Bukachi, Salome

Water is one of the most studied common pool resources (CPR) with concerns for access to safe drinking water especially in rural, arid and Semi-arid regions (ASALS) regions that remain vulnerable to climate change and variability. The allocation and access to water across Kenya has been managed locally with state and non-state actors engaging communities towards attainment of SDG 6 and ensure regular and adequate supply of safe drinking water. Water as a common pool resource (CPR) is defined largely by the actions on the part of the individuals who use it to maintain its productivity. Communities and individuals can take water management and governance actions variously. The actions can fall into the category of contribution of real resources like money, time, or physical capital, or in the restriction of the use of the common-pool resource associated activities for sustainability. An exploratory study that anchored on an ethnographic approach utilised participant observation complemented by in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) to interrogate the emic perspectives informed by attitudes, perceptions and practices regarding informal norms and formal rules that enable diverse forms of cooperation for water management in a Rural community in Kenya. Water initiatives often overlook community participation in the design and management of water projects. The paper argues that emic perspective that include community attitudes, perceptions and practices influence water co-management as a common pool resource to enable sustainable access to safe drinking water by rural communities in resource limited settings. For sustainable water governance, community empowerment through participatory establishment an institutional arrangement, with formal and informal rules, norms and practices is necessary for collective management of water.