How Kabarole has built lasting water management systems

Wild cheers and ululations filled the air as Kiko village in Harugongo sub-county, Kabarole district, received its first drop of piped water. For a village that had been water-stressed for decades, it was a dream come true. 

However, this celebration was short-lived because there was no water for Mary Kemigisa and her neighbours, six months after the project’s commissioning.

“We have piped water, but it does not come regularly,” Kemigisa says.

“During the dry season, we have to look for alternative sources of water, which are far away. And the water is not as clean as the one from the tap,” she adds.

In Kichwamba sub-county, the residents also resort to contaminated water sources when there is scarcity.

“We fetch water from the crater lake, but it is not as clean as piped water. Getting it also takes a lot of time. We shall continue to demand for safe water whenever the leaders from the district visit our village,” Goretti Kabasinguzi, a resident of Katumba village in Kichwamba, says.

To solve the water problem in Kichwamba, Kabarole district, with the support of its partners, is constructing a bigger reservoir to expand the network, Cecilia Birungi Amooti, the Kabarole district health inspector, says.

In the region, the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) caters to urban areas (cities and towns), while the Midwestern Umbrella Authority provides water to rural growth centres not covered by the NWSC.

Kabarole district local government is in charge of establishing the District Water Board Authority, which aims to supply water to communities.

As Kabarole makes a shift from spring wells and boreholes to piped water, it should be noted that it is one thing to put a water facility in place, but it is another thing to keep it running.

Like many rural areas in Uganda, communities in Kabarole had the misguided belief that water was a free good provided by nature at no cost. 

To change this perception, the Kabarole executive has taken deliberate efforts of awareness to increase the willingness among communities to embrace the pay-as-you-fetch model.

The district is addressing the challenges of the water committees established to manage the piped water sources.

The district is addressing the challenges of the water committees established to manage the piped water sources. The number of committee members have been reduced from seven to three with the aim of shortening the decision-making process.  

The smaller numbers of members are easy to pay because voluntarism is no longer feasible.

The new maintenance framework is enabling communities to access water from the ground up.

To ensure sustainability, money for water is now collected through village loan savings associations, which has made community contributions more sustainable.

The district is addressing the problems of water committees established to manage the piped water sources. The number of committee members has been reduced from seven to three, according to Jamie Kakunguru, the Community Development Officer in charge of mobilisation in the District Water Office of Kabarole.

“The bigger the number, the more idle the members become,” she says.

Challenges

The district leadership says tax is an outstanding challenge because it makes water supply systems expensive to construct and maintain.

Martin Watsisi, the regional WASH advisor for the International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC), says: “What IRC is seeing is that taxes make work expensive and prevents services reaching many people.”

He added, “One donor wondered why taxes are imposed on incinerators and the contractors who construct the water systems and latrines in government schools yet these are government facilities we are supporting. High taxes are reducing development funds that could be used to reach more people.”

Another problem is the lack of consistency in water supplies. Whereas communities need water and are willing to pay, the frequent breakdown of the system is a problem.

Martin Watsisi, the regional WASH advisor for the International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC), says: “What IRC is seeing is that taxes make work expensive and prevents reaching many people.” (Credit: Gerald Tenywa)

“As pump mechanics, we have the role of monitoring and rehabilitating the water facilities,” Stephen Balyebuga, the Kabarole Hand Pump Mechanics Association mobiliser and former general secretary, one of the private sector players delivering water and sanitation services," Balyebuga says.

"We were promised an offer by Kabarole district to be the area service provider to look after some of the water sources, but we have not entered into an agreement. We are not getting much work from Kabarole district," he says.

Balyebuga added: “We are repairing water systems at the community level. Sub-countries give us work to repair water sources.”

As a result of the increased involvement of leaders and communities, the functionality of water sources has increased from 40% to 72% in Kabarole. This is expected to improve further with the construction of new reservoirs in the sub-counties of Kabende and Kichwamba.

The functionality of water resources speaks to how well the communities have been prepared to own and manage their water resources. It also depends on the capacity of local government and central government to intervene when needed. 

In addition, private sector also has a big role to play in terms of monitoring and undertaking the rehabilitation of the water facilities, according to water experts.

Balyebuga says most people prefer cesspool trucks, which take a short time, to tricycles, which take longer and charge more money. (Credit: Gerald Tenywa)

Toilets

On part of sanitation, residents some residents hire cesspool trucks to empty toilets while others use the services of small operators who operate on tricycles.

Balyebuga says most people prefer cesspool trucks, which take a short time, to tricycles, which take longer and charge more money.

To reduce contamination of water sources by latrines, the communities are being encouraged to build facilities that are drainable to reduce pollution of underground water. 

 Water becoming scarce

Dr Emmanuel Brian Guma, the team leader of the Ministry of Water and Environment’s Albertine Water Management Zone, says the region gets a lot of water in the dry season and almost nothing in the dry season.

“We have too much water than is needed in the wet season, which goes away untapped, causing flooding in the lower lands,” Guma says, adding that the water drastically declines in the dry season.

“When the dry season comes, there is no water in the degraded ecological system, which supplies the water.”

The ecological system has suffered over the past two/ three decades, with the scarcity of water during the dry season and environmental calamities like floods causing significant harm.

As a result of increasing population pressure and poor land use practices, the environment is suffering severe damage, Guma says.

“People need to be helped to understand that if you degrade the environment, it will retaliate,” Guma says, stressing that awareness campaigns are currently underway in various parts of the catchment.

“It is a journey of sustainability, and we must change the mindset of the people to get to the target,” he adds.