Concepts and terminology: an introduction to multiple uses and functions in water services

Stef Smits

IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre

Multiple-Use Services Group

What do these situations have in common?

Functions and uses

Uses Functions and RolesDomestic waterSanitation and

wastewater management

IrrigationTransportationHydropowerEnvironmental

flowsFlood protection

Flood protectionGroundwater rechargeSupport to fishing TourismSupport to natural ecosystems

(biodiversity) Social functions linked to the

infrastructure and management RecreationSoil conservation Habitat improvements (raw materials for

construction, shade, cooling effect,...)

Defining multiple-use and functions of services

• Multiple-use of water takes place at different levels:– River basin/catchment– “system” / infrastructure– Community– Homestead

• Multiple-use and functions in water services, refers to the explicit catering for these in services provision

Defining as an approach

• Definition by Van Koppen et al. (2006): a participatory, integrated and poverty-reduction focused approach in poor rural and peri-urban areas, which takes people’s multiple water needs as a starting point for providing integrated services, moving beyond the conventional sectoral barriers of the domestic and productive sectors

• Key elements:– People’s multiple water needs as starting point– Service delivery approach– Integration– Institutional change to move beyond barriers

• Scale and levels

Objective of mus

• Services to meet people’s multiple needs:– Domestic (drinking, cooking, etc)– Productive: irrigation, livestock, home-based

industries, processing of agricultural products– Functions: flood protection, fisheries,

recreation, etc

• Expectation to contribute to multiple aspects of MDGs

Service delivery approach

• The provision of access to water of a given quality and quantity with given services characteristics – timeliness, flexibility, reliability - at a given place – water ladder

• Through combination of technologies (infrastructure) and service arrangements (financing mechanisms, management arrangements, etc), to climb the ladder

• Not all water needs to come out of one all-encompassing infrastructure: multiple sources for multiple uses

Levels of scale

• Main focus: from homestead to system; catchment normally considered in IWRM

• Often different forms of multiple-use and functions at different nested levels

• E.g. Multiple uses of water at and around homestead provided by different systems, which at the same time fulfil multiple needs and functions at community level

MUS as a NEW service delivery paradigm for rural areas

• Base philosophy– Effective service provision to reduce rural poverty

• What is the service?– Providing water services that are fitted to rural

peoples lifestyles and livelihoods

• What are the challenges– Understanding livelihoods– Understanding actual – and potential – role of water

within them– Providing appropriate services!

How to achieve paradigm shift

• Planned vs de facto multiple-uses• Domestic-plus, irrigation (productive)-plus, ecosystem

approaches and mus-from-onset• Current institutional arrangements have resulted in

single-use services and sectoral approaches• Institutional change:

– Expanding institutional mandate of sector organisations, starting from each one’s mandate

– Coordination between sectors– Multi-stakeholder approaches

• Entry points are, for scaling-up

In conclusion

• Multiple use and functions of water are obvious; how to cater for them in service provision is the big question

• Requires a service delivery approach from homestead to system level, embedded within IWRM at catchment level

• Paradigm shift, requiring institutional change to come to more integrated services