by Peter Magara and Harold Lockwood. IRC/Triple-S has been experimenting with Sub-County Water Supply and Sanitation Boards to improve operation & maintenance in Uganda. Find out more at http://www.waterservicesthatlast.org/experiments/uganda_experiments/adopting_sub_county_model_to_improve_operations_and_maintenance

1. Putting the Plus into Community
Management: experiences with
Sub-County Water Supply and
Sanitation Boards in Uganda
Peter Magara and Harold
Lockwood
WaterAid, 4th November 2014
Supporting water sanitation
and hygiene services for life

2. SUB COUNTY WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION BOARD IN UGANDA
Background- a mature sector
• Strong political leadership
• Mature sector - SWAP in place
• Robust monitoring system (11 Golden indicators)
• 64% coverage in rural areas- stagnation 2013-2014

3. Background- risk of slippage
Source: Moriarty 2011
SUB COUNTY WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION BOARD IN UGANDA
• Risk of slippage
• Average 15% non
functionality rural

4. As sectors evolve, so effort, cost and
institutional requirements also change
Source: Moriarty, 2011
SUB COUNTY WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION BOARD IN UGANDA

5. SUB COUNTY WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION BOARD IN UGANDA
Tension between increasing coverage and
maintaining services
Danger zone:
as basic
infrastructure is
provided, coverage
risks stagnating at
around 60% – 80%
Source: Moriarty, 2011

6. EXPLAINING TRIPLE-S AND THE SERVICE DELIVERY APPROACH
Sub-County Water Supply and Sanitation Boards

7. SUB COUNTY WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION BOARD IN UGANDA
Golden indicators (RURAL) Achievements Targets
2012/2013 2013/2014 2013/2014 2014/2015
1.Access: % of people within 1,000m
of an improved water source
64% 64% 67% 77%
2.Functionality: % of improved water
sources that are functional at time of
spot-check. Ratio of actual hours of
water supply to the required hours.
84% 85% 84% 90%
5. Water quality: % of water
samples taken at the point of water
collection, waste discharge point that
comply with national standards
(E.coli)
65% 53% 95% 95%
9. Management: % of water points
with actively functioning water and
sanitation committees
71% 71% 80% 95%

8. SUB COUNTY WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION BOARD IN UGANDA
Ministry of
Water and
Environment
Umbrella
organisations
Technical
Support Units
HPMA
HPMs
District Water
Office
S/C Authority
CBOs
NGOs
WUCs
Caretakers
Regional level
District level
Sub-County level
Community level

9. SUB COUNTY WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION BOARD IN UGANDA
Background- Institutional
•Decentralised model
•CBMS model for O&M
•Water boards for piped
schemes
•Sub-County: lowest level of
Government
•Under-resourced Districts/
distance to WSCs
•Inability to support WUCs
•Dysfunctional WSCs (71%)
•Insufficient O&M funding

10. SUB COUNTY WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION BOARD IN UGANDA
SWSSB- a new “super” provider
• WSC + model – “Super provider” (WP and piped schemes) or
• Cluster WSC resources from point sources at Sub County level
• Build on existing Sub-Counties- create boards
• Provide management support – improve accountability of WSCs
• Increase user contribution- financial capacity for O&M
• Structure for to manage O&M funds transferred from District
• Link to HPMAs

11. SUB COUNTY WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION BOARD IN UGANDA
Ministry of
Water and
Environment
Umbrella
organisations
Technical
Support Units
HPMA
HPMs
District Water
Office
S/C Authority
S/C WSSB
Water
technician
CBOs
NGOs
WUCs
Caretakers
Regional level
District level
Sub-County level
Community level

12. SUB COUNTY WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION BOARD IN UGANDA
SWSSB-piloting (June 2013 – August 2014)
• 8 Sub-Counties
• Interim boards constituted
• Boards trained on roles and responsibilities
• Sensitisation to WSCs
• Opening bank accounts
• Recruitment in progress

13. EXPLAINING TRIPLE-S AND THE SERVICE DELIVERY APPROACH
Functions of the SWSSB
• Water provision (piped schemes, Hand pumps and
springs)
• Community sensitization
• Tariff collection
• Management contracts for O&M
• Monitoring of services
• Performance reporting to DWO

14. EXPLAINING TRIPLE-S AND THE SERVICE DELIVERY APPROACH
Emerging Results
• Subscription of WSCs to the boards (40-60% of
resources)
• Rejuvenation of WSCs
• Improved accountability among WSCs
• Scale up of SWSSB by Local governments (from 8 to 14)
• SWSSB embraced by Ministry & incorporated in Sector
guidelines for financial year 2014/15

15. EXPLAINING TRIPLE-S AND THE SERVICE DELIVERY APPROACH
Financial Model Buheesi SC case
• Buheesi population – 36,800
• Water Supply Facilities – 220 (80% functional)
• Water user payments cover 30% of costs for minor repair
Guiding Principles
• WSCs remit at least 90% of the water users fees collected
• District remits 80% of the grant allocation for O&M
• SWSSB targets to achieve 95% functionality to stimulate user
payments

16. EXPLAINING TRIPLE-S AND THE SERVICE DELIVERY APPROACH
Financial modelling- Buheesi SC
Item Year 1 USD Year 2 USD
Preliminary setup activities* 1094 586
SWSSB Board Expenses 0
Quarterly Board Meetings 563 563
Sub-county Water Technician 844 844
Office Operations 375 375
Monitoring & follow up of WSCs 375 375
Minor repairs** 4492 2344
Major repair (10 water points)*** 8203 3281
Total expenditure 15946 8368
Collection from user fees (USX 1000/household) 6563 9844
Remittance from district (Based on Kabarole DWSCG) 1938 1938
Total income 8501 11782
Deficit/Surplus -7445 3414

17. SUB COUNTY WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION BOARD IN UGANDA
Challenges
• Transparency and accountability
• Users’ trust
• Permanent financial resources/ability to mobilise
funding (upstream and downstream)

18. EXPLAINING TRIPLE-S AND THE SERVICE DELIVERY APPROACH
Lessons learned
• Inability to operate without public funding
• Need for staffing regardless of administrative level
• Need for service level improvements backed by
strong political support to stimulate user payment
• Balancing investment in new infrastructure with
O&M

19. Thank you for your attention
Peter Magara, IRC Uganda; magara@ircwash.org
For further information see:
http://www.waterservicesthatlast.org/experiments/u
ganda_experiments/adopting_sub_county_model_to
_improve_operations_and_maintenance