The SWIFT ConsortiumThe SWIFT Consortium aims to deliver sustainable access to safe water and sanitation and encourage the adoption of basic hygiene practices in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya. Led by Oxfam, the consortium includes Tearfund and ODI as Global Members, and Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP) as Global Associate, along with many implementing partners in the two focus countries.The SWIFT programme’s objective is to provide water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services (at least two of the three) to nearly 850,000 people by December 2015, and build capacity until March 2018 to ensure interventions are sustainable, helping to bridge the gap between humanitarian and development programmes.

The SWIFT Consortium is funded with UK aid from the British people under a ‘Payment by Results’ contract. Instead of a grant, payment is tied to outputs and outcomes: non-delivery will result in

Achieving long-term increases in rural water-supply coverage depends on many factors. A new tool developed for the SWIFT Consortium supports environmental assessment and risk screening activities for rural water supplies in low-income contexts. When conducting a detailed hydrogeological survey is not an option, the SWIFT tool provides simple guidance to help identify and mitigate environmental risks to long-term water availability and quality.

The SWIFT Consortium aims to deliver sustainable access to safe water and sanitation and encourage the adoption of basic hygiene practices in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya. Led by Oxfam, the consortium includes Tearfund and ODI as Global Members, and Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP) as Global Associate, along with many implementing partners in the two focus countries. The SWIFT programme is carried out in collaboration with the governments of DRC and Kenya, and with a number of water service providers.

The SWIFT programme’s objective is to provide Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services (at least two of the three) to nearly 850,000 people by December 2015, and build capacity until March 2018 to ensure interventions are sustainable, helping to bridge the gap between humanitarian and development programmes.

The SWIFT Consortium is funded with UK aid from the British people under a ‘Payment by Results’ contract. Instead of a grant, payment is tied to outputs and outcomes: non-delivery will result in non-payment, and non-sustainability will result in reduced payment.

Introducing the SWIFT tool for environmental assessment and risk screening for rural water supply

Roger Calow, Eva Ludi, Nathaniel Mason (ODI), and Frank Greaves (Tearfund)

East

ern

DRC

. Pho

to: E

lean

or F

arm

er

SWIFT Consortium learning brief

Promoting rural water supply in terms of water resource availabilityAchieving long-term increases in rural water supply coverage depends on many factors, including sound financing; community engagement in the design and implementation of schemes; and the training of village mechanics, local government and entrepreneurs in system upkeep and repair. For a scheme to be sustainable, planning also needs to consider the water resources that are available – whether there is enough water, of suitable quality, to meet demand across seasons and between good and bad years. Water supplies that depend on shallow groundwater are generally more vulnerable to changes in rainfall (and therefore groundwater recharge) and demand than those exploiting deeper and/or bigger groundwater storage. These can include hand-dug wells, shallow boreholes, and protected springs. Risks to water systems posed by flooding, land degradation and other environmental hazards also need to be considered and mitigated where possible, especially as climate change accelerates. For existing schemes, understanding patterns of seasonal recharge and demand, as well as the likely impact of environmental hazards, can help implementers develop more sustainable management approaches.

Why develop a tool?In Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere, funds and expertise are not always available to conduct detailed hydrogeological surveys for new systems that are dependent on shallow groundwater. In their absence, simple guidance is needed to help identify and mitigate environmental risks to long-term water availability and quality.

Who is the tool for?We originally developed many of the approaches included in the tool to support local government staff implementing water projects in rural Ethiopia,1 and adapted and extended the tool for SWIFT field teams in DRC and Kenya. The tool is designed to be used by teams with engineering expertise and experience of working with community-based water supply, primarily in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. We stress that a tool of this kind will be much less reliable than an assessment by a professional hydrogeologist, so it should only be used when that is not an option.

What does the tool involve?The tool helps answer three key questions for new and existing shallow groundwater sources:

• Is there enough water of suitable quality to meet demand across seasons for the long term?

• What are the main environmental risks to ensuring a sustainable supply of safe water?

• How can these risks be mitigated?

The tool sets out four steps to do this:

1. Understand how much water is available by tapping local knowledge.

2. Determine how much groundwater is needed to meet demand, and how big the catchment (recharge) area of a well will need to be to provide this water.

3. Protect the sites and sources by identifying environmental hazards that could result in site degradation and water supply contamination.

