Towards sustainable water services in La Paz, Bolivia

Woman in Chuquiaguillo siphoning water from tank to fill jerry cans. Photo: Erma Uytewaal, IRC.

A Dutch-funded project aims to bring piped drinking water to peri-urban neighbourhoods of the Bolivian capital La Paz. What will determine its success? Is it the inhabitants’ willingness and ability to pay for improved water services? No, the biggest threat to the sustainability of the project is the lack of a national sector strategy that clearly outlines how to finance the full costs of service delivery.

At present, the 125,000 inhabitants of the Chuquiaguillo sub-district have to rely on a network of plastic/flexible tubes providing untreated water through public taps. Or they get water from water tankers and unprotected springs.

“Network of plastic/flexible tubes providing untreated water” in Chuquiaguillo. Photo: Erma Uytewaal, IRC.

The Chuquiaguillo Water Supply Service Improvement and Extension Project will connect 25,000 homes to a new water supply system by 2015. The system consists of a water treatment plant and 50 km of distribution pipes. The project wants to ensure that services are sustained long after the infrastructure is in place. The IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre contributed to this aim by supporting consultants Royal HaskoningDHV to carry out a socio-economic feasibility study of the Chuquiaguillo project. The study examined the pro-poor impact of the project and the ability and willingness of the poor to pay for the services.

Royal HaskoningDHV and water operator Vitens Evides International (VEI) are advising Bolivia’s state-run water utility EPSAS to implement the Chuquiaguillo project. It faces several technical and environmental challenges due to the difference in altitude between the water reservoir and the service area, and climate change (for more details see the NL Agency website).  The project is being financed by the Facility for Infrastructure Development (ORIO), a grant scheme operated by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Critical for the project’s sustainability is a national sector strategy that clearly outlines how to finance the full costs of service delivery. As it stands now, tariffs only cover direct operations and some maintenance costs. In line with the present governments’ pro-poor policy, service providers apply a solidarity tariff for the first 10 cubic metres of water. However, it is unclear how the solidarity tariff will be subsidised. This needs to be clarified in a sector financing strategy, which also promotes a life-cycle costs approach (LCCA) in which all costs for capital expenditure, capital maintenance, and direct and indirect support are covered.

The social action plan, to be implemented by EPSAS, will also contribute to the sustainability of the project. Enhanced transparency and accountability are important elements of the plan. This refers to  performance indicators on service levels provided, cost recovery, investments, customer satisfaction, and operation and maintenance (O&M).

For more information contact Erma Uytewaal

For more on IRC’s activities in Latin America go to: www.irc.nl/page/36926

For more on the Life-cycle costs approach go to: www.washcost.info

For more on sustainable service delivery go to: www.waterservicesthatlast.org

Bolivia: Cuchumuela first municipality to reach 100 percent water coverage

Water supply in Cuchumuela. Photo: José Rocha, Los Tiempos

Villa Gualberto Villarroel, better known as Cuchumuela, is the first municipality in Bolivia to achieve 100 percent water coverage. Official recognition for their achievement came from Bolivia’s water and environment ministry MMAyA. It is the story of a successful partnership between local government, communities and an international NGO, Water for People.

According to Mayor Oscar Terrazas, the foundation for achieving water for all 2,000 inhabitants of Cuchumuela was laid in 1996 when Bolivia passed the law on popular participation (Ley de Participación Popular). This gave local government and communities the power to set their own priorities for local services. Each of the 15 autonomous communities in Cuchumuela is responsible for the financial management and maintenance of their fully metered water system.

Latin American development bank CAF and PAHO sign water and sanitation agreement

CAF – Latin American development bank – and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) have agreed to expand their cooperation on access to water, sanitation and health in the region. The agreement, signed on April 1st, 2011, was an amendment to an earlier Framework Agreement on Technical Cooperation signed on January 3rd, 2011.

CAF has been active in the sector for over 20 years and in the last five years it has approved about US$ 1.80 billion for the water sector. Most recently CAF approved US$ 12 million for water and sanitation projects in five districts of Bolivian city El Alto in La Paz department.

The CAF president Enrique García said:

“the importance of this signing is that we are joining forces with the world’s oldest public health organization which is actively working in the region. The resulting synergy will strengthen the mechanisms required for disease prevention.”

Related web sites:

• CAF – Integrated Water Program
• PAHO – Water and Sanitation | Drinking Water

Source: CAF, 05 Apr 2011 ; BNamericas.com [subscription site], 13 Apr 2011 ; PAHO [in Spanish], 02 Apr 2011

Bolivia: US$126mn CAF loan for water and irrigation projects

The Bolivian government has approved a US$ 126 million 14-year loan from Andean Development Cooperation (CAF) for water and irrigation project (PROAR) as part of a five-year programme. Over 600,00 people will get new (400,000 people) or improved (200,000) access to drinking water.

The projects, involving the Ministry of Environment and Water (MMyA) in coordination with municipal governments, will serve rural scattered populations and small towns. Implementation will start in January 2011.

Related web site: CAF – Programa Agua y Riego para Bolivia – PROAR

Source: ABI [article 232763, in Spanish], 24 Nov 2010

Bolivia, Santa Cruz: mayor “re-municipalises” town water supply in San Miguel de Velasco

The mayor of San Miguel de Velasco in Santa Cruz department, Pedro Damián Dorado, has proposed to “re-municipalise” the town’s water supply, due to poor management and quality of the service.
The mayor expressed anger at the current water operator (Cosesmi Ltd) and the Civic Committee for a recent water cut that lasted three days.

