Multiple use promotion for water

From Akvopedia

Multiple Use promotion approaches start from the fact that people actually need water fur a multitude of purposes. Among these might be drinking water for people and livestock, water for bathing and sanitation, clothes washing, gardening, food processing, fish culture, irrigation, and other small enterprises. Especially in peri-urban and rural areas, the livelihoods of the poor often depend in many ways on the availability of water. Given this reality, water systems that aim to meet the needs of the user should be designed with this multiple use in mind.

In a research report of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), it is reported that "Most concern arose as a result of the literally universal observation that externally facilitated schemes that were originally planned and designed for a single use, either a 'domestic' or 'irrigation' scheme (or a 'livestock' of a 'fish' pond) are invariably transformed into de facto multiple-use schemes by the users immediately after construction is finalized." ^[1]

In some cases, Multiple Use approaches have been driven by technological innovations, such as the rope pump^[2] and the treadle pump ^[3], which can both be used for domestic and irrigation purposes. As both rope pumps and treadle pumps are much cheaper than the traditional communal hand pumps, it becomes easier for families to own their own pump. Communal pumps can 'just' be used for domestic water, but a family pump can also be used for small scale irrigation and animal husbandry.

Both the rope pump (mainly Nicaragua, but in use in 30 countries) and the treadle pump (mainly used in Asia) are now dissiminated through largely self-financing supply chains. Both these technologies provide an illustration of private sector water services that meet people's water needs and users' willingness to pay for such services.

Contents 1 Barriers to multiple use 2 Advantages 3 The case of Nepal 4 Further information 5 Movies 6 External Links 7 References

[edit] Barriers to multiple use

The most important reason why multiple use approaches are not yet the norm is that the water sector itself is not organized in this way. In most cases the planning, implementation and financing of water projects by governments, NGO's, financial institutions and companies is organised in a sectoral way, with water services divided into a domestic sector, an irrigation sector, a livestock sector, a fisheries and aquaculture sector, etc. This often leads to 'single-use planning and design', in which each sector plans interventions according to its own single water use. In cases where water is scarce, or when some sectors do not provide services, this can lead to lobsided projects, in which only a few of the actual water needs are met.

The IWMI report states that "In cases where non-planned uses threatened the functioning or even the existence of the scheme, water service providers often tried to prevent such uses. They declared such uses as “illegal,” sometimes leading to fines. Cattle were banned from entering irrigation canals. Users of piped domestic schemes were banned from using water for gardening. However, interventions that were only taken during the use phase usually failed, perpetuated conflict between user groups and seldom resulted in a better functioning service^[4].

[edit] Advantages

Some of the advantages of building multiple use water systems which are quoted in the study^[5] are:

• Being implicitly gender-friendly, because the needs of both men and women are considered.
• Enhancing willingness and ability to pay, which is vital for improved financing of public schemes and upscaling of self-financed schemes.
• Improving water productivity through “more use per drop.”
• Increasing ownership by building upon local integrated water arrangements.
• Anticipating all uses, and so avoiding damage, conflicts, or scheme abandonment.
• Addressing water-quality needs for all risks and all water uses, also beyond public schemes.
• Allowing for transparent, equitable and environmentally sustainable sharing of scarce water and financial resources, and protecting people’s domestic and productive basic needs.

[edit] The case of Nepal

In Nepal, multiple-use water systems were introduced by Nepal Smallholder Market Initiative (SIMI), International Development Enterprise (IDE), and Winrock. The systems consist of collection tanks at springs or small streams diversions, which deliver water to a reservoir near a village by gravity flow through a pipe. These systems serve 10-40 households, which use the water both for domestic purposes and horticulture. The introduction of drip irrigation systems ensured an efficient use of the water and better plant growth ^{[6] [7]}. Sixty percent of drip irrigation users apply water from the domestic system ^[8].

[edit] Further information

Information on Multiple Use is available form the Multiple Use water Services Group. A report by the IWMI (see references) describes a participatory, integrated, and poverty-reduction focused approach to providing people with appropriate and sustainable water and sanitation services that meet their multiple water needs.

[edit] Movies

• Small scale irrigation with a hand drilled borehole and rope pump in Mazambuka, Zambia. The farmer irrigates 400 m2 of tomatoes, and the pump supplies water to an additional 10 families for domestic use.

[edit] External Links

• Multiple Use water Services Group (MUSgroup), a portal for multiple use water services.
• Taking a multiple-use approach to meeting the water needs of poor communities brings multiple benefits. IWMI
• IRC Technical paper Series 41 - Beyond Domestic: Case studies on poverty and productive uses of water at the household level

[edit] References

1. ↑ IWMI report - Multiple-Use water services to advance the millennium development goals.
2. ↑ Alberts, H. and Van der Zee, J. J. 2004. A multi-sectoral approach to sustainable rural water supply: The role of the rope pump in Nicaragua, and Robinson, P. Mathew, B., and Proudfoot, D. 2004. Productive water strategies for poverty reduction in Zimbabwe. Both in: Beyond domestic. Case studies on poverty and productive uses of water at the household level. IRC Technical Papers Series 41.
3. ↑ Polak, P. et al, 2004. Transforming access to rural water into profitable business opportunities. In Beyond domestic. Case studies on poverty and productive uses of water at the household level. IRC Technical Papers Series 41.
4. ↑ Schouten, T.; Moriarty, P. 2003. Community water, community management – From system to service in rural areas. The Hague, The Netherlands: IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre and ITDG
5. ↑ IWMI report - Multiple-Use water services to advance the millennium development goals.
6. ↑ Nepal (SIMI) Smallholder Market Initiative. 2004. Process and impact study of the multiple-use (hybrid) gravity water supply schemes in Palpa and Syangja Districts of West Nepal. Kathmandu: Eco-Tech consult (P) Ltd. S.
7. ↑ Winrock factsheet SIMI
8. ↑ Taking a multiple-use approach to meeting the water needs of poor communities brings multiple benefits.IWMI (2006)