An analysis of water point mapping data for the Chikwawa District, Malawi and a review of its use within the water sector Holly Clark A dissertation submitted by Holly Clark to the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Strathclyde, in part completion of the requirements for the MSc in Hydrogeology. I, Holly Clark, hereby state that this report is my own work and that all sources used are made explicit in the text. 15,155 words August 2014 The place of useful learning The University of Strathclyde is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, number SC015263 Declaration of Author’s Rights The copyright of this dissertation belongs to the author under the terms of the United Kingdom Copyrights Act as qualified by University of Strathclyde Regulation 3.49. Due acknowledgement must always be made of the use of any material contained in, or derived from, this dissertation. ! ii! Abstract The United Nations Millennium Development Goals target 7c, stated as halving the proportion of people without access to safe water, is on track to be exceeded in Malawi by 2015. However, as water point coverage rates are documented to be continually improving, functionality and the resultant effective coverage are significantly lower. The Government of Malawi and the private sector have implemented many initiatives and to improve sustainability of water points, however functionality rates of approximately 60% depict they have failed to achieve success. Furthermore, inequity in distribution of water points means that many remain without a secure water supply whilst others are continually provided with new water points. To assess the reality of this situation in the study area of Chikwawa District in southern Malawi, water point mapping data, collected by the non-profit Water For People in 2014 and 2012, was analysed. The mapping exercise produced high-resolution datasets, with almost every water point in Chikwawa mapped and a questionnaire about each water point filled out. Critical indicators taken from the data allowed for analysis of non-functionality rates and reasons for water point failure and inequity in distribution. Additionally, water security risk analysis for each group village was carried out to determine the risk status in 2014 and compare to that of 2012, exhibiting improvements and regressions. The risk analysis documented that 44% of group villages experienced an increase in coverage but a decrease in functionality. Non-functionality is at 29% with 49% of non-functioning water points having failed due to a lack of available spare parts. It is recommended that developing high quality and high-resolution mapping exercises could provide bottom-up flows of information to government and private sector to ultimately improve decision making and focus resource distribution toward those in need. ! iii! Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the help of Water For People Malawi staff for accommodating and supporting this project. I would especially like to thank Muthi Nhlema for his help with organisation of the water point database and for sharing his wealth of knowledge on the subject. I would like to thank Jonathan of Water For People for his assistance with transport. I would like to thank the enumerators who collected the mapping data for their diligent efforts and for taking the time to meet with me. Thank you to the Scottish Government Climate Justice Fund for fully funding the work carried out in Malawi and for making this work possible. Finally, thank you to Professor Bob Kalin for his tireless efforts in supporting this research, his organisation of the projects in Malawi and for sharing his extensive knowledge on the subject. ! iv! Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ........................................................................................... v List of Figures .............................................................................................. vii List of Tables ................................................................................................ vii List of Equations ......................................................................................... viii 1. Introduction ............................................................................................. 9 1.1. Background .................................................................................................... 10 1.2. Research Problem .......................................................................................... 12 1.3. Research Aim ................................................................................................. 13 1.4. Research Objectives ...................................................................................... 13 1.5. Study Area ...................................................................................................... 14 1.6. Water Point Mapping and Monitoring ............................................................. 15 2. Literature Review .................................................................................. 17 2.1. Policy Framework and Implementation .......................................................... 17 2.2. Evidence-Based Decision-Making .................................................................. 19 2.3. Millennium Development Goals ...................................................................... 20 2.4. Sustainability .................................................................................................. 21 2.5. Approaches to Achieve Sustainability ............................................................ 23 2.5.1. SWAp and IWRM .................................................................................... 23 2.5.2. Operation and Maintenance .................................................................... 24 2.5.3. VLOM ...................................................................................................... 25 2.5.4. DRA ......................................................................................................... 25 2.5.5. CBM ........................................................................................................ 26 2.6. Streamlining and Coordination ....................................................................... 27 2.7. Use of Water Point Mapping and Monitoring Data ......................................... 28 2.7.1. Water Point Distribution ........................................................................... 29 2.7.2. Water Point Functionality ........................................................................ 30 2.7.3. Limitations of Water Point Mapping and Monitoring ................................ 31 3. Methodology .......................................................................................... 33 3.1. Data Source .................................................................................................... 33 3.2. Measuring Water Point Functionality .............................................................. 34 3.3. Measuring Water Point Coverage .................................................................. 34 3.4. Risk Analysis .................................................................................................. 35 4. Limitations of Study .............................................................................. 40 4.1. Database ........................................................................................................ 40 4.1.1. Data Quantity .......................................................................................... 40 4.1.2. Data Quality ............................................................................................. 41 4.1.3. Database Practicability ............................................................................ 41 ! v! 4.2. Data Availability .............................................................................................. 41 4.2.1. Population ............................................................................................... 41 5. Results ................................................................................................... 43 5.1. Functionality Analysis ..................................................................................... 47 5.2. Risk Analysis .................................................................................................. 53 5.3. Summary of Findings ...................................................................................... 54 6. Discussion ............................................................................................. 56 6.1. Functionality ................................................................................................... 56 6.1.1. Institutional .............................................................................................. 57 6.1.2. Economical .............................................................................................. 58 6.1.3. Technical ................................................................................................. 59 6.1.4. Government and Policy ........................................................................... 60 6.1.5. Social ......................................................................................................