between 2006 and 2025, with the support of development partners (Carlitz 2017). The WSDP comprises of three smaller programs: 1) water resources management; 2) Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Program (RWSSP); and 3) urban water supply and sewerage. At the time of the initiation of RWSSP, water coverage in rural areas in Tanzania was estimated to be around 53 percent based on its 2002 Population and Housing Census (Ministry of Water, 2006)<sup>5</sup> . The RWSSP aimed at improving water coverage to its rural population to 1) at least 65 percent by 2010; 2) 74 percent by mid-2015; and 3) at least 90 percent by 2025<sup>6</sup> . The program is also largely funded by the World Bank and other international donors and is one of the biggest in the African region (Jimenez and Perez-Foguet, 2010; Gine and PerezFoguet, 2008; World Bank, 2008).

During the first phase of the WSDP (2007-15) implementation arrangements were decentralized to the district levels (Local Government Agencies- LGAs), with the intention of providing better technical support to the rural communities. The WSDP adopted a Community Driven Development (CDD) approach in the rural water sector, where the village community and its institution, the COWSO (Community Owned Water Supply Organizations), were given full ownership of their rural water system along with the associated management responsibility. Under this arrangement, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MOWI) set policies and guidelines and provided technical support to the Local Government Authorities (LGAs). The actual implementation of new water projects is facilitated by the LGAs under the President’s Office of Regional and Local Government (PORALG).

One of the more ambitious projects that went hand-in-hand with the country’s effort in improving water access was the creation of its Water Point Mapping (WPM) database. With the assistance of Water Aid which has previously done similar work in Malawi (Stoupy & Sudgen, 2003), the country implemented the WPM with the goal of gathering geographical data on all improved water points in an area, in addition to management, technical and demographic information. The information collected was used to create a baseline of accurate, reliable and up to date information on all improved water points in addition to serving as a benchmark for future monitoring efforts, improving decision making as well as allocation of resources for rural water supply services (Welle, 2010).

Through the implementation of the first phase of the WSDP and by extension, the RWSSP, an additional 8,285 water points have been installed covering almost 1.9 million additional beneficiaries. This has increased rural water coverage from 55 percent in 2007 – roughly at the start of the program – to

> 5 The figures reported in JMP (2015) were lower than those reported in the 2002 Housing Census. While population growth pressures could have influenced the figures, the difference is most likely due to the different definition of improved water points that were adopted by the two databases. Under the WSDP, the WPM have since adopted the definition of improved water points that is consistent with the internationally accepted definition by WHO/UNICEF (2000).  The figures presented in JMP (2015) would be based on this definition.

> 6 Goals that were set partly through the commitments of the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty also known as MKUKUTA and by the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) respectively.

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