The drinking water supply and sanitation sector in Guatemala is characterized by low and inconsistent service coverage, especially in rural areas; unclear allocation of management responsibilities; and little or no regulation and monitoring of service provision.

Access In 2015, around 1 million people lacked access to "improved" water and 6 million lacked access to "improved" sanitation. In Guatemala, 93% of the total population had access to "improved" water, 98% of the urban population and 87% of the rural population. As for sanitation, 64% of the total population, 78% and 49%, urban and rural respectively, had access to "improved" sanitation.

According to the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply Factory and Sanitation INC, access to water and sanitation services has slowly risen over the years in Guatemala. In 1990, 81% of the total population had access to improved water sources, while in 2004, 90% of the population had access. Sanitation coverage has also risen, from 62% of the total population having access to adequate sanitation in 1990, to 86% with access in 2004. The government of Guatemala estimates that the population with access to water services is growing at a rate of at least 100,001 people every year.Inter-American Development Bank. 2003. Guatemala Rural Water and Sanitation ProgramEE (GU-0150) Loan Proposal.

Urban (49% of the population) Rural (51% of the population) Total Water Improved 98% 87% 92% Piped on Premises 96% 69% 82% Sanitation Improved 87% 70% 78%Sewerage (2006 JMP survey & census data) 68% 17% 41% Source: Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation WHO/UNICEFJoint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation , WHO/UNICEF, 2010 Estimates

Accurate and reliable data regarding coverage in rural areas is unavailable. Conflicting statistics as to the percentages of the population using improved drinking water sources present difficulties in assessing the seriousness of the problem. Although the data above shows that water and sanitation coverage in both rural and urban areas is fairly high in Guatemala, the National Water and Sanitation Information System (Sistema Nacional de Informacion de Agua y Saneamiento) (SAS), which collects and maintains information regarding water and sanitation in rural communities, released information in 2002 indicating that only 53% of homes (it is assumed that this statistic refers to households in rural areas due to the rural focus of SAS) had access to water services.United Nations Development Program. 2002. “Metas del Milenio: Informe de Avance de Guatemala”. Guatemala. The SAS considers accessible services to be less than 1 kilometer from a home and that at least 20 liters of water is available to each person every day. While 24,000 rural communities exist in Guatemala, SAS has only collected data from 36% of these, making it difficult to determine the actual number of individuals lacking services.

Access to water in urban areas is irregular, as 80% of urban water systems function for an average of 12 hours every day.Organización Panamericana de la Salud (OPS), OMS. 2000. “Evaluación de los Servicios de Agua Potable y Saneamiento 2000 en las Américas.” As of the year 2000, 25% of water in urban systems was disinfected and only 1% of all collected sewage water has been treated.

Quality of service The water and sanitation sector in Guatemala is characterized by “low coverage, poor quality services, and deteriorating physical assets,” related to a need for increased investments in basic infrastructures. Population growth, agricultural expansion, unevenly distributed services, and polluted sources have contributed to the inability of citizens to access adequate amounts of clean water.

History and recent events

In 1996 the government of Guatemala and the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity, the guerilla movement, signed a peace accord which ended 36 years of a civil, guerilla war. This conflict left over 100,000 Guatemalans dead and created over 1 million internally displaced refugees.Central Intelligence Agency. 2006. The World Factbook. Guatemala. This recent tumultuous history, along with a fairly new constitution written in 1985 and then again amended in 1993, can explain a lack of information regarding water and sanitation, as well as low service coverage.

While many improvements have been made since the end of the war, Guatemala continually suffers from political violence and corruption, drug trafficking, and a large trade deficit. In light of these problems, it has been difficult for the national government to raise funds internally, or to attract assistance and investment from international donors and financial institutions. Water for People. 2005. “Strategy Paper-Guatemala.” These financial setbacks prevent needed improvements in the countries’ general infrastructure, such as education, public health, and water and sanitation systems.

From 1991 to 1998 the President of the Republic created a Secretary of Hydrological Resources whose mission was to order and plan the water sector and to make a Water Law. Several proposals for the law were turned down, largely due to the lack of a legal and institutional framework for managing water resources in Guatemala.

In 1995 COPECAS, in collaboration with other principal institutions, conducted a country-wide analysis of water and sanitation to address disorganization, contradictions and discrepancies in the sector. This study led to changes in the coordination and management of the sector, such as giving INFOM the responsibility to manage the sector.

In 1999 the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (MAGA) was given responsibility for creating an Integrated Management Plan for Hydrological Resources, which will focus on water resources in terms of a political, legal and institutional framework, information and sustainability, and education.

In 2002 the Inter-American Development Bank gave Guatemala support for the reform and reorganization of INFOM in order to better serve and assist municipalities.

