Community-based drinking water governance regimes in Čadrg, Slovenia

Čadrg is a scattered mountain village in the southern part of the Western Julian Alps in western Slovenia. It belongs to the Municipality of Tolmin, which is characterized by its position near the border, its inaccessibility, being demographically threatened, and a peripheral location. Čadrg has forty-five permanent residents, and its high percentage of young residents means it is one of the few mountain villages in the municipality with good prospects for the future.

The village community has rich experience in community organization. The villagers built the road to the village themselves using volunteer labor, and they agreed to allow Comunità Incontro, a drug treatment center, to use their vacant school building. In agreement with the municipality, the villagers turned over ownership and management of the road and the former village school to the municipality, which became their owner and now maintains them. However, the locals’ experience of interaction between the local municipal government and their local initiative differed when it came to their water supply.

The water supply to the settled area of the village (about 35 ha) had long been managed by the village community. The reservoir was problematic in terms of drinking water purity because it was in a pasture area. Samples of the water were found to be out of compliance in 2010 because of the presence of E. coli bacteria. The residents wanted to immediately ensure an uncontaminated water supply, especially due to the presence of their village dairy, which produces Tolminc cheese. They had three options. The water management could be taken over by the public utility Komunala Tolmin, which would appropriately treat the water with chlorine. Another option was for the villagers to turn the water rights over to the Municipality of Tolmin. In this case, too, Komunala Tolmin would chlorinate the water. Their only option for avoiding chlorination was to arrange for treatment with UV radiation themselves. At the village community meeting they selected this option because of their opposition to chlorination.

In 2011 the villagers established a local water committee. It financed construction of a new reservoir in a wooded location 1,700 meters from the old one. Water treatment with UV radiation was arranged. The new water supply commenced operation in November 2011. Given that the Slovenian Decree on Drinking Water Supply defines water supplies in settlements with fewer than fifty residents as private, the residents themselves applied for the water permit. In 2012 the water permit was issued to property owners in Čadrg. The village’s former joint water supply thus officially became a private water supply managed by the water committee. The water supply, which has regular water quality monitoring, has a single shared water meter. The users pay their fees for water use, monitoring, and the distribution network once per year.

The local water committee in Čadrg is an informal association. It is not officially a legal entity and does not have its own rules of order. Its members are local residents (i.e., property owners). They own the water rights and they are also the owners of their own private water distribution network, which supplies the settlement with drinking water. The water committee manages the village water distribution network, maintains it, and ensures appropriate water treatment. Members of the committee meet at least once a year in order to set the water prices that users must pay for the preceding year.

The Čadrg water committee ensures its members properly treated water in line with health standards and at the same time quality, unchlorinated drinking water. The water price is lower than it would be if Komunala Tolmin set the price.