Communities living in the Torola River Basin have notoriously had a freshwater supply problem whereby they could fill a container of water from a trickling tap which was just about sufficient to quench their thirst but was never enough for household tasks, personal hygiene, livestock or even a small vegetable patch.
A UNDP- project, funded by the Basque Water Agency (URA) and the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) is currently busy with a project to improve local water management to guarantee the community access to high quality water for the approximately 800 families living there
The pilot phase was instituted in 6 municipalities, and the first phase included tanks, filters, and pipes were installed and water sources were protected, indirectly benefitting more than 2,000 individuals. This would benefit in excess of 2,000 individuals. This was just the first phase, and it represents a new model of governance that fosters coordination between various stakeholders, and includes water management, civic participation, awareness-raising campaigns, and collective decision-making.
The pilot project beefed up the capacities of local government and town councils that administer water resources; it also benefitted end-users as well as national organisations that participate in the management of these resources, like the Ministry of Water Supply and Sewerage.
The project started off with workshops and exchange of experience outside of the Torola River basin in 2012, with the main focus on the preservation and the rational use of water, adaption to climate change, transparency in water management, and food security.
To date in excess of 300 individuals have been trained in diverse workshops ranging from corporate responsibility to technical issues and audit committees.
“In the past, everyone would queue up and fill up their pitcher from a thin trickle of water,†recalls Hernán del Cid Argueta, who lives in Joateca, in the north-east of El Salvador. The communities in the areas where the pilot project is being run are very happy because they say that they are now thriving because they have access to good, clean water and also have sufficient to water their cattle and vegetable gardens from which many of them earn a living. Sanitation is also improved and thereby personal hygiene and health.
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