4. Maintain records of the assessment, design and implementation of groundwater projects, so as to inform similar, future projects.

How should the tool be used?We recommend that field teams work through the four steps in detail, as set out in the full version of the tool, which is available at http://oxf.am/ZPgD. The flow chart we include below summarises the main steps and the inputs (data) needed. We recognise that to run the tool in full can be time and resource-intensive. Field teams may therefore need to select certain inputs/outputs from the tool – as has been done by SWIFT staff in Kenya and DRC. We would welcome feedback on which elements of the tool are most useful. The guidance can also be viewed as a contribution to work promoted by Oxfam and others around community-oriented monitoring and management of water resources.2

The activities proposed in this tool are most useful where water points are developed that access shallow groundwater, such as hand-dug wells, shallow boreholes equipped with hand pumps and springs. The tool does not cover all aspects of providing community WASH services and should therefore be used alongside existing guidance and tools, such as water safety plans, and more formal environmental impact assessments where they are mandated by national regulations, or where resources are available.

2

1 The tool draws heavily on work carried out by Roger Calow, Eva Ludi, Seifu Kebede and Andrew McKenzie on similar issues in Ethiopia commissioned by DFID-Ethiopia and supported by the Government of Finland

2 See: http://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/managing-water-locally-an-essential-dimension-of-community-water-development-165794

3

Flow

dia

gram

of ke

y in

puts

and

exp

ecte

d ou

tput

s of

the

SW

IFT/

OD

I/Te

arfu

nd t

ool o

n en

viro

nmen

tal a

sses

smen

t an

d ri

sk s

cree

ning

for

rur

al w

ater

sup

plie

s

Th

is t

ool i

s m

eant

to

addr

ess

the

follo

win

g qu

esti

ons

rega

rdin

g sh

allo

w g

roun

dwat

er s

ourc

es (

i.e. pr

otec

ted

spring

s, h

and-

dug

wel

ls a

nd s

hallo

w b

oreh

oles

):

1. Is

ther

e en

ough

wat

er o

f sui

tabl

e qu

ality

to m

eet d

eman

d ac

ross

sea

sons

for t

he lo

ng te

rm?

2. W

hat a

re th

e m

ain

envi

ronm

enta

l ris

ks to

ens

urin

g a

sust

aina

ble

supp

ly o

f saf

e w

ater

?3.

How

can

thes

e ris

ks b

e m

itiga

ted?

You

can

use

this

tool

by

itsel

f or u

se c

ompo

nent

s of

oth

er to

ols

alre

ady

fam

iliar

to y

ou to

obt

ain

sim

ilar o

utpu

ts

a) G

roun

dwat

er p

oten

tial a

nd a

vera

ge y

ield

est

imat

es b

ased

on

geol

ogy

(See

Ann

ex, T

able

A1)

b) A

ctua

l yie

ld m

easu

rem

ents

of s

ourc

es in

the

area

c) S

hort

nar

rativ

e/ta

bula

r inf

orm

atio

n on

sea

sona

l and

long

-term

re

liabi

lity

of th

e so

urce

, inc

ludi

ng w

ater

qua

lity

d) T

raffi

c-lig

ht a

sses

smen

t of a

dequ

acy

of c

atch

men

t siz

e fo

r rai

nfal

l and

wat

er-d

eman

d sc

enar

io

Anno

tate

d sk

etch

map

and

/or p

hoto

s to

iden

tify

the

resi

lienc

e /

vuln

erab

ility

of t

he s

ourc

e si

te in

term

s of

dra

inag

e

Mea

sure

men

t of d

ista

nce

of w

ater

sou

rces

from

pol

lutio

n ha

zard

s (c

onta

min

atio

n co

ntro

l m

easu

res

need

ed if

haz

ards

are

clo

ser t

han

reco

mm

ende

d m

inim

um d

ista

nce)

Estim

ate

of d

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r wat

er, c

urre

ntly

and

in fu

ture

(ass

umin

g a

cert

ain

popu

latio

n gr

owth

rate

e.g

. 2.5

%)

For w

ells

: Est

imat

e of

requ

ired

catc

hmen

t siz

e by

com

parin

g de

man

d w

ith e

stim

ated

re

char

ge (l

atte

r req

uire

s ag

reei

ng p

ropo

rtio

n of

ann

ual r

ainf

all t

hat i

s re

tain

ed a

t sha

llow

aq

uife

r lev

els

and

is a

cces

sibl

e. A

figu

re o

f 1%

to 3

% is

reco

mm

ende

d to

dev

elop

sec

ure

wat

er s

ourc

es in

mos

t are

as o

f Afri

ca w

ith o

ver 7

50m

m o

f rai

nfal

l per

yea

r)

