The multiple-use water services (MUS) project

Abstract

The CPWF-supported project ‘Models for implementing multiple-use water supply systems for enhanced land and water productivity, rural livelihoods and gender equity’ (‘CPWF-MUS’) innovated, tested, and documented homestead-scale and communityscale models for Multiple Use water Services in 30 rural and peri-urban sites in 8 countries: the Andes (Bolivia and Colombia), Indus-Ganges (India, Nepal), Limpopo (South Africa and Zimbabwe), Mekong (Thailand) and Nile (Ethiopia). Learning alliances for scaling up and out of results were forged in each country, encompassing a total of 150 water user groups, CBOs, (I)NGOs, domestic sub-sector and productive sub-sector agencies, local government, private service providers, rural development agencies and financers, and knowledge centers. The resulting institutional change at intermediate and national level, together with awareness raising about the MUS models at global level, contributed significantly to a more supportive environment for reaching all water users with the multiple-use water services they need and, thus, using water most effectively to achieve all MDGs