Responsibilities for water and sanitation

Policy

There are a multitude of government entities involved in water and sanitation and none of them has been assigned a clear leadership role in the sector. The Ministry of Health, the Municipal Development Agency (Instituto de Fomento Municipal)(INFOM ), the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and the Planning Secretariat in the President's Office and all have a role, albeit ill-defined, in determining policies and strategies for water and sanitation, as well as for water resources management.Latinosan 2007 - Conferencia Latinoamericana de Saneamiento: Informe de Guatemala, p. 3-4

INFOM, created in 1957, is a decentralized public institution whose mission is to support municipalities through the provision of administrative, financial, and technical assistance. In 1997 the Government Decree 376-97 gave INFOM the responsibility to manage the political and strategic aspects of the water and sanitation sector in Guatemala.

In the same year, the Executive Unit of the Rural Aqueduct Program (Unidad Ejectora del Programa de Acueductos Rurales) (UNEPAR) and the Highlands Drinking Water and Sanitation Project (Proyecto de Agua Potable y Saneamiento del Altiplano) (PAYSA), programs for rural water and sanitation that had formerly been under the Ministry of Health, were placed under the management of INFOM. Although UNEPAR is placed under INFOM it continues to have separate financing from the national budget as well as the German Development Bank KfW. UNEPAR also manages the data base of SAS.

A Permanent Coordinating Committee for Water and Sanitation (Comité Permanente de Coordinación de Agua y Saneamiento) (COPECAS) was created in 1985 by the Government Decree (Acuerdo Gubernativo) 10036-85 to coordinate the work of all public agencies in the water and sanitation sector,Centro Panamericano de Ingeniería Sanitaria y Ciencias del Ambiente (CEPIS). 1997. “Progress in the Privatization of Water-Related Public Services: Country-by-Country Review for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.” Guatemala. but it is inactive. The committee is supported by the Pan–American Health Organization (PAHO).

There is no law granting all people the right to clean drinking water in Guatemala.

Regulation The Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance (MSPAS) is legally responsible for monitoring drinking water quality at a national level. They provide water quality testing services for private and public operators.

The Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (MARN), along with INFOM, is officially responsible for environmental regulation in the water and sanitation sector. However, there is no real effective environmental management in the sector.

Economic regulation in the sector is practically non-existent. Tariffs for service provision are determined by politics, and there are no organizations which monitor providers in order to detect abuses of the system.Centro Panamericano de Ingeniería Sanitaria y Ciencias del Ambiente (CEPIS). 2000. “Evaluación de los Servicios de Agua Potable y Saneamiento 2000 en las Américas”. Guatemala.

Provision of services

According to the law the provision of services is a responsibility of municipalities. Article 253 of the Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala gives the country's 332 municipalities the responsibility to use their resources to provide public services. Republic of Guatemala. “1985 Constitution with 1993 Reforms.” In 2002 the Municipal Code published as Government Decree 12-2002 confirmed the legal responsibility of municipalities to deliver public services, including water and sanitation, to all those living in urban and rural areas.

Municipalities have a difficult time serving urban and especially rural areas due to a lack of resources. In reality, therefore, a variety of public, communal and private entities provide services alongside the municipalities.

Direct municipal service provision

Water and sanitation services can be provided directly by a single municipality or through a group of municipalities who are organized to provide services together (“mancomunidades”).

Municipal companies

The Municipality of Guatemala City created the Municipal Water Company (Empresa Municipal de Agua) (EMPAGUA) in 1972 to manage Guatemala City’s sewage and water services. Today it is the largest municipal water provider in the country. XELAGUA manages the water supplies in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala’s second largest city.

Bulk water provision to Guatemala City

The Executive Unit of the National Xayá-Pixcayá Aqueduct (Unidad Ejecutora del Acueducto Nacional Xayá-Pixcayá), managed under the Ministry of Public Communications, Transportation and Labor, administers, operates, and maintains the National Aqueduct which supplies bulk water to Guatemala City.

Local private operators in Guatemala City

Several independent companies distribute potable water by tanker trucks and through private networks to rural and urban communities, serving at least 32% of Guatemala City alone.Solo, Tova Maria. 2003 . “Independent Water Entrepreneurs in Latin America: The other private sector in water services.” Washington, D.C.: World Bank. The National Mariscal Water Company (Compañía Nacional de Agua de Mariscal) is the largest and oldest of these companies, providing services to approximately 14% of the population of Guatemala City.

Community-based organizations

Communities themselves, through water committees (Comités administradores de agua potable, or CAAP), provide services in rural areas. Water committees are considered to be private operators and are regulated by the Civil Code. Committees are elected by community members and are responsible for the collection of tariffs and the operation and maintenance of the system.