“WATER COMMON GOOD FOR ALL”

15th – 16th NOVEMBER 2011,

Ouagadougou – Burkina Faso

Presented by

Eng. Deus Mchele

District water Engineer

Bahi District Council

Dodoma - Tanzania

DODOMA

FORUM ON WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN TANZANIA

Was held on 21st September 2011 The forum was initiated by the LVIA Tanzania..

under water Facility project named:

“Joining efforts in increasing access to safe, affordable and sustainable water…

Stakeholder Forum Objectives

Analysis of effective management practices and appropriate technologies for the access to water.

Comparison of experiences among organizations operating in Tanzania on the issue of water.

Strengthening network of a local/national organizations operating in the water sector

Presentation of the World Water Forum that will be held in Marseille in March 2012.

WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS

Official Opening Speech of the Guest of honor Presentation Group Discussion Workshop Closure

Official Opening

acting Project Coordinator of LVIA Water Facility Project

to strengthen the links between private sector, District Water Departments, NGOs, public institutions and water entities at village level for sustainability of water resources management in rural areas

he welcomed the guest of honor from the Ministry of Water to open water stakeholder’s forum officially.

Speech of the guest of honor

He said, the workshop comes at a time when development and utilizations of water in various sectors is increasing requiring appropriate institutional, legal and administrative structures to be put in place for proper management of the resources.

Insists that more effort is needed on facilitation of the establishment and registration of water users association in district and region level.

He declared that the Stakeholders Forum on Water Resources management is officially opened and he thanked the participants for the attention and wishes a fruitful workshop.

Self Introduction of the Participants

Following the official opening of the workshop, the facilitator led participants to introduce themselves by focusing on who they are, where they come from and their organization.

The Introduction process was necessary to enable people to get to know each other before other proceedings.

Workshop Participants

Fifty five participants attended the forum.

The participants were representatives from NGOs water authorities at regional level local government leaders at district level, village government leaders, district commissioners and water users associations.

Presentation

the first presentation was focused on brief introduction of host organization LVIA Tanzania

implemented activities and outcomes of the Water Facility Project, process of establishment and legal registration

of the Water Users Association (WUA) and the challenges faces implementation of the

activities. Other organizations made presentation including

MAMADO, WaterAid,

Participants general discussion.

The Workshop followed a participatory and interactive approach allowing stakeholder’s forum to shortly discuss issues.

sharing of experiences among participants. on the challenges faces during the

implementation of the activities, presentation of interventions and strategies

for sustainable water management,

Issues discussed by participants

Communities mindsets changed of water for free and to adapt the new policy of paying for it.

Involvement of the private sector in the delivery of water supply services has improved efficiency and sustainability of service delivery.

growth of amount water funds saved in the bank account.

District water departments have an important role to play in providing ongoing technical support.( spare parts and conduct complex maintenance works)

Some of communities which had published monthly details of how much money have collected and how much have spent, have made harder for so much money to go misused.

WUA and private operators were found to be more successful at achieving sustainability.

Community participation during project selection, design and installation can help achieve an increased sense of ownership on the part of the community.

Challenges discussed by participants

Inadequate resources for establishment and registering of water user entities.

Inadequate follow up visits of water projects from the District Council

Two years after installation, some of already improved water points are not- functioning.

Group Discussion

The workshop participants were divided into groups, to maximize participation from the workshop participants

participants were divided into seven groups with each group handling a specific issue from the question

and present back to plenary after discussion.

Group One: Why water projects are not sustainable?

Poor management of water committees. Horrific expenditure of water project funds They lack transparence on the income and

expenditure of water project funds. Conflict of interest between village government

and water users associations Destroying of water infrastructures Low knowledge of the water committees. Lack of public participation in the ownership and

management of water projects

Group Two: What can we do in order to improve the system of water management?

Capacity building to the water users associations and village government.

Registration of water users association. Frequently monitoring in the water projects by

district councils. Village government to be the umbrella of water

projects and not involved in the operation. Community participation in the important phases of

water projects and to be informed on income and expenditure.

Group Three: Why the leaders of water projects fail to deliver their

roles? Lack of transparency on operations activities and

information on income and expenditure. Lack of follow up on the management of water

user’s association/water committees. Direct involvement of village government on

management of water committees. Low knowledge on National Water Policy,

guidelines, responsibilities and laws on management of water resources.

Group Four: What are the main challenges in the water projects

Water committees have no enough funds to operate water schemes.

Destroying water infrastructure and disconnection

Lack of professionals in the rural water schemes Inadequate resources for establishment and

registering of water user entities.

5. What are the strategies to improve the management of rural water

projects to be sustainable? Raising awareness to the community on

understanding of a good leader. Capacity building to the leaders on;

Documentation and record keeping Book keeping To understand the amount of water needed per

day, expenditure and collection of revenues

To prepare report on income and expenditure report monthly and submit to the village government

To read report of income and expenditure to the community meetings.

Group Six: The involvement of central government in the small

water projects By raising awareness and providing water for all education

By providing water policy, rules and regulations By providing professionals technical advice for

instance water engineers and technicians. By providing funds support Networking water stakeholders It help to establish and register water users

association. Developing national water framework

Group Seven: Why a lot of problems on water fund management arise in the rural area? What is the solution? Still some of water projects have no checks and

balances to the people who are responsible for collecting of money to make sure that they perform their job properly.

person or people responsible for looking after the money have used it for their own purposes- that has been stolen.

The missing money could have been collected and then used for something else such as building a village office or school classroom.

The Solution

To set follow up committee on the collection of revenue and purchasing of resources.

Village government and water committee to respect limitations of their role in managing work

Service provider to build trustful.

Evaluation by Participants

participants considered the Workshop to be successful.

The vast majority thought that the objectives of the Forum as well as their objectives and expectations were sufficiently met

Most of the participants appreciated the participatory and interactive approach

The majority was pleased by the quality of organization and the duration of the workshop.

Workshop Closure

Recognized the important role played by Non Government Organizations in water sector

in various project for instance Water Facility Project on management practices of water

resources to the Water Users Association and pledged more support.

Thank you