Water Scarcity, environmental change forces innovation



By Roshan Madawela


“Water is life, physical, emotional and spiritual. It should not be considered merely as an economic resource. Sharing water is an ethical imperative and an expression of human solidarity. The intimate relationship between water and people should be explicitly taken into account in all decision-making processes.” (3rd World Water Forum, 2003 ).


A Global challenge

Increasingly, water and environmental sanitation (WES) is gaining greater significance as a vital issue in the developing world. Whilst water scarcity poses daily challenges to people in some regions other parts of the globe have to contend with un-healthy and non-hygienic sanitation practices that expose people to disease and ill-health.

Responses to problems have taken on innovative approaches with water saving technology and devices being promoted in the Middle East and North Africa in order to reduce the total quantity of water used and minimize wastage, rain water catchments technique used in Philippines to utilize precious rainwater, eco-friendly sanitation in India to depart from un-hygienic sanitation practices and hand-pump water systems in Sri Lanka as a feasible option for supplying water to communities in the dry zone. These different approaches have been tested and adopted in regions with diverse weather conditions where rapid changes in the environment have taken place in recent years and forced social scientists to meet the challenge with innovation.

Sri Lanka represents a microcosm of the globe in numerous respects and not least due to the existence of a diverse range of climatic, environmental and weather conditions. Consequently, some parts of the island frequently encounter sever drought while other regions continue to enjoy a health rainfall throughout the year.

Meeting the local challenge

With a population of around 19 million, only 70 per cent of the population has access to water supply. In terms of sanitation, only 63 per cent of households in the country have access to safe sanitation. The situation in the rural areas where 78 per cent of the people live is much more desperate. Some 48 per cent are without access to safe drinking water and 52 per cent have no access to proper sanitation.

In Sri Lanka as with much of the emerging world, development projects are aimed at those living in the rural areas whose way of life is driven by ancient value systems and religion. Thus in these types of communities, culture and religion can influence how people perceive, use and manage such a vital resource as water.
Taking culture, we can note that Sri Lanka has a long and well established culture of community participation, voluntary labour and community support at the agrarian village economy level. Successive government have and still continue to implement small as well as large donor funded rural projects by implementing them via Community Based Organizations (CBO) and/or ‘Sramadhana’. In turn, this approach supports decentralized planning and administration, better monitoring and greater empowerment of grassroots institutions.
With regard to religion, the popular local faiths, Buddhist and Hinduism, promote intimate linkage with the environment and co-habitation with nature. Likewise, Islam also regards water and it use with the utmost veneration as a blessing from the Almighty creator. On the other hand, the combined impact of population growth, broadening social requirements, increasing land utilisation for agrarian and industrial purposes is continuing to lead many parts of the island down the road of deforestation, soil erosion and environmental degradation. The challenge remains to raise awareness of the people within their cultural and religious norms to the day-to-day issues like proper garbage disposal, latrine construction / maintenance and the use of fuel efficient stoves.
With reference to the basis of emerging international consensus on water demand management, the Dublin Principles of 1992 looks at water management from a holistic stance. Based on a bottom-up approach, demand management is about how to get people to use more water efficiently or to reduce demand for it. Thus conservation and reallocation of water is vital whilst recognizing the economic value of water.

Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) had recognized the need to improve the quality of life for its entire population by providing access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Accordingly, the water supply and sanitation sector has received high priority at national level. The sector has undergone significant change and improvement during the last two decades. The national sector objective is “to provide access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation to all citizens of Sri Lanka by the year 2025.” By 2015, it is hoped that 85 per cent will have safe drinking water and 82 per cent will have basic sanitation.

The National Policy for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (2001) represents a major milestone in the sector as it outlines a national policy that recognizes the value of water resources and the importance of having suitable institutional arrangements to ensure sustainability of the facilities provided. It also advocates active participation of all stakeholders and decision makers including the beneficiary communities at all stages of project implementation.

The policy also calls for drinking water supplies and sanitation to be managed at the lowest appropriate level, which implies emphasis on management by users, organized into CBO’s representing user communities and supported by local authorities (Grama Niladhari Divisions and Pradeshiya Sabhas) and Provincial Councils .

The Community Water Supply and Sanitation Project (CWSSP) was introduced as an innovative approach to improve the quality of life for rural people in 1993. Running initially as a pilot project, it was implemented in the districts of Badulla, Ratnapura and Matara. The main facets of the project included supply of drinking water, sanitation facilities, hygiene education and environmental programs. Capacity building of Community Based Organizations (CBO), Partner Organizations (PO’s) and other sector stakeholders was also a key project objective. People centered and demand driven, it sought to maintain community ownership and management of the facilities.

On completion of the project in 1998, it had exceeded the initial targets by 50 per cent, achieving a community cost share contribution of 31.9 per cent, well over the initial target of 20 per cent. According to the World Bank, the project was one of the best of its kind in the Asia region.

The CWSSP II project commenced in 1999 and ran for four years. Implemented in the districts of Badulla, Ratnapura, Matara, Colombo, Gampaha and Kurunagala, the project was worth a total inventment of one billion rupees. However, due to funding constraints, this program ceased to function in 2003. Attempts are being made to reactivate the CWSSP II for the period 2004-2008.

Currently, the ‘Second CWSSP’ project is being implemented in four Provinces (North West, Central, North and East and South) and is expected to run for six years. A jointly funded project involving the World Bank IDA (US$ 39.8mn), the Government of Sri Lanka (US$ 10.7mn) and the beneficiaries (US$ 11.9mn), the total investment is worth over six billion rupees (US$ 62.4mn).

Future Strategies

‘The era of meeting growing demand by developing new supplies is coming to end…Policy options are shifting towards the designing of demand – and user- focused approaches to reallocate existing supplies, encourage more efficient use and promote more equitable access’ (Ahmed M., 2001).
The implications for such a shift mean that water development projects will need to be small-scale, to be environmentally and financially sustainable; more people-focused by incorporating indigenous knowledge and encouraging the use of local technologies; and finally, for tools such as “people’s participation” and “local stewardship” to be totally successful, they need to appropriately take into account the indigenous moral / value system enshrined in the faiths of the stakeholders.

However, for years, this was not practiced and it is only recently that in natural resource management, we are increasingly urged to take account of the concerns of stakeholders and that the donors and NGOs are beginning to appreciate the need for such consideration and consultation.
If we take the MENA region as an example, prevailing and previous attempts at water management have not been very successful despite the various mechanisms that have been suggested (Ahmed 2001). The question needs to be asked, why have these policies not worked in the MENA region--considering they are at the forefront of the debate on water demand management practices? Moreover, studies indicate that some of these regions are set to bear the brunt of climate change in the coming years. The universal values enshrined in the religious faiths of people can play a vital role in an issue that is as critical as water resource managements. To some the message then becomes quite simple: look at economic and social development in the context of values and culture.


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