Importance of internal factors for community-managed water and wastewater systems in Cochabamba, Bolivia

Figures & data

Figure 1. Community-managed water and wastewater systems have three distinct phases, which depend on different prerequisites

Figure 2. Framework developed for community-managed water and wastewater systems, consisting of prerequisites and associated enabling factors, which differ between the distinct phases of community management

Table 1. Main characteristics of the different case study sites, the water and wastewater services offered by the respective community-based organizations (CBOs), and associated costs, in January 2018

Case study	Site A	Site B	Site C
Municipality	Sacaba	Quillacollo	Cercado
Population (no. of households)	297	215	339
Property rights	Yes	Yes	Ongoing legalisation
Economic group^a	Middle income	Low income	Low income
Main cultural group	Hispanic	Indigenous	Indigenous
Type of CBO	Service cooperative (initially a water committee)	OTB (initially a water committee)	Junta vecinal
Service by the CBO	Two wells, one storage tank and a piped distribution network to in-house connections; sewer system and a small wastewater treatment plant	Two wells and a piped distribution network to standpipes in the yards or in-house connections	Nothing
Quality	Non-continuous water supply with occasional high turbidity	Continuous water supply without regular water quality checks	n/a
Future plans	Purification stage and communal rainwater and surface water collection	Sewer infrastructure and a wastewater treatment plant	Connection to the municipal enterprise (SEMAPA)
Water tariff	Water: USD 0.25–1.00/m^3 Sewer: USD 0.10–0.16/m^3 (tariff increases with consumption) Wastewater treatment: 3.30 USD/month	Water: USD 0.3/m^3	n/a
Connection fee	Water: USD 597 Sewer: USD 274	Water: USD 678	n/a
Member fees	One-time inscription fee: USD 101	USD 0.3/month	USD 0.3/month
Sanction when missing activities	USD 7.20	USD 1.4–14.4	USD 1.4–14.4

^aA qualitative assessment based on field observations.

Table 2. Prerequisites and enabling factors for initial implementation at the three different case study sites. Sites A and B have successfully implemented community-managed systems; Site C (shaded) has not

Prerequisites	Enabling factors	Explanation	Site A	Site B	Site C
Leadership	Trust	Crucial that the residents trust the leaders	X	X
	Constructive feedback	Room for improvements by the leader(s)	X	X
	Continuity	Standing by the agreements throughout the implementation process	X	X
Agreed vision	Identification of goals	Realization of problems and challenges which need to change	X	X
	Prioritization	Agreeing among the members on a common agenda and the means to achieve it	X	X
Collective action	Shared identity	The sense of team spirit among the members	X	X
	Involvement	Participation in communal activities, e.g., protests and community work	X	X	X
	Internal financing	Ability and willingness among the members to finance the implementation	X	X
	Visible progress	Important to keep up the momentum among the members	X	X
	Negotiation possibilities	Opportunities which favour negotiations (contacts, timing, etc.)		X
	Repeated actions	The number of actions, e.g., protests, affects their impact		X

Table 3. Prerequisites and enabling factors for long-term operation of community-managed water and wastewater systems. Sites A and B are successfully operating water and wastewater systems

Prerequisites	Enabling factors	Explanation	Site A	Site B
Agreed vision	Standing by agreements	Maintaining the agreed vision, i.e., the common agenda and means to achieve it, among the members	X	X
Management	Self-declared or appointed manager(s)	One or several members who are responsible for the daily work, i.e., operation	X	X
	Internal communication	An open dialogue which contributes to awareness and encourages feedback	X	X
	Transparency	Insight in the daily work, e.g., collection and administration of fees	X
Collective action	Internal financing	Ability and willingness among the members to pay operation and maintenance fees	X	X
	Involvement	Participation in community work when needed	X	X

Table 4. Prerequisites and enabling factors for subsequent improvements for Sites A and B. The successful implementations are unmarked; the non-executed ones are shaded

			Site A				Site B
Prerequisites	Enabling factors	Explanation	A1	A2	A3	A4	B1	B2	B3
Leadership	Trust	Crucial that the residents trust the leaders	X			X	X	X	X
	Constructive feedback	Room for improvements by the leader(s)	X			X	X	X	X
	Continuity	Standing by the agenda throughout the implementation process	X			X	X	X	X
Agreed vision	Identification of goals	Realization of problems and challenges which need to change	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
	Prioritization	Agreeing among the members on a common agenda and the means to achieve it	X			X	X	X	X
Collective action	Shared identity	The sense of team spirit among the members	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
	Involvement	Participation in communal activities (e.g., protests) and community work	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
	Internal financing	Ability and willingness among the members to finance the subsequent improvements	X					X
	Visible progress	Important to keep up momentum among the members	X			X		X	X
	Negotiation possibilities	Opportunities which favour negotiations (contacts, timing, etc.)				X	X		X
	Repeated actions	The number of actions, e.g. protests, affects their impact					X		X
Manage-ment	Effective decision making	Governance structure which facilitates agreements on changes					X	X	X
	Internal communication	An open dialogue which contributes to awareness and encourages feedback	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
	Transparency	Insight in the daily work, e.g., collection and administration of fees	X	X	X	X

Note: The subsequent improvements projects at Site A included: (A1) additional wells, storage tank and sedimentation tank; (A2) water purification stage; (A3) wastewater treatment plant without external involvement; (A4) wastewater treatment plant in collaboration with two local NGOs. Site B planned and/or implemented the following projects: (B1) sewers and WTP in collaboration with a local NGO; (B2) additional well; (B3) sewers in collaboration with the municipality.