Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation Project Impact Evaluation 2015-2016: Baseline Survey (Nicaragua)

Abstract

The Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation Project Impact Evaluation, Baseline survey (PROSASRIE-BL) consisted of two waves between November-December 2015 and in January 2016 to collect information on the community water service providers known as CAPS, their service provision administration, their systems and communities, their households and the technical assistance they received from their municipalities across 75 municipalities in the country. It consists of 5 separate surveys, 3 of which are addressed by the community service provider, and water quality tests in e-coli and chlorine that contribute to the system survey.

The objective of this impact evaluation is to assess if good quality technical assistance provided by municipalities translates into better functionality and durability of WSS systems at the community level in rural areas of Nicaragua. The impact evaluation was designed within the context of the Nicaragua Sustainable Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project (PROSASR, P147006), an IDA-funded investment project that has the overall objective of increasing access to sustainable WSS services in selected poor rural areas of Nicaragua through the consolidation of rural WSS sector institutions and the provision of adequate infrastructure. This, in conjunction with FISE, the Fondo de Inversión Social y Emergencias (Social Investment and Emergencies Fund) of the Nicaraguan Government.

A secondary objective of this impact evaluation will be to explore over the long-run whether quality and sustained service enhancement translate, ultimately, into better health outcomes for the beneficiary populations within these municipalities due to an improvement in the continuous delivery of safe water services.

In order to realize these objectives, the impact evaluation collected data at three levels through five surveys. Each of the surveys addresses these objectives in the following ways:

The surveys of Providers of Technical Assistance at the Municipal level or PAT surveys examine the current status of the technical assistance providers in terms of what technical, logistical and financial capacity they have to provide the services needed by the communities in order to maintain and repair their water systems. The baseline provides an idea of the status of PATs prior to the PROSASR intervention, which will provide workshops and capacity building sessions at the municipal level to enhance the PAT's ability to provide such services, with the objective of a trickle-down effect of improved service provision at community level.

Whilst the PAT survey examines the objectives from the supply side, the community service provider or CAPS surveys examine the status of service provider's needs from a demand perspective. They examine the status of the systems and to what extent the CAPS currently service their systems through regular operation and maintenance. Finally they also draw on the CAPS' knowledge of the community's sanitation facilities and hygiene practices in the community as a whole, with a separated focus on schools and health centers.

Finally, the household surveys and water quality tests for e-coli and chlorine provide us with a detailed assessment of the impacts of any improvements in the service provided by the CAPS at the household level. They assess, from the household perspective, whether those who use the system are receiving improved water supply in terms of quality, continuity and access, whether their interaction with the CAPS has increased, and any knock-on health implications as a result of poor water quality.

In this way, each of the surveys addresses the purpose of the evaluation by providing information on the functionality of the sustainability chain, thereby improving the intervention's ability to identify and better target where institutional strengthening is required and should take place.