Drinking water supply and sanitation coverage in Honduras has increased significantly in the last decades. However, the sector is still characterized by poor service quality and poor efficiency in many places. Coverage gaps still remain, particularly in rural areas.

In 2003, a new framework law for water supply and sanitation was passed. It includes service decentralization from the national utility, SANAA, to the municipalities. It also creates a policy council and a regulatory agency. Nevertheless, the new institutions remain weak and the process of decentralization has been slow. Furthermore, there is no policy of sector financing.

Access In 2015, 91% of the total population had access to "improved" water, 97% and 84%, in urban and rural areas, respectively. Leaving out 738 thousand people. Regarding sanitation, 83% of the total population had access to "improved" sanitation, 87% and 78%, in urban and rural areas, respectively. Excluding around 1.5 million people.

Data about access to water supply and sanitation in Honduras vary depending on the source of information. For example, according to a survey in 2006, 81% of houses had access to an improved water source and 86% had access to sanitation.Pobreza y Saneamiento 2007, p. 5 (in Spanish). In this document, there are neither separate figures for rural and urban areas nor a definition for access to water. The sanitation figures are much higher than the 2010 information from the WHO Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation shown in the following table. Urban (52% of the population) Rural (48% of the population) Total Water Improved water source 95% 79% 87% Piped on Premises 95% 74% 85% SanitationImproved sanitation 85% 69% 77%Sewerage (2006 JMP survey & census data) 66% 11% 36% Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP)Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation 2010 Estimates .

Service quality The service quality in Honduras is low compared to other countries in Latin America. In 2006, 75% of the drinking water in urban areas was disinfectedComisión Presidencial para la Modernización del Estado/CONASA 2007, Formulacion Programa de Inversiones del sector APS, Pedro Serrano, p. 3 and 10% of collected wastewater received treatment.Division de Investigaccion y Analisis Tecnico en Agua Potable y Saneamiento del SANAA, Entrevista con el Ing. Rodolfo Ochoa Alvarez, 3 de octubre 2007. Era de 51% y 3% respectivamente en 2000 según la OMS In rural areas, it was estimated that one-third of the systems provided continual service and less than 14% of the systems delivered disinfected water in 2004.WSP 2004, p. 2

According to the WHO, in 2000 98% of Honduran water systems provided water on an intermittent basis, for an average duration of 6 hours a day. In 51% of urban water systems was drinking water disinfected, and only 3% of collected wastewater was treated.

Water resources

The country has water resources for a water potential of 1,542 m3/s, but in 2006 only 88.5 m3/s (6%) were used for consumption, whereof 75 m3/s was used for irrigation and 13.5 m3/s for domestic and industrial use. There are high levels of pollution.Honduran Water Platform , p. 13-14 The 4,300 rural water supply systems extract their water from the following sources: Source Percentage Springs 57% Brooks 34% Rivers 5% Groundwater 4%

Water supply systems which use gravity correspond to 93% of all constructed systems. Mixed and pump using systems correspond to 4.5%. The scattered rural population intensely depends on about 15,000 dug wells.ERSAPS, very likely based on database of the Sistema de Información de Agua Rural (SIAR) or Rural Water Information System A general water law is proposed to ameliorate the management of water resources.

Water use Per capita water use in Honduras varies greatly from one locality to another. In Tegucigalpa – which suffers from chronic problems of water supply – it is 172 liter/capita/day, while it is 545 liter/capita/day in small municipal systems.Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) 2003, Country Framework report, p. 90 In small towns water use thus is much higher than it is for example in Central Europe, where it stands at 135–200 liter/capita/day.

History of the sector

In 1998 the country was devastated by Hurricane Mitch, which destroyed many rural water supply systems. Subsequently, the external assistance provided to Honduras increased substantially to assist in the reconstruction effort.

In 2003 the National Assembly approved the water framework Law, under which SANAA will transfer its service provision functions to the concerned municipalities until 2008 and transform itself into an agency that provides technical assistance to municipalities and juntas. The new sector structure foreseen by the law is still being established. The new institutions are still weak and new institutions are still adapting to their new roles.

In 2006 the government issued a strategic plan for the modernization of the water sector and strengthen the decentralization of services.PEMAPS In 2012 the government announced that the responsibility for water supply and sanitation in Tegucigalpa would be handed over from SANAA to a municipal company to be called Aguas de San Miguel. A civil society group called Citizens' Front for Water (FCA) would participate in the management of the company.

Responsibility for water supply and sanitation

Policy and regulation According to the 2003 Water Framework Law sector policies are defined by the Consejo Nacional de Agua Potable y Saneamiento (CONASA ) or National Water and Sanitation Council, which is chaired by the Minister of Health. Regulation is the responsibility of the Ente Regulador de los Servicios de Agua Potable y Saneamiento (ERSAPS) or Potable Water and Sanitation Regulatory Agency.