According to media reports, the Civic Committee carried out the cut intentionally because social and indigenous organizations in San Miguel de Velasco refused to attend a Committee meeting.

On 29 September 2010 there were street protests because the water being supplied by Cosemi was said to be contaminated. According to a report by the Department of Health Services, the water in San Miguel de Velasco is unfit for human consumption.

Source: Los Tiempos [in Spanish], 11 Nov 2010 ; El Deber [in Spanish]

In Remote Area of Potosí, People Without Electricity or Water

In the province of North Lípez in a remote corner of the department of Potosí, more than 10,000 people live without electricity, potable water, or communication connections.  The representative of the province, Isidoro Copa, complained that, “it gives the impression that the State only goes up to the Salar de Uyuni, and beyond that it´s no man´s land.”  Representative Copa also said that, “North and South Lípez are abandoned as in the past Atacama, now in the power of Chile, had been.  No one remembers Lípez, no one says that this land is also Bolivia, they only remember Lípez in order to exploit the natural resources…we consider ourselves Bolivians, but we also want to be treated as Bolivians and have access to these services (electricity, water, and cell phone service).”  Copa, a lawyer by profession, said that the only telephone in the region is in the town Avaroa which is connected with an antenna on the Chilean side of the border.

In the high and desolate area of North Lípez, the agricultural activity centered around quinoa and corn production relies entirely on infrequent rains.  According to Rep. Copa the region received two rain storms during the past growing season and farmers expect a meager harvest.  People in the region also live without electric lights and cook over kerosene stoves.  “We have processing plants for our quinoa but we can´t use them for the lack of electric power, we have to transport our quinoa to Challapata (several hours north) or sometimes to Peru where we sell it as a raw product,” lamented Copa.

The harsh conditions and state neglect of the region have pushed many people native to Lípez to emigrate to Chile.  With tears in his eyes Rep. Copa said that, “We live thanks to the fact that we´re close to the border and because we can look for work in Chile, but we have to look for miserable work, there´s discriminatory treatment.”  The majority of Bolivians from this region have crossed into Chile in search of a living, leaving many border settlements looking like ghost towns.  The representative of Nor Lípez, who went to La Paz to present a petition to the Ministry of Public Works complaining about the lack of attention from the Potosí Prefecture, said that, “now there is only hope that the Chileans enter again as they did in 1879,” a reference to the 19th century War of the Pacific between Bolivia and Chile.

Source: In Remote Area of Potosí, People Without Electricity or Water, Bolivia Weekly,  15 Apr 2010.

Related news: Pobladores de Nor Lípez se quejan por la ausencia del Estado, viven sin luz y agua, Red Satelital, 15 Apr 2010.

Bolivia: Morales threatens to take over water utilities

President Evo Morales has said that the state will gradually take control of basic services such as water utilities in Bolivia. State control of basic services is necessary to avoid the private sector using them for their own gain, he said citing the example of Cochabamba utility Aguas de Tunari.

Read full article on: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 04 Mar 2010

Create a safer water supply in Bolivia

Access to a safe and reliable water and Sanitation is a difficult challenge in Bolivia and a growing area of focus for humanitarian development.

According to Bolivian government-supplied statistics, the percentage of people with access to safe water in Bolivia is quite high. In rural areas however, the numbers are much lower, with only 68% having access to a safe and reliable water supply and 22% with access to sanitation. Water For People has been working in Bolivia’s rural communities since 1992—almost since its inception—and has maintained an office in the country since 1997.

Water For People’s programs in Bolivia are conducted under the leadership of country coordinator Abraham Aruquipa and a team of five Bolivian professionals.

Water development technologies used in Bolivia include gravity-fed water systems, protected springs, storage tanks, pumped water systems, and locally manufactured household hand pumps. Sanitation projects typically involve the construction of dry-composting latrines, pour-flush and/or conventional flush toilets, and household bathrooms, including some with showers.

Almost all of Water For People–Bolivia’s projects have been constructed in 10 municipalities spread across different geographic regions. Over the next five years, however, Water For People–Bolivia will work more regionally, focusing on municipalities in three departments. Consistent with Water For People’s model, almost all projects have involved working with three primary partners: a government entity, a local nongovernmental organization, and the benefiting community.

Working closely with its in-country staff, Water For People has developed an aggressive strategic plan to make a more meaningful impact in meeting the water and sanitation needs in Bolivia between 2007-2011.

Water For People–Bolivia has supported a total of 176 projects from 1997 through 2006, benefiting more than 42,000 people.

Source:http://www.waterday.org/?uid=paa07D0BCA855AC0D6CB

Project Contacts
Water for People
6666 W. Quincy Avenue
Denver , CO 80235
United States
Phone: 303.734.3490 • Fax: 303.734.3499
www.waterforpeople.org/site/PageServer?pagename=About_Departments
info@waterforpeople.org

Bolivia: Morales names new environment and water minister

Bolivia’s President Evo Morales has appointed María Esther Urdaneta as the country’s new environment and water minister. Urdaneta, a former researcher at the center for investigation and promotion of rural communities, will replace former minister René Orellana. She has campaigned for recognition of the right to water as a universal human right, according to the ministerial web site.

Read full article on: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 26 Jan 2010

Bolivia: ministry seeks US$100mn funding for water program

Bolivia’s water and environment ministry (MMAyA) is seeking US$100mn in international funding for the second phase of a program to provide water and sanitation services to residents living just outside the country’s metropolitan areas.  The first phase of the project is already underway, and is being financed by US$100mn in loans and donations from the Spanish international cooperation agency (AECI) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Read full article on: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 25 Jan 2010