Keep It Working: a field manual to support community management of rural water supplies

Without support, communities will fail in managing their own water supplies.

In rural areas it is common that water supply systems, once put in place with the assistance of a support agency, are handed over to communities for continued management. Only with improved and continued access to support, also after construction of the system, will communities be able to effectively manage their own water supply.

‘Keep It Working’ aims to be an instrument that field staff can use to support communities in managing their own water supply. The book will provide insights and practical guidance through fact sheets, tools and checklists.

The fact sheets address key issues such as (conflict) management, finances, legislation, and technical problems. The practical tools will help to facilitate communication and community decision-making processes and include exercises to monitor capacities in the communities, to draw up action plans, to discover social and institutional structures, to understand the decision-making process, and to make use of local knowledge.

Finally, the checklists focus on, among others, organising a community meeting, facilitating group discussions, drawing up indicators to assess water availability, quality and treatment, hiring outsiders, and taking gender and equity into account.

‘Keep It Working’ is one of several publications on community management, which include 7 videos, a manual for managers (forthcoming), a publication on the usefulness and efficiency of the concept of community management (forthcoming), and a booklet for policy makers (forthcoming).