Before the Water Framework Law was adopted, there was no regulatory framework that could have been applied in decentralizing processes such as the developments in San Pedro Sula and Puerto Cortés. Thus, local regulatory agencies were created for the concession contracts to secure a sustained process. For instance, in Puerto Cortés a regulatory agency was created at the municipal level including selected representatives of civil society, such as doctors, engineers and lawyers.Ing. Adalberto Dario Urbina, Presentation about water supply and sanitation service users accounting mechanisms, july 19th 2007, Global Development Learning Network (GDLN) (in Spanish)

Service provision

Water and sanitation service provision in Honduras is the responsibility of the following institutions: Municipalities in most urban areas A private utility under concession by the municipality of San Pedro Sula The Servicio Autónomo Nacional de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (SANAA) or National Autonomous Water and Sewerage Service, which operates approximately half of the urban water supply and sanitation systems of Honduras, including Tegucigalpa About 5,000 water boards (Juntas Administradoras de Agua – JAA) in rural areas and in marginal peri-urban areas

According to the Water Framework Law which passed in 2003, SANAA will have to transfer management to the municipalities until 2008.

All urban water supply and sanitation systems are public, except three: In San Pedro Sula, the municipality has given a concession to a private operator for 30 years in 2000.IDB San Pedro Sula and Paul Constance IDB San Pedro In Puerto Cortés, the same happened in 1999,Puerto Cortes For more information about history of transfer of services to Puerto Cortés municipality, see also Paul Constance 2004 in Choloma, governments created mixed utilities.

The case of Puerto Cortes

In Puerto Cortés the water and sewer system had been managed by the national public water and sewer company SANAA. The municipality requested the transfer of the system after the city remained without drinking water for months in the aftermath of Hurricane Gert which hit the city in September 1993. After a lengthy period of negotiations the system was finally transferred in 1997. During that period USAID provided substantial financial assistance to modernize and expand the water system, doubling access between 1993 and 1997 and improving service quality. As a consequence the incidence of waterborne diseases such as diarrhea declined significantly.

Despite an upcoming election the city's mayor, Marlon Lara who had become mayor in January 1994, more than doubled water tariffs, had non-paying users disconnected and had water meters installed. Although many voters resented the measures, Marlon Lara managed to win the elections. Shortly afterwards, in 1999, the city decided to create a mixed company called Aguas de Puerto Cortés (APS) in order to reduce the potential for political interference in day-to-day management.Dickson IDRC 2006: Management Models of Water and Sanitation: Approaches to Decentralization in Honduras p. 4

Initially 95% of the company was owned by the municipality, with symbolic shares held by various associations in the city. However the municipality subsequently decreased its share of ownership: In 2006 the company was owned by the association of port employees (16%), the association of central market vendors (16%), two women's cooperatives (32%), the Chamber of Commerce and Industries (16%) and the municipality (20%). The company signed a contract with the municipality which specified specific targets to be achieved, and the municipality created a municipal regulatory body to monitor the company's performance.

Access and service quality improved substantially between 1995 and 2006. Water supply is now continuous, monthly billing has increased 25-fold in nominal terms, water production has more than doubled and non-revenue water has been reduced from an estimated 40% to 25%.Dickson IDRC 2006: Management Models of Water and Sanitation: Approaches to Decentralization in Honduras p. 5

In 1998 the city obtained financing from the Inter-American Development Bank to extend the sewerage system and to build a wastewater treatment plant to put an end to the pollution of the Alvarado lagoon near the city.Paul Constance 2004IDB HO0128 Puerto Cortés Sewerage Project In 2003 the consulting firm Hal crow won a contract to design the wastewater treatment plant using stabilization ponds, a natural technique with low operation and maintenance costs.

Other Institutions

The Honduran Social Fund (FHIS) The Fondo Hondureño de Inversion Social (FHIS) or Honduran Social Fund also plays an important role in the sector, since a large share of donor funding to the sector is channeled through it.

The Honduran Network of Water and Sanitation (RAS-HON) The Red de Agua y Saneamiento de Honduras (RAS-HON) or Honduran Network of Water and Sanitation is an institution for dialogue, advise and interchange of the water supply and sanitation sector, consisting of organizations, institutions and collaborating people who develop and carry out plans and projects.

Water board associations In 1990, the rural water boards created a national association, the Associación Hondureña de Juntas Administradoras de Agua (AHJASA) or Honduran Association of Water Boards in order to protect their interests. In 2004, the association had about 500 water boards as members, representing 380,000 users. The water boards pay 10 to 15% of their tariff income to AHJAS.WSP Field Note 2004, p. 9 WSP – New roles for rural water associations and boards in Honduras Moreover, there are 50 Asociaciones de Juntas de Agua Municipales (AJAMs) or Municipal Water Board Associations. Some of them also receive a part of approximately 5% of the tariff incomes of their members. Some Associations operate chlorine banks for their members.WSP Field Note 2004, p. 7 WSP – New roles for rural water associations and boards in Honduras

Intermunicipal Associations (Mancomunidades)