The community water initiative: fostering water security and climate change mitigation and adaptation

This publication highlights some case studies that illustrate successful projects funded by the Community Water Initiative (CWI), which have helped foster water security in local communities while simultaneously helping them mitigate and adapt to climate change through: (i) Community-based water supply and sanitation services using low-cost systems manageable by communities; (ii) Water resource conservation and sustainable land management to create resilient systems to combat drought and floods; (iii) Providing clean energy for water pumping; and (iv) Capacity building for community-level governance through community water management committees, women’s empowerment, and the establishment of water user fee schemes.

Case studies 1‐2 highlight projects that integrate water and renewable energy development to reduce green house gas emissions. Case studies 3‐8 describe projects that utilize a range of appropriate technologies (i.e., wells, dams, spring improvements, pipelines, and rainwater harvesting systems) and capacity building techniques to foster water security and climate change adaptation; and case studies 9‐11 demonstrate how focusing on water quality can result in similar benefits. In total, the projects form a vision of the direction CWI has taken in tackling the challenge of water security and climate change in some of the most vulnerable communities in Africa, South Asia, and Central America: Ghana, Guatemala, Kenya, Mauritania, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, Mali, Niger, and Senegal.