Putting an Ambitious National Water Law into Practice at the Local Level in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

In the water-rich Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)—home to nearly two-thirds of the Congo River basin, Africa’s largest river basin by volume—a clean, reliable water supply can still often prove surprisingly elusive for residents. Home to nearly 100 million people, the country today confronts a high level of unmet need for safely managed water and sanitation. Only 27 percent of the population has access to basic water facilities, while less than one in five people enjoy safely managed water services, and only 13 percent has access to safely managed sanitation services.

One reason the DRC faces these water and sanitation challenges is because historically, community groups have informally managed water supply systems in rural areas, despite lacking the expertise needed to manage and govern water distribution sustainably and effectively. This largely remains the case today, and consequently, the DRC has struggled to improve the reliability of water and sanitation access for rural residents, which make up more than half of the country’s population. Additionally, the state-owned water utility, Régie de Distribution d’Eau (REGIDESO), has long struggled to meet demand for reliable water and sanitation infrastructure and services in larger cities due to chronic issues related to managerial capacity.

To pave the way for nationwide reforms and improvements in the efficiency and sustainability of water service, the Government of the DRC (GDRC) passed a landmark National Water Law in 2015. Among other objectives, the law has sought to strengthen water governance by decentralizing water management. For example, the law delegated certain responsibilities to local governing entities — while simultaneously harnessing the power of public-private partnerships to professionalize the water sector and bolster technical capacity to enhance water service and infrastructure in rural areas. 

Nearly ten years after its enactment, the GDRC implements the National Water Law today with renewed vigor in select provinces with many different actors. Since 2022, one activity supporting the law’s implementation is the USAID-funded Sustainable Water and Sanitation Systems Activity (SWASSA). 

Finding fertile ground for local water sector reforms to become established

In eastern DRC, North Kivu and South Kivu have emerged as key provinces for putting the country’s ambitious new water governance plans into action. 

In the rural chiefdoms of Bahunde and Kabare, different entities have traditionally been responsible for water management and service provision, including community groups, local water user committees (COGEPs), hospitals, and churches. Local institutions and their leaders in these chiefdoms, which are sub-provincial administrative territories, did the best they could under the circumstances to ensure a reliable water supply. However, despite their good intentions, significant challenges remained.

“The biggest problem in the water sector lies around management,” acknowledges Mwami Kalinda Nicolas, Chief of the Bahunde chiefdom. This is a familiar story across the DRC’s 26 provinces. “With unqualified players and no positive impact on the ground, it’s difficult to expand available water networks and maintain them.” 

Charles Kabumba, the head of Bahunde chiefdom’s new Water Office, agrees. He remembers that under the old water management regime, “quality water supply, availability and maintenance continued to pose problems,” and adequate funding was difficult to secure. Any revenue that local water infrastructure may have created in the past “was insufficient to maintain or expand water access,” dimming the prospects for providing water to more of the Bahunde chiefdom’s 600,000 residents.

Trainings and new water offices launch a new chapter in local water management in eastern DRC

Given these long-standing issues, chiefdom leaders in these two provinces have eagerly embraced the effort to operationalize the National Water Law at the local level in recent years. Why? Because they understand that improving water and sanitation governance can lay the foundation for enhanced quality of life, improved public health outcomes, and brighter economic development prospects. 

To address the challenge, SWASSA and partners have staged capacity-building workshops since 2022 focusing on water sector governance reforms, water project ownership, and the roles, responsibilities, rights, and duties of various stakeholders. As a result of these sessions, local leaders have gained a more nuanced understanding of the key tenets of the National Water Law, and how such legislation seeks to shape water sector management at the local level. 

“Thanks to the training courses,” says Mwami Kalinda Nicolas, “I understand that since 2015, management of the water sector belongs to the project owner, represented at the local level by the Bahunde chiefdom.”

One of the National Water Law’s key components for formally delegating water sector management to local leadership calls for Decentralized Territorial Entities — such as the Bahunde and Kabare chiefdoms — to have a local Water Office staffed by personnel with expertise in the water sector. In addition to helping mobilize funding, the Water Offices are also tasked with monitoring the implementation of contracts and ensuring that water users are satisfied with the quality of service they are receiving.

