Assessment Of Community-Owned Water Supply Organizations Strategy For Sustainability Of Rural Water Supply In Dodoma Region

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted in Dodoma region covering seven districts. The study area is among the central regions which are dry without alternative source of clean water from the surface. Rural communities in study area are less capable of achieving economies of scale to raise income needed for drilling independent boreholes. The situation creates the urgency of finding the effective management system for ensuring sustainability of rural water projects. The aim of the study was to assess rural water supply management system in Dodoma region; the main focus was to assess the efficacy of the newly promoted strategy of Community – Owned Water Supply Organizations (COWSOs). Specifically, the objectives of the study were to achieve a deep understanding about districts implementation of the strategy after being delegated authorities from the Ministry of Water, examining on how the new management system may complement with existing systems of private operators (POs) and Village water committees (VWC). The study found that the registration process of COWSOs at the districts is undesirably low. Many rural water projects were still under Village water committees by 56% and private operators (28%) while the COWSOs were managing only 15% of water projects. Many districts highlighted that the major challenge was lack of fund to support the program implementation. To improve the strategy performance is recommended that the Government should intensify the investment by disbursing enough funds and resources for the programme execution