The increased scarcity of water in dryland areas, typically caused by low or variable rainfall patterns and exacerbated by climatic change, population growth, changes in land use practices, environmental degradation and poor governance of WASH services. CBWRM is a water management and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) tool that uses community awareness of risk and traditional coping mechanisms to support local adaptation and recovery from shocks and trends in water supply.
Resources
Oxfam Introduction to Community-Based Water Resource Management: A Learning Companion
Minimum Requirements
WASH staff should:
- Consider the multiple uses of water โ drinking, cooking, washing AND livelihoods (e.g. irrigation, livestock, brick making, water vendoring etc.) by different groups when undertaking WASH assessments and planning activities. Although WASH programmes might be unable to provide water for all household and livelihood uses, WASH staff should have an understanding of the overall water demand.
- During assessments, work with the affected community to identify and prioritise risks to water supply. If these risks are significant, WASH staff should then design activities to address them (see the CBWRM Companion).
- Consider and monitor the impacts (including potential negative effects) of WASH programme activities on longer-term water resources, livelihoods and protection issues.