Supporting water sanitationand hygiene services for life

31 March 2015

Benefits of multiple-use water services in Honduras

Andrés Gil,MUS Group meeting, IRC, The Netherlands

Background

• 2009: study of the impact of MUS on the sustainability of water services (in 14 communities in Honduras)

• The study determined the different categories of users based on their livelihoods, and the consumption for productive uses.

• Recommendation: analyse the implications of making a planning and design of rural water systems taking into consideration the multiple use of water from the beginning.

• 2011: guideline for the planning and implementation of MUS projects

Context for piloting

• In 2011, the guide was applied in eight pilot projects in MAMCEPAZ (an association of municipalities in of the Department of La Paz)

• Coffee growing region of Honduras, but also subsistence crops like maize, beans and plantain

• Between 2011-2014, we analysed six of these projects in six municipalities, focus was on:

− (Technical) planning and design

− Implementation of MUS community level-principles

− Benefits of applying MUS

Results

1 - Design water use

Wage laboure

rs

Subsistence

farmers

Small and

medium farmers

Commercial

farmers

Cattle ranche

rs

Businesses

Number of

household

Design supply

for domestic uses(gppd)

Increase for

productive uses (%)

Estimated consumption for productive uses (gppd)

0.71 3.25 35.66 127.78 73.97 21.85

La Florida 60% 12% 20% - - 3% 198 30 22%

Pueblo Viejo y Calaveras I y II

90% - 10% - - - 195 25 13%

El Granadillo, Laguna Seca y las Huertas

89% 11% - - - - 198 25 13%

Buenos Aires 68% - 32% - - - 94 25 38%

Based on categorization of water users and their typical consumption found in the original assessment. MUS is applied but is below planned. This indicates that values for every category of water users, correspond to maximum values

EXAMPLE PRESENTATION TITLE

2 - Technology

CommunityTechnology for MUS

Actual state of the infrastructure (SIASAR 2014)

Quantity of water systems

Buenos Aires,

Gravity water system

Good(working properly)

1

La Florida, 2

Pueblo Viejo y Calaveras I y II,

2

Nuevo Paraíso 2

Los Planes, 2

Culinzabas 1

Pueblo Viejo No dataEl Granadillo, Laguna Seca y las Huertas

1

• Gravity systems are well for MUS. The do not require more technical changes and there are no impediments that limit the use of water for multiple purposes.

• In four communities, there is a pre-existing system with a new one, whereby the old one is for productive use and the new one for domestic use.

3 - Institutional arrangements

• Using standard community management arrangements, as per the Honduras regulations for rural water supply

− (Voluntary) water committee

− Standard statutes and regulations

• But adding specific clauses:

− Permitting productive uses of water already being done

− Regulating possible future ones at larger scale, such as the production of bricks or aquaculture

− Closely related to the tariff setting

4- Tariffs

Type of use FloridaPueblo Viejo,

Calaveras I y IINuevo Paraíso

Los Planes

Domestic US$ 15/ year US$ 30/year US$ 28/year US$ 18 /yearStart tariff for productive use

- - US$ 5 / year -

Backyard garden - -US$ 0.25 /

monthUS$ 0.75 /

monthCoffee processing

- US$ 0.25 / bag US$ 0.04 /

bagUS$ 150 / year

Nursery - US$ 0.5 / 3000 saplingsUS$ 1 / 1000

saplingsUS$ 0.5 / 1000

saplings

Cattle and pigs - US$ 0.25 / animalUS$ 1 /year /

animal-

Irrigation - Price per m2 - -Aquaculture ponds

- - US$ 1 /pond -

Block production - - US 5 / saplings US$ 60 /yearHotels and restaurants

- - - US$ 1 / month

Car Wash - - - US$ 5 / month

• Tariffs are established based on the activities. This generated a list of 10 options with different units of measure. The community of Nuevo Paraíso has eight different tariffs.

• A way to make this theme easier is to establish a tariff based on categories of water users.

5 - Water resources

• Two of six communities had the intakes close to points where also other communities took water

• One community was asked by the neighbour community NOT to apply a MUS approach, out of fear of over-use

• One community was to stand by the multiple use water services because water was not sufficient (14 communities has the source in the same area and never did proper maintenance)

In conclusion

These elements are not related to MUS but has influence in it. This means that in Honduras we have to consider this element part of the environment to apply MUS

BenefitsMultiple use Benefits per person

1Nursery(Coffee plants needs 4 months to grow)

This activity represents 14% of the income of the minimum salary obtained in 4 months / Every nursery represent 56% of one minimum salary

2

Irrigation pataste (Backyard garden) It needs 3 months to grow

This activity represents 12% of the income of the minimum salary obtained in 3 months / Every harvest represent 36% of one minimum salary

3

Irrigation ayote

(Backyard garden) It needs 10 months to grow

This activity represents 2% of the income of the minimum salary obtained in 10 months / Every harvest represent 20% of one minimum salary

4 Coffee processingWhen coffee is proceeded the amount of the value for sale, increase 63%. Still is missing to calculate the costs of processing coffee and discounting it to determine the benefit.

5 Aquaculture

Benefits for this activity depends of different factors like the number of fishes and the quantity of fishbowl but the estimations indicate that for every fishbowl, the benefit represents 30 % of the income of one minimum salary.

Minimum salary for agriculture is : US$.250

Conclusion

MUS pilots projects generated the basic conditions so that users could use their systems: they have sufficient capacity, appropriate technology and have some awareness of the issue. However, the institutional conditions were insufficiently developed. (MUS approach is new for institutional and social elements, it requires more follow on these issues - something that has not occurred)

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Supporting water sanitationand hygiene services for life