In North Kivu, Mwami Kalinda Nicolas oversaw the development of local institutional infrastructure required to implement future water sector reforms and help maximize the impact of the National Water Law within his chiefdom. “With the chiefdom's own funds, my team and I decided to construct the building housing the Water Office,” he reported, following the capacity-building workshops. “This building is now completed and operational, with staff recruited and receiving training.”

To propel further progress, members of the chiefdom, local water user associations, and civil society helped craft an annual work plan for the Water Office. It wasn’t long before even more tangible water sector progress followed. Already, Mwami Kalinda Nicolas says, “the Bahunde chiefdom has rehabilitated the Mitumbala water supply system, which had been destroyed by erosion, and also rehabilitated the Matanda water supply system.” 

Meanwhile, in South Kivu’s Kabare chiefdom, local leaders are also taking steps to transform long-standing informal community-based water management models into formal entities, and to implement the National Water Law. 

A newly opened Water Office in Kabare chiefdom is a testament to the water governance changes that are beginning to take root there. Kabare’s leadership has started to develop plans to rehabilitate aging water infrastructure and extend services. “I understand that the chiefdom is the project owner, the one for whom the execution of the work or the supply of equipment is carried out,” says Me Eric Babunga, Kabare’s water sector delegate. To date, the chiefdom has carried out maintenance works on the Kadjucu reservoir to bolster local water security, and further water sector upgrades are planned.

Exploring the potential of public-private partnerships for the water sector

Public-private partnerships are also piquing local interest. The National Water Law dictates that local governing entities follow a strict procurement and contracting process, particularly when local leaders enter into a public-private partnership to professionalize the water sector within their jurisdiction or delegate public water service provision to water user associations. For example, before a contract to operate a local water network is signed, existing local water user committees (or COGEPs) must form a single Association of Water Users (ASUREP) to ensure there is a widespread consensus regarding the affordability and economic viability of any proposed improvements.

In Kabare chiefdom, there is palpable excitement about the potential role the private sector can play in driving sustainable water gains. “It is at this level that the delegation of the public water service begins — the public-private partnership!” says Me Eric Babunga. Hinting at recent progress, he says that the necessary consensus-building and consolidation efforts are already underway in the chiefdom, as “the local COGEPs have agreed on their transformation into a single ASUREP,” paving the way for future progress.

The road forward: Translating theory into practice to bring sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene improvements throughout the DRC

Decentralizing water sector management and professionalizing the sector at the provincial and chiefdom levels throughout the DRC will be a marathon, not a sprint. The country faces a long journey ahead to ensure universal access to safely managed water and sanitation. Thanks to the ambition of the National Water Law, and USAID SWASSA’s recent efforts to accelerate its implementation in North Kivu and South Kivu, there now exists a blueprint for translating national policy into impact that can be felt at the community level. The recent success stories flowing from the Bahunde and Kabare chiefdoms are shining a light on how other provinces across the DRC may lay the foundation for sustainable water and sanitation gains of their own. 

The ultimate objective is to ensure sustainable water and sanitation improvements in all 26 DRC provinces—a lofty goal to be sure. But the hard-earned progress in eastern DRC is providing evidence that the National Water Law’s efforts to decentralize water and sanitation management are starting to resonate at the local level and relieve some of the burdens that REGIDESO faced. USAID and partners are hopeful that these recent gains will contribute to the Agency’s broader goals to provide 2.6 million Congolese with access to basic or improved water services, extend access to basic sanitation services to 700,000 people, and strengthen ten national and subnational water and sanitation institutions by 2027.

Related Resources

• Story: A New Law, a Spark of Reform: What the Democratic Republic of the Congo can teach us about WASH governance
• Article: Towards a solid cooperation between local actors for sustainable management of public water services in South Kivu, DRC

About The Author

Russell Sticklor is a communications specialist, environmental journalist, and podcast producer focused on water security, climate change, and sustainable development. He has worked previously with the International Water Management Institute, USAID, and Project Drawdown, among others.

About The Author

Maguy Buhendwa has worked for Mercy Corps for almost ten years, specializing in program communications in water, hygiene, and sanitation. Previously, she worked as a journalist and editor at Mama Radio, a station committed to promoting gender equality and equity.