Estim

ate

of a

ctua

l cat

chm

ent s

izes

for fl

at o

r hill

y te

rrai

n

For s

prin

gs: I

t is

also

pos

sibl

e to

com

pare

spr

ing

yiel

d (m

easu

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durin

g th

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) w

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urre

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ater

dem

and

Basi

c ge

olog

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avai

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impl

e sk

etch

map

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pro

ject

wat

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Expe

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geol

ogic

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dvic

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avai

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artic

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here

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data

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reco

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exis

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Obs

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with

sum

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typi

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fric

an g

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d th

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roun

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Wel

l rec

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from

the

surr

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ing

area

(in

clud

ing

data

on

geol

ogy,

sea

sona

l yie

ld,

relia

bilit

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d w

ater

qua

lity)

Loca

l kno

wle

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of b

ehav

iour

and

his

tory

of

sou

rces

in th

e ar

ea

Sim

ple

yiel

d m

easu

rem

ent o

f exi

stin

g so

urce

s (u

sing

buc

ket a

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topw

atch

, or

wei

r pla

te)

INPU

TIN

PUT

INPU

TIN

PUT

INPU

TIN

PUT

INPU

TIN

PUT

INPU

T

INPU

T

OUTP

UTOU

TPUT

INPU

T

INPU

T

See

sect

ion

2.1

See

sect

ion

1.1

See

sect

ion

2.1

See

sect

ion

1.1

See

sect

ion

2.2

See

sect

ion

1.1

See

sect

ion

2.3

See

sect

ion

1.1/

1.2

See

sect

ion

2.3

See

sect

ion

1.2

See

sect

ion

2.3

See

sect

ion

1.3

STE

P 1

: U

nder

stan

d ho

w m

uch

wat

er is

ava

ilabl

e by

ta

ppin

g lo

cal k

now

ledg

eSTE

P 2

: D

eter

min

e ho

w m

uch

grou

ndw

ater

is n

eede

d to

mee

t de

man

d, a

nd h

ow b

ig t

he

catc

hmen

t (r

echa

rge)

are

a of

a w

ell w

ill n

eed

to b

e to

pro

vide

thi

s w

ater

INPU

TIN

PUT

INPU

T

INPU

T

INPU

T

INPU

T

INPU

T

See

sect

ion

4

See

sect

ion

3.1

See

sect

ion

3.1

See

sect

ion

3.2

See

sect

ion

3.2

See

sect

ion

3.3

See

sect

ion

3.3

STE

P 3

Pro

tect

the

sit

es a

nd s

ourc

es b

y id

enti

fyin

g en

viro

nmen

tal

haza

rds

of, an

d m

itig

atin

g m

easu

res

for,

site

deg

rada

tion

and

wat

er

supp

ly c

onta

min

atio

n

STE

P 4

Mai

ntai

n re

cord

s of

the

ass

essm

ent,

des

ign

and

impl

emen

tati

on o

f gr

ound

wat

er p

roje

cts,

so

as t

o in

form

sim

ilar,

futu

re p

roje

cts

Catc

hmen

t wal

k/ob

serv

atio

n to

cap

ture

ske

tch

map

of

dire

ct e

nviro

nmen

tal h

azar

ds w

ithin

150

m ra

dius

of

the

wat

er s

ourc

e (d

irect

env

ironm

enta

l haz

ards

incl

ude

feat

ures

like

gul

ly e

rosi

on, r

ill e

rosi

on, l

and

slip

s, c

attle

tr

acks

etc

.)

