Successful maintenance of water provision has as much to do with the ongoing governance of these systems as the technology that goes into building them. This governance generally occurs at the community level. Most water systems are small and located in areas where there is generally not the profitability necessary to entice private investment. Understanding how community management can improve is therefore essential to solving water provision problems around the world. This paper develops a three part framework for analyzing water projects through a focus on technology, management and governance. The framework draws on research on collective action and various forms of capital as they relate to technology (natural and physical capital), management (financial and human capital) and governance (social and political capital). We demonstrate the usefulness of the framework by studying AguaClara, a program that has helped seven Honduran communities build eight water treatment plants and set up functioning systems of governance.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
Research Article|
February 17 2014
Analyzing the potential of community water systems: the case of AguaClara
Marcela González Rivas;
aUniversity of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA USA
Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
Search for other works by this author on:
Karim Beers;
Karim Beers
bCornell Cooperative Extension Association of Tompkins County, 615 Willow Ave. Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
Search for other works by this author on:
Mildred E. Warner;
Mildred E. Warner
cCity and Regional Planning, W. Sibley Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
Search for other works by this author on:
Monroe Weber-Shirk
Monroe Weber-Shirk
dCivil and Environmental Engineering, Hollister Hall 265, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
Search for other works by this author on:
Water Policy (2014) 16 (3): 557–577.
Article history
Received:
July 26 2013
Accepted:
November 18 2013
Citation
Marcela González Rivas, Karim Beers, Mildred E. Warner, Monroe Weber-Shirk; Analyzing the potential of community water systems: the case of AguaClara. Water Policy 1 June 2014; 16 (3): 557–577. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/wp.2014.127
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Client Account
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Could not validate captcha. Please try again.
eBook
Pay-Per-View Access
$38.00