ABSTRACT
The creation of water-user associations (WUA) that would have decision-making authority over wells and other water points was proposed by the anthropologist as the solution to the problem. Members of the WUA are those individuals or households who habitually take water from the water point. Each member of the WUA makes a contribution in money or labor to be used for operation and maintenance, repairs and improvements. Each WUA could have a managing committee including representatives of all social and economic categories in the population served. Several processes observable in Central Tunisia after 1985 suggested that the WUAs were taking root. United States Agency for International Development and Tunisian government authorities determined in 1980 that it was technically and socially possible to improve the potable water supply by both modernizing existing water points and creating new ones. Calculation of per capita income for Central Tunisia showed that the level of poverty was sufficient to justify continued aid.
