Sustainability of rural water supply and sanitation project is related to the projectrnplanning practices such as demand responsive project planning; participatory projectrnplanning; holistic consideration of key sustainability criteria in the planning process;rnand community based operation and maintenance system. The aim of this research is tornevaluate rural water supply and sanitation project planning process from sustainabilityrnperspectives. To this end, the study was undertaken in four rural water supply andrnsanitation projects among rural communities in Misrak Badawacho woreda. The studyrnwas conducted by applying both qualitative and quantitative methods. The findings of thernstudy reveal that water supply and sanitation project planning practice did not considerrninclusion of sustainability criteria in the holistic way. A long-term view of sustainabilityrnwith respect to all primary criteria in water and sanitation related decisions were not yetrntaking place in the woreda. Failing to consider key sustainability factors in the planningrnprocess, poor decision-making and poor planning process has contributed to projectrnfailure. The study also discloses that when key factors were considered in projectrnplanning, projects lead to sustainability and when not considered lead to project failure.rnSustainability of water supply and sanitation projects are highly related to the projectrnplanning phase. Particularly, consideration of sustainability criteria is very crucial andrnnecessary in water supply and sanitation project planning and decision-makingrnprocesses. There is a need for holistic consideration of the long term implications to allrnthe sustainability areas. Yet, such aspects are given less allention in the sectorrndevelopment projects.