This paper explores sustainability in water project management following a contextual approach. It relies on an exploratory case study with interviews and field visits to three water project sites in Bugesera district in Rwanda. The results show that water project management includes aspects of social, cultural, environmental and economic sustainability driven by a compliant organization logic. This implies that the water project’s management is steered by existing policies, regulations and procedures. Cultural sustainability in particular is important for capturing contextual practices in the project delivery process, such as Umuganda meetings and committees. Such practices allow the inclusion of the local community by identifying their water needs, defining their benefits and conveying project ownership to them. This study proposes a model following a contextual approach to sustainability in water project management. The model is useful for identifying new contextual/empirical phenomena and for advancing theory. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019.