Capacity development - key to sustainable water operations Water Operator Partnership and Institutional Capacity Development for Urban Water Supply Richenel Breeveld, Leon Hermans and Siemen Veenstra 30th May 2013

Content 1.Research Approach 2.Institutional Lessons 3.Discussion

Purpose of 5th Symposium -Urbanisation and Population Growth -Severe Poverty -HIV crisis Insufficient Water Production -Commercial and Pyhsical Losses -Lack of preventive maintenance Water Operator Partnership and Institutional Capacity Development for Urban Water Supply

Purpose of 5th Symposium To which extent experiences with drinking water institutions in the Netherlands, available to this particular water operator partnership, could be used to improve the institutional capacity for urban water supply in Lilongwe in Malawi? Research Question

Purpose of 5th Symposium IAD Framework Source: Adapted from E. Ostrom (2005: 15).

Purpose of 5th Symposium Key exogenous conditions Category:Key exogenous conditions, Lilongwe Water BoardKey exogenous conditions, The Netherlands Material and Biophysical Nature - Lack of information on actual condition of physical components at an operational level and collective choice level - Lack of fail-safe design in distribution network at operational level - Insufficient water production to meet water demand - Substantial part of distribution infrastructure are old and is expected to fail in the near future Attributes of the Community - High unemployment rate, affecting company culture - HIV/AIDS epidemic, constrains on technical expertise - Strict hierarchal culture - Economies of scale, can enlarge investment capacity, knowledge and expertise at drinking water companies - Risk averse attitude towards investments and maintenance issues that may affect public health - High trust of public in drinking water supply system provides incentive to various actors involved in the water supply cycle Rules-in-Use - Donor providing funding for investment - Lacking of closed financial cycle - Corrective maintenance crowds out capacity for preventive maintenance - Strong monitoring and enforcement of rules to detect rule-breaking - Shareholders likely to be driven by political values - Asset management provides incentive to make investment and maintenance decisions based upon analyzed information - Asset management provides incentive to improve data management

Purpose of 5th Symposium Action Situations Samaritan Dilemma - Malawi Economies of Scale Dilemma- the Netherlands Asset Management Dilemma – the Netherlands Collaboration in Road Construction Projects – the Netherlands Aged Infrastructure Dilemma – the Netherlands

Purpose of 5th Symposium Institutional Constrains Displacement of local efforts Disincentive to actively maintain local public infratrstucture Difficult for donor organisation or government to alter this behaviour

Purpose of 5th Symposium Asset Management Dilemma Integrated approach on physcial and human assets Misalignment in interest between two departments Outcome: reduction in efficiency

Purpose of 5th Symposium Institutional lessons from Asset Management Overcome information asymmetry Create transparency and build commitment Entrepeneurs in asset mainteance

Purpose of 5th Symposium Institutional lessons from experiences in the Netherlands Action SituationsInstitutional Components Asset Management Dilemma - Improved information about material conditions - In-company entrepreneurs and champions for participation of operators and engineers in asset management decisions Economies of scale - Improved information about material conditions and environmental conditions Collaboration in road construction projects - Early communication and joint elaboration of plans between parties - Repeated interactions between parties Aged infrastructure dilemma - Collaboration in research on expected life time infrastructure - Monitoring and enforcement - Public benchmarking and indicators

Purpose of 5th Symposium Transplantation of Institutional Components Institutional ComponentsConditions in the NetherlandsConditions Lilongwe Water BoardRecommendations for Malawi Improved information about material conditions Measurement equipment Knowledge and expertise Measuring equipment often defect or inadequate Staff capacity limited as employees heavily occupied with acute problems Set up a team committed to analyze data and estimate effects on drinking water production and maintenance In-company entrepreneurs and champions for participation of operators and engineers in asset management decisions Central databases for info-exchange Entrepreneurs willing to cooperate in data collection and planning Rewards for consistency Expertise Operators and maintenance engineers primarily busy with corrective maintenance, limited data collection capacity No centralized information systems and only 25% of staff has access to computers Absence of maintenance plans and investments programs Improve data management and analyses, as above Link reward system to care taker strategy Public benchmarking and indicators Trustworthy data Sufficient participants Sufficient importance Conditions for effective benchmarking not yet in place, but of ‘care-taker’ strategy that creates local ownership in organization provides starting point Publish benchmarking results for difference zones in LWB area

Purpose of 5th Symposium Conclusion Institutional Capacity can be developed by use of lessons learned (WOPs) Structured approach by using IAD Framework and Policy Transfer Cooperative behaviour Overcoming information assymetry

Purpose of 5th Symposium Thank you for your attention. Author(s) name(s) Organisation address