Water Resources Users Associations (WRUAs) in the Mara Basin, Kenya, are community-based natural resources management institutions set-up following the Integrated Water Resources Management framework. They are the most local participatory governance structure currently in place managing the tributaries of the Mara river. WRUAs are the link between environmental services from the river and livelihoods of local communities. Opportunities and pitfalls for the undertaking of their roles are assessed through the analysis of four WRUAs. Recognition of local knowledge, procedural considerations in the setting-up and carrying out of activities, as well as distributional aspects of the WRUA undertakings are evaluated in the paper. The authors argue that typical issues identified in critical community management literature appear in this case study: elite capture, dependency on donor support, lack of meaningful participation, and difficulties for scaling up initiatives. However, WRUAs have positively impacted environmental services in a localized and indirect manner, opening opportunities in terms of awareness, scaling water conservation initiatives, and conflict resolution. Future development of WRUAs can improve environmental flows particularly if a targeted follow-up is maintained by encouraging leadership and monitoring the relationship between donors, elites, and marginalized community members.

In order to implement Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) according to good practice, governments and development agencies have promoted the setting-up of Water Users Associations (WUAs) as a broadly applicable model for water management at the local level. WUAs are promoted as key to the rolling out of IWRM principles through a participative process. Using intensive qualitative data, this paper discusses Tanzanian WUAs in light of the Regulatory Framework within which they operate. I argue that although the government’s objectives are to achieve an equitable and sustainable allocation of water resources, the formalisation of water allocation has led to the exclusion of specific water users. This paper focuses on the Great Ruaha River Catchment (GRRC), where water scarcity has led to competition between investors and small-scale water users. The GRRC is an environment in which formal and informal practices overlap, due to legal pluralism and the incremental implementation of water governance frameworks. This study calls for a reassessment of the role of WUAs in Tanzania. There is a clear gap between the theoretical clarity of tasks handed to WUAs (particularly their role in formalising access to water), and the messiness of everyday practice.

Water User Associations are community-based institutions that cover segments of rivers and are responsible for water management decisions. These are the result of institutional blueprints designed by the international community, widely adopted around the world. However, the implementation gaps between these generic institutional designs and the working on the ground are vast and require site-specific information to support water management decisions at the local scale. We used a hydrological modelling approach to assess how community-based decisions can maximize their outcomes and improve overall availability of water resources in the Great Ruaha River Catchment in Tanzania, a catchment that is under severe drought pressures and is of the utmost ecological, social, and political relevance at the national scale. We provide information to support decisions on when and where to focus conservation and management strategies by identifying the seasonal and spatial variability of water availability in the catchment. Our methods have the potential to be used in other catchments around the world. This study shows the importance of assessing the hydrological processes affecting the geographies of community-based institutions to identify priority areas of action.

The rolling out of integrated water resources management (IWRM) in the Pangani Basin, Tanzania, faces several implementation and participation challenges. Building on experiences from GIZ–NatuReS stewardship partnerships, we argue that meaningfully engaging stakeholders and involving the private sector can help overcome these challenges and improve water security. We analyse data collected through interviews with partners and beneficiaries, and data stemming from partnership documents. Our analyses show that stakeholders are in support of creating an enabling environment based on IWRM by including tangible, results-based private–public–civil society partnerships which offer alternative and innovative solutions to address risks facing people, economies and ecosystems.