Water distribution in the low-income neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires

Context and stakes

The water and sanitation services of the city of Buenos Aires were sub-contracted in May 1993. Aguas Argentinas became the new operator, according to a contract clearing setting the objectives of expanding the services. The contract amongst other things defined infrastructure costs which were to be passed onto the client when connecting him to a service. These infrastructure charges were intended to cover part of the costs of constructing secondary networks. Charges were in the order of $500 for being connected to the water service and $1000 to the sanitation service.

It very quickly became apparent that certain categories of the population could not pay these amounts. This is the case for approximately 800,000 people whose monthly income per family is below $240, and some 3,100,000 people, whose monthly income is below the poverty line ($500/month/person).

Objectives of the action

Faced with this self-evident fact, the city's various stakeholders launched a dialogue to find alternative funding solutions enabling these families to gain access to the services. The IIED-AL (International Institute for Environment and Development - America Latina), an NGO which had been working for several years not only on studies and investigation (urban poverty, community action, the environment), but also on actions in underprivileged neighbourhoods, was one of the partners involved in defining and implementing solutions.

Description of the action

Using a pilot project to install a water and sanitation network in a neighbourhood of 2,500 people, IIED-AL helped Aguas Argentina to draw up an action plan for serving the other underprivileged neighbourhoods of the Buenos Aires conglomeration. This action plan includes:

— identifying priority neighbourhoods;

— finding technical and institutional solutions which suit each neighbourhood, and using a tripartite collaboration between the franchise holder, the public institutions and the inhabitants, with the NGO (IIED-AL) acting as a catalyst for this participatory management.

In small neighbourhoods, the "Consensus Water Service" was introduced; this involves the inhabitants swapping their labour for a free water connection. In larger neighbourhoods, work is carried out by a building and public works company which is responsible for recruiting unskilled labour from amongst the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, through a workers' cooperative ("Job Creating Unit"). In this case, the user has to pay back the cost of the labour, but has the benefit of a paid job. In other cases, according to the "Fiscal Compensation Agreement", the franchise holder carries out the work in return for a municipal tax credit.

Responsibilities of each actor:

Activities are shared between the various stakeholders according to their areas of competence:

— Assessing demand : IIED-AL.

— Technical input: Available resources and technical solutions: Aguas Argentinas.

— Resources implemented: Assessment of attitudes to participation: IIED-AL and other NGOs. Action plan: all.

When the work is being carried out, the franchise holder supervises and trains the staff. The public institution (communal or at another local government level) is responsible for general organisation and funds the materials. The neighbourhood provides the labour for carrying out the work. IIED-AL provides assistance at all stages of the project, acting as an interface between the various actors.

Results

Following a successful pilot project (Barrio San Jorge, with a population of 2,500, receiving funding from bilateral cooperation organisations MISEREOR, German and Swedish cooperation), four projects were implemented in 1996 (6,000 inhabitants) and six additional projects in 1997 (10,000 inhabitants) using the "consensus water service" formula.

Strong points of the experience:

These are innovative experiments, mainly because they occur in the context of a franchise concession in which the various partners (public, private, NGOs, population) carry out the project together. The search for new funding mechanisms enabling the poorest population groups to gain access to the services is the key focus of these Argentinean experimentations.

Problems / lessons learned:

We can draw certain conclusions from this experience:

— the importance of the contractual and legal framework;

— the time needed to raise awareness at operational levels, to develop contacts, etc, and to obtain the commitment of all the partners;

— the need to define the responsibilities of each party involved;

— if the project is to be sustainable, the need to establish and maintain contacts in the neighbourhoods involved.

Perspectives and impacts

The institutional tools being used require the contractual framework within which the franchise holder continues to evolve; this is currently changing. Nevertheless, the success of the first projects has increased the number of potential partners (NGOs, national and international organisations, etc.) and should enable the participatory management set up to become sustainable.

Contacts Ricardo Schusterman, IIED-AL (International Institute for Environment and Development - America Latina), General Paz 1180, (1429) Buenos Aires (Argentina). Tel.: 746 57 55 / 725 23 22 / 701 28 05. Fax: 701 28 05. E-mail: iied_ma@sei.com.arLisette Provencher, Technical and Research Direction, Suez-Lyonnaise des eaux, 72 avenue de la Liberté, 92000 Nanterre (France). Tel.: (33) 1 46 95 50 14. Fax: (33) 1 46 95 52 65.

Possible courses of action 6, 8, 9 and 14

Localisation: Buenos Aires (Argentina)
Domain of intervention: drinking water distribution
Area of intervention: underprivileged urban areas
Contracting authority: the franchise holder Aguas Argentinas
Implementing agencies: the inhabitants or companies
Donors: jointly the commune, the franchise holder and the inhabitants of the neighbourhoods involved
Total budget: $ 250,000
Duration: from 1996 to 1998