1 Environmental & Socio-economic Studies © 2018 Copyright by University of Silesia in Katowice DOI: 10.2478/environ-2018-0023 Environ. Socio.-econ. Stud., 2018, 6, 4: 1-10 ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Original article The role of local institutions in the creation of an enabling environment for water project sustainability in Iringa District, Tanzania Jimson Joseph Chumbula 1 , Fatihiya Ally Massawe 2 * 1 Department of Economics and Social Studies, Ardhi University, P.O Box 35176, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania 2 Department of Policy, Planning and Management, College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Sokoine University of Agriculture, P.O Box 3035, Morogoro, Tanzania E–mail address (*corresponding author): fatty@sua.ac.tz, mnkya74@gmail.com _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT Sustainability of water projects is increasingly becoming an area of concern for researchers and development practitioners given the increased scarcity of water resources and the continued failure of many water projects in developing countries. The cited unsustainability of water projects indicates the lack of strong local institutions that would create an enabling environment. The argument put forward by this paper is that, for water resource projects to be sustainable there must be a well embedded local institution to facilitate effective supervision and management. This study was conducted in three villages of Iringa District to establish the role played by local institutions in creating an enabling environment for water project sustainability. The establishment of the roles played by various institutions was done through institutional mapping and focussed on the types and roles of each institution in ensuring sustainability of water projects. The findings show that the present institutional framework for the management of water supply and sanitation services in the study area is complex and has overlapping roles coupled with inadequate coordination and communication mechanisms. The binary regression model reveals that institutional related factors namely, project maintenance per annum and meetings conducted per annum, to be leading factors for sustainability. The study concludes that the coordination of various institutions is an important aspect for the sustainability of water projects. Therefore, local governments, donors and communities should make sure that technical aspects and regular follow-ups, as well as capacity building among members of the community and water user associations become an integral part of any water project for the realisation of sustainability. KEY WORDS: sustainability, institutions, water project, coordination, enabling environment ARTICLE HISTORY: received 29 March 2018; received in revised form 23 October 2018; accepted 30 October 2018 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1. Introduction Water is an essential component of life, and its availability and quality are crucial. It is projected that by 2025 more than 3 billion people will be living in water-stressed countries, and 14 countries will slip from water stress to water scarcity (HDR, 2007; OECD, 2011). A major challenge facing developing countries today is how to supply safe drinking water to their citizens. The demand for water is rising at an exponential rate due to an increase in populations in both urban and rural areas (AKPOR & MUCHIE, 2011). A vastly uneven distribution of freshwater resources, combined with climatic change, is already deepening water- related problems (WORLD BANK, 2010). Following this crisis, several stakeholders around the world have joined the efforts to address the problem by supporting various water supply related projects. Regardless of these efforts, almost 50% of the people in Tanzania do not have access to safe water (WATER AID, 2014). Despite the continued support of water related projects offered by various stakeholders in addressing the rising demand of water resources in developing countries, a significant number of these projects have failed to operate sustainably (ANTONIO, 2005; RWSN, 2010). It has been estimated, for example, that the hand pump, which provides nearly half of the protected water supplies for