Rural Water Supply Management and Sustainability: The Case of Adama Area, Ethiopia

Abstract

Wise utilization of water resources is becoming very important as world faces water crises. The main objective of this study was to investigate the rural water supply systems with case study in Adama area, in central Ethiopia. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed. Four sample water schemes were selected and totally 148 (63 were female) representative households were selected for answering the questionnaires. Key informant interviews and group discussions were also conducted. The study assessed issues such as community participation, water committee empowerment, management and governance of water supply schemes, women participation, functional status of water supply scheme, sanitation and hygiene issues, external support , and monitoring system of water supply schemes. The findings indicate d that the community participation in planning and implementation wa s very good while monitoring mechanism of operation and management as well as community participation on choice of technology wa s poor. The water schemes were located at reasonable distances i.e. less than 2 km in most cases and the time taken for round trip to fetch water from source wa s less than or equal to 30 minutes in most cases, however the queuing time wa s more than an hour. The water supply wa s inadequate as only about 15% of beneficiaries could get 20 liters of water per day per capita. The water sources were exposed in many cases to human waste, wild life, livestock and uncontrolled flooding. Sanitary practices in the study area were poor as only about 3.4% ha d ventilated and improved pit latrine and open pit and/or open field defecation were widely practiced.