Community-Government Partnership and Sustainability of Rural Water Programmes in Anambra State, Nigeria

In a Multi-Indicator survey published in 2013 by the National Bureau of statistics, has shown that over 70 million Nigerians have no access to safe water and thereby projecting Nigeria as the third globally ranked number of people without access to safe water. However, the Nigerian constitution as contained in the second Draft of the National water Resources Bill of April 2007 accords jurisdiction over rural water supply to states in conjunction with the benefitting communities. The unbalanced community-government partnership in relinquishing responsibilities in terms of ownership, control, improved service delivery and as well as provision of the required technical know-how, has become a principal factor constraining sustainable rural water projects in Anambra State for so long. It is evident from a deductive rational survey with what is obtainable in Nigerian rural water projects as against 2007 constitutional provision that disclosed dormant rural water policy propagation across the states and its docile forms of practice. Rural water projects are dynamic in nature, the choice and use of good management approach or combination of approaches is always circumspect. Community-government partnership is a worthwhile management approach that acquaint with the strength and weaknesses inherent in other management methods, and is able to use these effectively and circumspectly. This paper takes detailed explanations at factors weighing-down the success of a sustainable water provision in the rural communities in the State. We proffered a prolific approach to contain the plaguing constraints in the essential elements of planning, participation, project implementation and water policies of the State. The idea in community-government partnership is to strike a balance where the objectives of having sustainable rural water projects are achieved through proactive co-operation. Keywords: Community-government partnership, Rural water supply, Sustainability