1. Rural Water Systems, Water
Resource Management and
Community Organization in
Panama
Kathryn Cheney
July 24, 2014
2. Rural water boards in Panama, JAARs, face
sustainability issues in various forms – primarily,
legal registration with the government, lack of
administrative capacity to address new
legislative changes, and lack of access to
sufficient funding, each of which prevent
autonomy in managing and improving rural
aqueduct systems.
3. Panama’s Rural Water
System
— IDAAN and Juntas
Administradoras de
Acueductos Rurales, JAARs
— 24.7% of the population
lives in rural areas
— 96% of urban population,
81% of rural population
supplied water by
aqueduct/water supply
systems
— Gravity-fed aqueducts from
natural springs
4. Juntas Administradoras de
Acueductos Rurales (JAAR)
— Boards that administer, establish, and maintain
community-organized and owned rural aqueduct
systems
— MINSA, supervising agency
— 3,700+ JAARs in the country
— 1994 Resolution 28 made JAARs legal entities
5. Rural Water Systems in Latin
America
— 20% of rural Latin America does not have access to
clean drinking water
— 25,000 rural water organizations in Central
America
— 80,000 community organizations for water and
sanitation in all of Latin America
— Community organizations provide water to more
than 40 million Latin Americans
7. JAAR Registration Process
1. Election of Junta Directiva,
with MINSA official present
2. Preparation of Acceptance
Fee Act, Articles of
Incorporation, a Roll Call (of
the election meeting), and
signed JAAR Regulation
document.
3. Forms are signed and sent to
the Directorate of Legal
Services of MINSA, where
the legal status of the JAAR
is registered.
4. Documentation of legal
status is submitted to
DISAPAS.
Issues With JAAR Registration
— Lack of administrative
capacity within JAARs, often
already registered but do not
have documentation
— Registration process is often
unknown by JAAR Junta
Directiva
— JAARs can only seek funding
once they have the personería
jurídica
— Lack of MINSA personnel
8. Proposed Decree 40 of 2014
— legally establishes three types of rural aqueduct
organizations:
— Juntas Administradoras de Acueductos Rurales (JAAR)
— Juntas Integradas de Acueductos Rurales (JIAR)
— Association of JAARs
— Community designations
— rurales disperso
— rurales concentrado
— comunidades periurbano
— Specifically requires registration with the government
— Stricter regulations around tariffs and funds
9. Legal Obstacles for JAARs
— Financial regulations
— Water chlorination requirement
— Community designations and allowing businesses
to source water from aqueducts
— Water Concessions
10. Global WASH Funding
— $8.9 billion USD invested in WASH in 2009
Sanitation and Water Aid Commitments by MDG region, 2010
http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/pdf/glaas_report_2012_eng.pdf
11. WASH funding in Latin
America
4.82
4.66
26.53 27.69
4.53
28.39
18.45 17.211.79
27.67
149.49
161.49
214.74
279.75
342.65
375.06
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
USD,inmillions
WASH Funding in Central America via Foundations
and OECD countries, 2003-2011
Private
Foundations
OECD
12. WASH Funding Panama
0.02 0.06 0.12
0.32 0.45
5.51
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
millionsofUSdollars
OECD Funding in Panama 2003-2011
Amount ($ millions) (excluding Japan)
OECD
Funding in
Panama
2003-2011
Amount
($ millions)
208.2
6
0
50
100
150
200
250
OECD Funding in Panama
2003-2011 Amount
($ millions) (including Japan)
13. Rural WASH Funding in
Panama
— Tariff system: $.50 -
$5.00
— $7.5 million USD from
the Spanish
Cooperation Fund
— $4.495 million USD
from the MDG Fund
— $39.4 million USD
from the World Bank
— Small organizations, <
$15,000 USD
Issues with Rural WASH
Funding
— Minimal access to small
grants
— No un-solicited
proposals
— Dichotomous focus on
either the rural or urban
sectors
14. Recommendations
— Communication of Registration Process and its
implications
— Utilization of the JIAR and Association of JAARs
mechanisms
— Capacity building in accounting, fundraising, or
organizational management
— Funding alternatives for JAARs – micro-enterprise,
micro-loans, fiscal sponsors
— Increased technical assistance provision
15. Bibliography
— Braithwaite, B. (2009). A Case Study of Peace Corps Volunteers’ Initiative to Improve Rural Water System Management.
Michigan Technological University.
— Catholic Relief Services. (2013, March). Water Services that Last in Central America. Catholic Relief Services. Retrieved
from http://globalwaterinitiative.org/media/AchievingWaterServicesThatLastInCentralAmerica.pdf
— CLOCSAS, The Latin American Federation of Community Organizations for Water and Sanitation Services for Rolando Marín
| Managers Safe Water; Peru. (2012, April 19). The Red Agua Segura. Retrieved July 18, 2014, from
http://www.gestoresdeaguasegura.org/noticias/clocsas-la-confederacion-latinoamericana-de-organizaciones-comunitarias-
de-servicios-de-agua-y-saneamiento-por-rolando-marin/
— FIGURE: Planes Estrategicos para el Sector de Agua Potable y Saneamiento: Sintesis de Panama. (2009). Inter-American
Development Bank. Retrieved from http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument.aspx?docnum=35521533
— Funding Map | Panama. (2014). WASHfunders.org. Retrieved July 16, 2014, from http://www.washfunders.org/Funding-Map
— LA RESOLUCION no. 28: MINISTERIO DE SALUD. ESTABLECE NORMAS BASICAS PARA EL USO RACIONAL DEL AGUA DE
LOS ACUEDUCTOS RURALES PARA LA PROTECCION, CONSERVACION DE SUS FUENTES DE ABASTOS Y DE SU AREA DE
INFLUENCIA Y LA ADMINISTRACION, OPERACION, Y MANTENIMIENTO DE ESTAS OBRAS, 22472 7 (1994).
— Madrigal, R., Alpizar, F., & Schluter, A. (2011). Determinants of Performance in Rural Water Community Organizations in
Costa Rica. World Development, 39(9), 1663–75.
— National Environmental Authority. (2014). Autoridad Nacional Del Ambiente. Retrieved July 18, 2014, from http://
www.anam.gob.pa/
— Panama. (2014, July). CIA: The World Factbook. Retrieved July 3, 2014, from
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pm.html
— Panama-IDB, partners for more than 50 years. (2013, March 4). Inter-American Development Bank. Retrieved July 4, 2014, from
http://www.iadb.org/en/news/webstories/2013-03-04/panama-idb-partners-for-more-than-50-years,10348.html
— Pearce-Oroz, G. (2011). Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Challenges in Latin America for the Next Decade (p. 32). Lima, Peru:
Water and Sanitation Program, the World Bank.
— PN-L1042 : IDAAN Water and Sanitation Investment Program- Phase I. (n.d.). Inter-American Development Bank. Retrieved July 7,
2014, from http://www.iadb.org/en/projects/project-description-title,1303.html?id=pn-l1042
— Reyes, M. (2014, July 8). Second Interview with Marisin Reyes from the Sub-Directorate of Water Supply and Sewerage
(DISAPAS) under MINSA.
— World Health Organization. (2012). GLAAS 2012 Report - UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and
Drinking-Water: The Challenge of Extending and Sustaining Services (UN Water Report) (p. 112). Geneva, Switzerland.
Retrieved from http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/pdf/glaas_report_2012_eng.pdf