Multi-Use Water Systems: Potential to Address Multiple Community Needs

In this event, PRO-WASH & SCALE brought research partners and practitioners to share perspectives on the factors critical to multi-use water systems (MUS) success, including government frameworks and coordination, community visioning and right-fitting MUS to community needs/priorities, MUS sustainability, and MUS alignment with resource and climate characteristics.

Participants heard from two programs that have taken innovative approaches to tackling these factors. The Amalima Loko Resilience Food Security Activity in Zimbabwe will share learning on the use of community visioning for prioritization, design, and maintenance of MUS. The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) will share their work with the African Development Bank institutionalizing lessons learned around participatory planning, envisioning/designing, construction, operation and maintenance, and monitoring with municipalities in South Africa.

The session featured a guided discussion and participants had an opportunity to share their own experiences, insights, and innovations that will contribute to future research, learning, and adaptation of MUS approaches. Participants were encouraged to read this report detailing factors critical to the operation, reliability, and sustainability of MUS as well as the ways implementing partners are working to address these factors. This session was moderated by Jennifer Mayer, PRO-WASH & SCALE.

Watch the Recording View the Presentation

Read the Final Report: Successful Partnerships for Multiple-Use Water Services (MUS) in Zimbabwe

Speakers

 Louise Nkomo is the Watershed Management Lead for Amalima Loko. She is engaged in initiatives that set up the establishment of water resources and promote the adoption of sustainable community land use practices and governance systems in the restoration of rangelands. Louise has 20 years of experience in the fields of water resource management, WASH, and environmental management. 

Everisto Mapedza is a Senior Researcher at IWMI with over 20 years of experience focusing on gender, institutions, governance, and social transformation using land, water, and natural resources in developing countries. Everisto is part of the the advisory group on social sciences inclusion in weather information services for the UN World Meteorological Organization.

Barbara Van Koppen is Scientist Emerita at IWMI. She has led multi-country research and policy dialogue in Africa and Asia on community-led water services for MUS and water law reform from a gender and human rights perspective. She was coordinator of the global MUS Group since 2006, and continues as Theme Leader on MUS with the Rural Water Supply Network. 

Jessica Troell is a Senior Attorney at the Environmental Law Institute and has over 20 years of experience in international development and environmental law. Her work focuses on inclusive, equitable, and effective legal, policy, and institutional tools for sustainable freshwater resource management.