Community Organisation for Water Governance (COWaG)

Timeframe: 2007 - 2008

Implemented by: Institute of Sustainable Development (ISD)

Background

Insufficiency of water, particularly for drinking water supply and sanitation, is primarily driven by an inefficient supply of services rather than by water shortages. An integrated approach involving the user community and the service managers is essential to tackle this problem. In India the bottom level system of water supply for domestic use is at Panchayat level and the Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs) are the managers of the systems. Hence the ISD propose to work with the PRIs and the village level community based organizations (CBOs) such as federation of women self help groups, and farmers’ forum, to make a positive change towards a sustainable management of water with their participation. Based on this concept, ISD propose to build a model for efficient water governance by organizing the community.

Aim of the Project

The project aims to empower the PRIs, and CBOs for efficient water governance with the participation of all the stakeholders. Necessary capacity building will be done for the PRI to ensure equitable access to safe and adequate drinking water through a reliable water supply system. Equipping the PRIs on ways to deal effectively the technical, institutional and financial issues in drinking water supply system and to advocate for better irrigation system to be adopted at the community level are the major part of the project. The project will sensitize the community about the depleting water resource and work to bring out a change to reduce overexploitation and mismanagement of water. PRIs will be enabled to work with the community/stakeholders in planning or in taking corrective measures for the water wastage reduction.

Project Location and Area:

At present it is piloted in 12 village panchayats (VP) and proposes to scale up to 51 village panchayats in Ellapuram Panchayat Union of Thiruvallur District in Tamilnadu State in India.

Project Strategy:

The process given below will be taken up in the same order to organize the community for better water governance:

1    Rapid appraisal of water situation using selected key indicators in the VP
2    Workshops to sensitize PRI Members and representatives from CBOs
3    Participatory appraisal of the water and sanitation situation including social
      mapping, water mapping and sanitation mapping
4    Helping each VP to prepare an action plan and enabling them to get
      approval for the same in the Panchayat Council and the Gramasabha
5    Periodical revisits to the VPs to monitor implementation of the action plan  
6    Evaluation at the end of one year for each VP
7    Documentation and dissemination of the lessons learned from the exercise

Expected outcomes:

a)   handbook for PRI President on COWaG (by February 2008)
b)   training manual for COWaG to be used by Trainers  (by June 2008) and,
c)   at least two demonstration projects (by June 2008).

Information on the project is available on the website of the Institute of Sustainable Development.