ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the case of community based organizations (CBOs) in the Lamongan Regency, focusing on the strategies these organizations have developed to operate in a commercially viable manner. An important factor that explains the popularity of CBOs for water provision in Indonesia is that the prospect of commercially-viable, community-based enterprises is appealing in view of their potential to reduce the financial burden on financially-strapped local governments. Indonesia has delegated the development of water supply systems in low-income and rural areas to communities. The Lamongan Regency provides a favorable bio-physical and institutional context for HIPPAMs to develop and function. For one, the Lamongan Regency is located in an area where easy access to clean water is limited, as the water from local surface water bodies and shallow groundwater wells is considered to be of poor quality. The Government of Indonesia aspires to achieve universal water service coverage by 2019.
