INSTITUTIONAL FRAGMENTATION AND SERVICE PERFORMANCE IN DECENTRALIZED URBAN WATER GOVERNANCE: EVIDENCE FROM ZAMBOANGA CITY, PHILIPPINES

Abstract

Urban water services in secondary cities across Southeast Asia are frequently shaped less by engineering constraints than by institutional design: overlapping mandates, weak regulatory leverage, and misaligned incentives across levels of government. This study analyzes the governance of urban water services in Zamboanga City, Philippines, using a multi-level institutional approach that integrates Multi-Level Governance theory with the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework. Drawing on documentary and policy analysis, administrative and performance data from 2018–2023, and a review of the rules-in-use governing planning, regulation, and financing, the study maps how national agencies, the local government unit, sector regulators, and the Zamboanga City Water District interact in practice. Findings indicate persistent gaps between formal authority and operational control. Service coverage remains limited (approximately 48% of households), non-revenue water is high (exceeding 39%), and tariff recovery is insufficient to sustain capital investment for network expansion and system rehabilitation. Governance outcomes are driven by (1) regulatory overlap and unclear accountability for enforcement, (2) policy mandates that compete with local political authority over priorities and resource allocation, and (3) weak coordination mechanisms that fail to align incentives for performance, investment, and demand management across institutions. The study contributes evidence on how decentralization can reproduce fragmentation without credible coordination and accountability instruments. It identifies reform directions centered on clarifying regulatory authority, strengthening performance-based accountability, and improving the financial architecture for investment—aimed at enabling service expansion, reducing losses, and enhancing the sustainability of urban water provision in decentralized settings.