Global progress has been made in increasing access to drinking water, but 780 million people still lack access. Ensuring drinking water services are sustainable long-term requires addressing factors like lack of skilled technicians, insufficient funding for maintenance, and weak local government capacity. A study of 13 countries found common barriers to sustainable service delivery include incomplete decentralization, weak sector collaboration, and insufficient support for local water providers. Closing the financing gap and achieving universal access will require effective long-term planning, multi-stakeholder cooperation, and support focused on local service delivery and asset management.

1. Global learning in Sustainable
drinking water services at scale –
everyone forever
Jean de la Harpe
11 March 2013
Roundtable 13 March
2013 New Delhi

2. COVERAGE
Millennium
development goal on
safe drinking water
reaches target early
Only 11% remaining un-
served

3. Global achievements
• From 1990 to 2010 over 2 billion people
gained access to improved water sources
• 1.8 billion people gained access to improved
sanitation facilities
• Progress over last 20 years has been in the
context of rapid population growth

4. India – massive progress
India 522
million
Number of people who gained access to improved drinking water
sources from 1990 to 2010 by MDG region (millions)

5. But
Over 780 million people
are still without access to
improved sources of
drinking water
If current trends continue,
by 2015, 605 million
people will be without an
improved drinking water
source

6. And the ‘job is far from
finished’
• Many still lack safe drinking water
• Services are not sustainable
• High rates of non-functionality
and slippage
• Lack of adequate institutional
arrangements
• Current JMP indicators do not
address the safety, reliability and
sustainability of drinking water
supply

7. Sustainability risks
GLAAS 2012 (74 developing countries)
• A chronic lack of technicians and skilled labour
• Insufficient staff to operate and maintain drinking-water
infrastructure
• Inadequate funding for operation and maintenance
• One in three countries highlighted insufficient revenues
to cover operating costs
• Only 7% of external support is directed at maintaining
services
All these factors put sustainability of water systems at
risk in many countries

8. IRC Triple-S study of rural water sectors
13 countries with range of sector reforms, aid dependency
and progress in decentralisation
Analysis of trends found common opportunities and
barriers to service delivery

9. Findings of the study - sector development
• Low coverage levels ~ 30 – 40%
Group 1 • Focus on infrastructure Ethiopia
countries • Reliance on voluntary community management Mozambique
• Move towards scaled up programming
• Coverage ~ 50 - 70% and expanding Honduras,
Group 2 • Tension between coverage and ‘slippage’ Colombia,
• Trend to sector capacity building Ghana, Burkina
countries • Limited budgets and increasing demand for Faso and
higher service levels Uganda
• Coverage of 75 – 85% + India (Gujurat),
Group 3 • Investment in sector capacity building Thailand, USA,
• Addressing sustainability challenges and long- Sri Lanka,
countries term capital replacement South Africa
• Reaching last 10 – 15% remains a challenge

10. Findings of study
Incomplete decentralisation and sector reform
• In many cases decentralisation has been partial
• Local government capacity remains weak
• Lack of clear roles and responsibilities
• Limited fiscal decentralisation
• Well defined policies, but lack implementation – ‘policy to
practice gap’
• Aid dependency has led to fragmented approaches
• Insufficient support to the local level
…. Latest GLAAS report confirms these findings

11. • 90% of responding countries
indicated that decentralisation
has taken place to lower levels …
• But less than 40% have carried
out meaningful fiscal
decentralisation
• Only 40% have sufficient
maintenance staff
• In rural sector less than 20% have
sufficient maintenance staff

12. Findings: community management challenges
Management models
Burkina Faso
Mozambque
Honduras
Colombia
Sri Lanka
Thailand
Ethiopia
S. Africa
Uganda
Ghana
Benin
India
USA
Rural coverage (%); JMP, 2010 29 26 72 64 74 69 84 77 88 98 73 78 94
Community-based management P P P P P P P P P P P P P
Community management remains the Examples professionalising
dominant approach in many countries community management
for rural areas
Out-sourcing of specific
Whilst there are moves to functions: Honduras, Sri
professionalise community Lanka
management ….. there are still Applying good business
significant problems in achieving practices: Colombia
sustainable service provision within Use of support agents: South
the model Africa

13. Poor service
Low tariff
Service failure collection
Water losses and
Staff high usage drive
demotivated up costs
Service provider Maintenance
cannot pay all the postponed
costs
Efficiency Service
deteriorates deteriorates
Customers less
further
willing to pay

14. Weak policy
Poor service Incomplete
decentralisation
Poor citizen/
Service failure is Lack of sector
customer relations also about poor coordination
governance at
Poor planning
Lack of the local level
accountability
Focus on projects
instead of services
No service
provider contracts
Budgets don’t
Weak authority reflect life cycle
capacity costs

15. Big gap is support at
the local level
Both local government (such
as the district level) in its Water service
capacity as the service authority (WSA)
authority
and local water service
providers require support
Water service
provider (WSP)

16. Harmonisation and
Policy support Sector
alignment
collaboration
National
National planning support Build sector capacity
support
Technical District level Budgeting real costs
Operational development
training (tariff structure)
budgeting planning
Service Service Bylaws and
Asset regulatory functions
management provision authority
(O&M)
support support to local Infrastructure
government development
Billing Establish post
system construction Life cycle Service provision
support costing conditions & contracts
Operational Monitoring and
planning Customer care
and awareness reporting

17. Service provision (post construction)
support – 5 Ms
Community based service providers require on-going
support
• Mentoring support
• Management support (budgeting, financial
and operational planning, financial
management, asset management, human
resource issues)
• Monitoring
• Major maintenance support
• Mobilisation and on-going training

