Impact of USAID’s $580 Million Afghan Water Sector Programs Unclear

Impact of USAID's $580 Million Afghan Water Sector Programs Unclear

Today the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) released three reports: An audit of USAID's $580 million effort to develop Afghanistan's water sector, a letter on concerns with the Kajaki Dam project and a report on the State Department's spending in Afghanistan.

The water sector audit found that USAID did not meet key provisions of the U.S. government's strategy for developing Afghanistan's water sector.  Specifically, USAID did not develop a work plan, measure progress toward the strategy's goals, or update the strategy.

Water projects that SIGAR reviewed showed mixed results; among the findings:

–USAID spent about $3.5 million for 27 watershed assessments that it did not use as intended and did not share in a timely manner.

–Performance problems and deficiencies with the Afghanistan Water, Agriculture Technology Transfer (AWATT) project raised in prior oversight reports were not addressed and continued to persist.  The AWATT project ended prematurely because of financial management and performance problems.

–USAID's Commercialization of Afghanistan Water and Sanitation Activity's (CAWSA) project had significant delays that affected overall implementation and the overall impact on Afghanistan's water sector is unclear.

Water Sector Audit: http://www.sigar.mil/pdf/Audits/SIGAR-14-52-AR.pdf

The letter on Kajaki Dam raised concerns about significant cost increases, delays and the willingness of customers to pay for electricity.

Kajaki Dam Letter: http://www.sigar.mil/pdf/special%20projects/SIGAR-14-53-SP.pdf

The report on State Department funding notes that $4 billion has been obligated for Afghanistan reconstruction, from 2002 to March 2013.  Of that amount, DynCorp has received 69% of the funding.

State Department Report: http://www.sigar.mil/pdf/special%20projects/SIGAR-14-49-SP.pdf