Asse

ssm

ent o

f sev

erity

of h

azar

ds: e

.g. o

f gul

lies,

flo

odin

g ris

k, a

nd la

ndsl

ides

and

land

slip

s, a

nd w

heth

er

they

requ

ire im

med

iate

rem

edia

l act

ion

or re

loca

tion

of

the

wat

er fa

cilit

y

Sim

ple

tabl

e to

iden

tify

and

outli

ne c

ause

s of

de

grad

atio

n fe

atur

es in

the

wid

er c

atch

men

t (in

dire

ct

envi

ronm

enta

l haz

ards

) bas

ed o

n co

mm

unity

di

scus

sion

Asse

ssm

ent o

f sev

erity

/ext

ent o

f ind

irect

env

ironm

enta

l ha

zard

s (s

impl

e ta

ble

cons

truc

ted

with

com

mun

ity)

Dis

cuss

ion

with

par

tner

s/au

thor

ities

/exp

erie

nced

loca

l pe

ople

on

man

agem

ent p

roce

sses

for m

ediu

m to

hi

gh-ri

sk d

egra

datio

n pr

oces

ses

(inco

rpor

ate

com

mun

ity

repr

esen

tativ

es a

nd c

onsi

der a

lso

com

mun

ity-b

ased

id

eas

and

solu

tions

)

Cons

truc

tion

of ta

ble

iden

tifyi

ng c

orre

ctiv

e m

easu

res

• G

eolo

gica

l fiel

d no

tes/

data

from

ge

ophy

sica

l sur

veys

• D

iggi

ng/d

rillin

g lo

gs in

clud

ing

all d

ata

rela

ting

to th

e dr

illin

g, c

onst

ruct

ion

and

geol

ogic

al/g

eoph

ysic

al lo

ggin

g, f

or d

ry

and

succ

essf

ul w

ells

• P

umpi

ng te

st d

ata

• S

easo

nal w

ater

-leve

l obs

erva

tions

• R

ecor

ds o

n w

ater

qua

lity

and

obse

rvat

ions

of s

easo

nal q

ualit

y va

riatio

ns

• In

form

atio

n on

phy

sica

l and

lega

l ac

cess

(e.g

., la

nd o

wne

rshi

p)

• N

umbe

r of p

eopl

e us

ing

the

sche

me

and

estim

ate

of a

mou

nt o

f wat

er

colle

cted

per

per

son/

hous

ehol

d ac

ross

di

ffer

ent s

easo

ns

• A

ny in

cide

nt w

hen

wat

er s

uppl

y sy

stem

w

as n

ot fu

nctio

nal,

reas

ons

and

actio

ns

unde

rtak

en

• R

ecor

ds o

f cor

rect

ive/

rem

edia

l m

easu

res

take

n to

add

ress

dire

ct a

nd

indi

rect

env

ironm

enta

l haz

ards

• W

ater

leve

l acr

oss

diff

eren

t sea

sons

• A

ny c

hem

ical

, bio

logi

cal a

nd p

hysi

cal

para

met

ers

from

wat

er te

stin

g

OUTP

UTOU

TPUT

e) R

emed

ial m

easu

res

for d

irect

haz

ards

e.g

. to

prot

ect a

gain

st fl

oodi

ngf )

Cat

chm

ent a

nd w

ater

-poi

nt p

rote

ctio

n pl

an w

ith c

orre

ctiv

e m

easu

res

and

as-

sign

ed re

spon

sibi

litie

s, d

raw

n up

/agr

eed

with

com

mun

ity

g ) D

ata

reco

rds,

to b

e ke

pt a

t loc

al le

vel a

nd m

ade

avai

labl

e to

lo

cal g

over

nmen

t WAS

H/h

ydro

logy

dep

artm

ent,

mem

bers

of

natio

nal W

ASH

clu

ster

, and

key

net

wor

ks th

at s

eek

to b

uild

na

tiona

l dat

abas

es

Tel: 44 (0)1865 47 3207/2145/2172/2053 Email: efeeny@oxfam.org.uk The SWIFT Consortium is led and hosted by: Oxfam GB, Oxfam House, John Smith Drive, Oxford OX4 2JY, UK

swiftconsortium.org

The SWIFT Consortium aims to deliver sustainable access to safe water and sanitation and encourage the adoption of basic hygiene practices in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya. It is funded with UK aid from the British people.

Readers are encouraged to reproduce material from SWIFT reports for their own publications, as long as they are not being sold commercially. As copyright holder, the SWIFT partners request due acknowledgement and a copy of the publication. For online use, we ask readers to link to the original resource on the SWIFT website. The views presented in this paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of SWIFT or the UK Department for International Development.

© Oxfam GB, Tearfund and Overseas Development Institute, 2015. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial License (CC BY-NC 3.0).

Published by Oxfam GB for SWIFT under ISBN 978-1-78077-920-1 in October 2015.