18. Findings: Financing gap
Public sector
Costs of capital
Capital financing or external
expenditure
aid transfers
Operational and Assumed to be
minor
Expenditure on maintenance community
indirect support expenditure responsibility
(tariffs)
Capital
maintenance
Expenditure on
expenditure
direct support
Unclear who finances support -
these costs are consistently
under-funded

19. Consequences of the financing gap
• Insufficient
maintenance
• Deteriorating services
• Weak institutions
• Services not being
extended to those
without access
• The gap impacts on the
ability of the entire
sector to deliver
sustainable services

20. Closing the Gap – 3 sources of revenue
• Ultimately there are only three sources of revenue to
help close the financing gap. The 3Ts:
– Tariffs
– Taxes, and
– Transfers (from national government)
• Loans and bonds will need to be paid back and mainly
serve to “bridge the gap”
Source: OECD

21. Full cost recovery from
tariffs- unrealistic in rural
areas
In reality rural water tariffs
often barely cover
operational expenditure costs
What does this mean for
subsidies?
South African example …

22. South Africa
Massive investment in
the water sector
With major grants to
support scaling up AND
sustainable service
provision
- Infrastructure grant
- Operational grant
- Institutional grant

23. South Africa
Three major grants to support sustainable scaling up
Municipal Capacity Equitable Share
Infrastructure Building Grant (ES)
Grant (MIG) (CBG)
Infrastructure Institutions Service provision
(capital (capacity building (operational grant)
projects) initiatives)
Expand to un- Increase municipal Subsidy for the provision
served poor capacity of services for the poor

24. Equitable Share
• Subsidy for funding operating costs
• Unconditional transfer from national to local
government, based on the levels of poverty within
the particular municipal area
• Covers approximately 16% of total operating costs -
the majority costs are covered through user tariffs
79% 5% 16%
User charges
Conditional grants
Equitable Share
Sources of water services operating revenue – national profile

25. Despite financial resources – we face increasing
maintenance backlogs
Sector
Investment
The
unserved
what is happening to our investment? 25

26. What does sustainability
mean in practice?
Eight point plan
towards a
service delivery
approach

27. 1. Develop a clear water and sanitation policy and
legislation
Sector vision, goals and targets
Institutional framework
Financial framework
Planning framework
National norms and standards (levels of service)
Regulatory framework
Support and monitoring framework
Implementing the Strategic Framework

28. 2. Ensure effective financing strategies
Sustainability is about increasing investment in the sector –
investment framework
Efficient use of resources and financial predictability
Multi-year plans based on the targets and sufficient
recurrent income to cover operations and maintenance
Life cycle costing
Where tariffs are insufficient, other sources of revenue
need to be found to close the gap

29. 3. Plan to address targets – (everyone) AND for sustainability
(forever)
Disaggregate targets for the local level and develop local level
sector plans
- where are the un-served?
- what can they afford for water?
- what are the most appropriate
technologies?
- what levels of service?
- what are the costs?
- who will be responsible for providing
the services and how ?
- how will sustainability be ensured?
- what support is needed?

30. 4. Sector collaboration
Build a strong sector based on Build the
collaboration – between sector
appropriate Ministries (horizontal)
and local government (vertical)
Ensure a common approach Collaboration
working towards a single sector
vision, goals and targets
One policy, one investment plan Common
and one programme for the sector approach
– where everyone is working to
common objectives
Strengthen the development of One plan
robust national plans for WASH
service provision

31. 5. Effective decentralisation
Decentralisation must be properly supported
Full fiscal decentralisation must accompany decentralisation
of functions
Local government in the driving seat
But does local government have the capacity for
May be necessary to look at
infrastructure development and service provision?
other solutions for
implementing capital
programmes …

32. 6. The right institutional arrangements
Need a focus on service provision functions: ongoing
operations and maintenance, revenue collection, asset
management, customer relations
Who is going to be responsible for provision?
What can partnerships offer?
Challenge to find the best mix of sector capacity -
public, private, NGOs, CBOs, or a combination
Too often communities are left to manage their
schemes with little or no support and ultimately the
service fails – support services are essential (5Ms)

33. 7. The right support at the right time
• Develop a support strategy as part of sector
collaboration
• Identify support needs, particularly at the local level
• Implement support programmes for local governance
and for service provision
• Emphasis on asset management
• Put in place a good monitoring system with feedback
• Ensure lesson and knowledge sharing
• Provide for mentoring and institutional support
• Regulate!

34. 8. Always address the context
• Build on existing institutions
There is no ‘universal best
• Don’t mimic what works best in practice’ approach to governance
other countries – rather learn
from successes and find what for development
works best in the given context
• Find a ‘best fit’ approach within There are no institutional
the context as opposed to ‘best templates that are valid
practices’ (which tend to be everywhere and for all stages in a
relevant to other contexts)
country’s development
• Facilitate local problem solving
• Learn from everyone
• Copy no-one

35. We need to focus on maintaining assets to
sustain services – this is as important as
focussing on new infrastructure
Beyond 2015, achieving new drinking
water targets will require not only a vast
allocation of resources, but also
- concerted efforts to deliver sustainable
service provision
- major focus on local government water
services capacity

36. Sustainability through the full life cycle
From policy to
ongoing services
Policy Planning Financing Implementation Service Provision
(infrastructure (sustainable
development) services)

37. Thank you
Jean de la Harpe
delaharpe@irc.nl
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