?

7. What changes over time, if any, have been noticed in the study area's hydrological regime (both ground and surface water resources?)

8. Are there any anthropogenic influences that interact with the geophysical environment to create the current status?

Other points to note relate to the quality of water:

1. If they rely on surface water e.g. streams/rivers, then quality concerns could be minimised as running water has a natural mechanism to purity itself;

2. If they rely on ground water, e.g. boreholes the area's geological formation and mineralisation is key to ascertain in view of possible high electrical conductivity which would undermine water use for domestic purposes. Also the subterranean flow networks in relation to the location of sanitation facilities to avert possible cross-contamination.

In view of the above, some of the recommendations to try thinking about would include:

1. devising mechanisms that build on local water management systems that have saved communities over time;

2. promotion of landcover restoration, if this is an issue, as that would enhance long term capillary attraction influence on ground water retention and availability for abstraction for human use;

3. If climate change impacts are partially accountable for the status quo how informed are communities in terms of localised climate information and seasonality pattern of extreme events e.g prolonged dry spells or drought in its different forms? Have the national government's weather prediction capacities been downscaled to local level and communities adequately sensitised on the implications of the anticipated performance of the weather?

4. Promotion of community engagement to create room for local input in formulating strategies that address their plight. They always know better than government.

NB: More locally inclined measures would be sustainable.

My thoughts, unsubstantiated though.

Mulambwa Mwanang'ono Thank you for your answer. Your suggestions are very relevant

@Jonathan Aser,

The question you raised is already addressed in a village of India. And the Case Study of that village ( Kawas ) has also been published on Global Water Partnership portal.

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Can You please spare few minutes to visit my shared documents on my profile, specially GWP Case Study. Or you can check it on GWP website from below link.

https://gwptoolbox.org/case-study/india-nationwise-rainwater-management-program-nrwm-kavas

Thank You.

Hope it helps.

Manalika Pandya

Thank you for this recommendation. I have read the contents of the project very carefully. The project has had a considerable impact on the local communities by enabling them to be quite resilient. Conserving more than 30 million liters of rainwater "without contamination" for one's own use per year is an indicator of the project's performance.

I understand that the action of external organizations and partners through development projects is very crucial to support the resilience of vulnerable communities.

My concern is the weakness of local government initiatives. In Côte d'Ivoire, there is more involvement by humanitarian organizations and other external partners than by local governments whose primary mission is to bring about local development and support the resilience of the most vulnerable communities. Given that international organizations are development partners, their actions should be expected to support local authorities and national structures in the operationalization of development. However, there is a paradox that gives the impression of a disengagement of local governments.

Based on your experience in India, how have you contributed to strengthening the commitment of local governments to support the resilience of local communities in the post-project period?

For involving local government administration in our project of Rainwater Management of a whole village, We 1stly took the official way of written application to Chief District Administrator.

We made sure that written application must be signed by Elected Village admins along with govt appointed admin officer at village level and each farmer of the village.

In India, Villages are entitled with various grants from District, State and Central Government for Village development budgeting around $50000 per year. These grants are apart from grants from international NGOs.

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So, We followed up for around a 18 months to district administration to approve us funds of around $ 20000 for project Development.

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After that approval, The work was given to a construction department of the district, then that department issued open tender for the project.

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After participating in Tender process and competition, We won the bid and then executed the project.

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So whole completion took around 30 months.

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Our behaviour with Govt officials is important link. They should not feel Us or our project as burden. Make each paper ready for them as per their departmental requirements is the 1st requirement. Because whatever emotion they have for your villages/project they cannot afford gaps in paper work. Then easing their works with patience about your project is the only way to get their support.

Manalika Pandya

Thank you very much for sharing this experience

Best regards

@Jonthan Aser.

Thank You for your effort to read our various project materials. We have also written a paper on THE IMPACT of Global Rainwater Management Program (GRWP) on 17 SDGs, Bit it is unpublished & Unsubmitted.