[6] Source: Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation WHO/UNICEF[1] Accurate and reliable data regarding coverage in rural areas is unavailable.

Conflicting statistics as to the percentages of the population using improved drinking water sources present difficulties in assessing the seriousness of the problem.

[7] While 24,000 rural communities exist in Guatemala, SAS has only collected data from 36% of these, making it difficult to determine the actual number of individuals lacking services.

[8] The water and sanitation sector in Guatemala is characterized by “low coverage, poor quality services, and deteriorating physical assets,”[6] related to a need for increased investments in basic infrastructures.

Population growth, agricultural expansion, unevenly distributed services, and polluted sources have contributed to the inability of citizens to access adequate amounts of clean water.

[9] This recent tumultuous history, along with a fairly new constitution written in 1985 and then again amended in 1993, can explain a lack of information regarding water and sanitation, as well as low service coverage.

While many improvements have been made since the end of the war, Guatemala continually suffers from political violence and corruption, drug trafficking, and a large trade deficit.

[10] These financial setbacks prevent needed improvements in the countries’ general infrastructure, such as education, public health, and water and sanitation systems.

[2] Several proposals for the law were turned down, largely due to the lack of a legal and institutional framework for managing water resources in Guatemala.

[2] In 1995 COPECAS, in collaboration with other principal institutions, conducted a country-wide analysis of water and sanitation to address disorganization, contradictions and discrepancies in the sector.

[8] In 2002 the Inter-American Development Bank gave Guatemala support for the reform and reorganization of INFOM in order to better serve and assist municipalities.

The Ministry of Health, the Municipal Development Agency (Instituto de Fomento Municipal)(INFOM), the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and the Planning Secretariat in the President's Office and all have a role, albeit ill-defined, in determining policies and strategies for water and sanitation, as well as for water resources management.

[11] INFOM, created in 1957, is a decentralized public institution whose mission is to support municipalities through the provision of administrative, financial, and technical assistance.

[12] In 1997 the Government Decree 376-97 gave INFOM the responsibility to manage the political and strategic aspects of the water and sanitation sector in Guatemala.

[10] The Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance (MSPAS) is legally responsible for monitoring drinking water quality at a national level.

The Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (MARN), along with INFOM, is officially responsible for environmental regulation in the water and sanitation sector.

Article 253 of the Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala gives the country's 332 municipalities the responsibility to use their resources to provide public services.

[13] Several independent companies distribute potable water by tanker trucks and through private networks to rural and urban communities, serving at least 32% of Guatemala City alone.

[13] Communities themselves, through water committees (Comités administradores de agua potable, or CAAP), provide services in rural areas.

It also tries to raise the awareness of civil society and the state concerning water and sanitation, and undertakes research and documentation to systematically assess experiences in the sector.

Most also accept volunteers interested in helping Guatemala's poor overcome water poverty and provide ways in which to get involved.

[23] The main donors currently active in the sector are the Inter-American Development Bank and NGOs such as CARE (relief) and Agua del Pueblo.