Measuring sustainability in the water sector

Monitoring the sustainability of new water supplies often relies on indirect indicators, aiming to show that all preconditions for sustained functioning and use have been met. The authors state that continued use is an easier means of measuring the sustainability since it gives and indication of the value the users place on the services. At the same time continued use indicates the users' willingness to maintain the water supply system. Factors determining sustainability are often related to maintenance and functioning, but functioning is seldom measured in water supply programmes. Reasons may be: maintenance and construction are often not the responsibility of the same department or at the same level of government; few programmes provide manpower for monitoring purposes; handing over of maintenance responsibilities to the local institutions and users is often delayed. The authors conclude that funding agencies should consider supporting ex-post evaluations, given their interest in sustainability.