The sustainability of water supply schemes in Mirab Abaya and Alaba Special Woreda, SNNPR, Ethiopia

This paper presents the main outcomes of a study within the RiPPLE project, to identify appropriate and scalable approaches to strengthen local water governance and planning in the context of the Universal Access Plan planning framework. This study assessed the functionality and service level of water supply schemes in two woredas in SNNP Regional State, Ethiopia to get insight in the current status of water service delivery and the main impacting factors and thus the main challenges to reach the UAP target of providing 15 litres per person per day within 1.5 km. The functionality rate of water schemes as well as coverage appeared to be below the official figures. Lack of clear accountability and responsibility, insufficient budget, manpower and material capacity, poor coordination and communications, absence of specialized spare-parts suppliers and low sense of ownership contributed to the high rate of scheme non-functionality in the study areas.