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WATER RESOURCES

The economic development of the riparian countries is to a great extent dependent on the availability of water resources. Water is also the main ingredient in wetland ecosystems, playing a critical role in the biosphere. The distribution of water resources in the basin is uneven and is mainly influenced by rainfall and other physical and environmental factors. The basin's water resources are found in natural lakes constituting Lake Malawi/Nyasa, and other smaller lakes; the artificial lakes, including Lakes Kariba and Cahora Bassa and the many rivers and streams. Groundwater is also an important source of water in the basin.

Demand for water

The demand for water in southern Africa is increasing as human population grows and the countries become more industrialised and urbanised. Already countries such as South Africa have identified that their internal water supplies (including imports from Lesotho) will not meet demand by the year 2030. The city of Bulawayo in Zimbabwe will need to augment supplies soon. Botswana may import water by 2020.

While Angola and Zambia have adequate water supplies for the future, the rest of the basin states are either facing problems or will be, in less than three decades. Namibia has no perennial inland rivers and has great difficulties in mobilising available water to meet its current demand. Botswana is a dry country surviving on groundwater, which is insufficient to meet the demand of the growing population. While Zimbabwe has reasonable water resources at present, the country will suffer water stress by the year 2025 along with Mozambique and Tanzania. Malawi currently faces water problems and by the year 2025 the country will be beyond the water barrier.

The numerous demands placed on water resources are, in many cases, conflicting and tend to create tensions and conflicts. Such conflicts over water resources in the Zambezi Basin are increasing as more and more areas are being opened up for economic development. The conflicts include:

• Equitable share of resources between two or more riparian states.
• Water apportionment between large commercial and smallholder commercial farming.
• Access to and use of water between individual commercial farmers within a given river basin or between different types of agricultural use.

The conflicts are also between:

• agricultural users and urban, industrial and mining users.
• communities and government.
• local authorities and water polluters.
• men and women around the issues of access to water resources.
• Government ministries and between differing policy approaches.

Irrigation and domestic use

A total of 1,716 sq km of land are under irrigation in the basin with 47.1 sq km in the Upper Zambezi, 653.6 sq km in the Middle Zambezi and 1,014.8 sq km in the Lower Zambezi. Irrigation consumes about 1,500 million cu m of water annually with more than 50 percent of the water available in the basin being used for irrigation.

Industry

Demand for water by industry is concentrated mainly in urban areas where it is used in manufacturing and in rural and semi-urban areas for mining. Major industries in the basin include those that process food and beverages, and the manufacture of textiles and clothing, wood and wood products, paper, chemicals, rubber and plastic, metal products and others.

Water resources use by the manufacturing industry in some countries is difficult to quantify. In the case of Malawi, for instance, "the statistics are not recorded and kept." Water demand by the manufacturing industry in Zambia, is estimated to rise from 222,400 cu m/day to 366,700 in 1990 and to 446,100 cu m/day in the year 2015.

Non-consumptive uses of water

Non-consumptive uses of water are also likely to increase in the basin especially as the economies of the riparian countries improve and there is more recognition for diversification. This would imply expansion in industries that do not consume water such as tourism, hydropower generation and others.

Hydropower

Although hydropower itself is considered non-consumptive, high evaporation losses result from the large storage reservoirs that are created to ensure a steady water flow through the turbines. Evaporation "losses" from the basin are estimated at an annual water loss of 14.3 million cu m, 95 percent of which is from the major water bodies.

Water resources management
Institutions

Planning for water services encompasses management at the basin and sub-basin levels, the development of water supply infrastructure, water resources monitoring and provision of water to both urban and rural consumers. Legislation can mandate the type of low-water use fixtures that can be placed in all new construction. For existing fixtures, repair and replacement programmes can be successful tools of water conservation and management. With a vigorous campaign, overall in-house water demand could be reduced by as much as 50 percent through use of suitable water saving fixtures.

Water resources management requires a measure of education, awareness and full participation by all to help reduce the amount of water used, as opposed to water required. Apart from monitoring the resource, legislation needs to consider the monitoring of usage in homes, industry, agriculture and other sectors. It is also important that water use by the environment is taken into consideration.

Policy enforcement

The existence of policies both at the national and regional levels is inadequate. Enforcement of policy allows for the users of water to comply with the existing rules and regulations that promote better resource management and use. The drilling of private boreholes and construction of dams by private enterprises and individuals without obtaining a right to do so from the policy implementers, for instance, hampers proper water accounting.

Wastage through leaks, faulty equipment and other means can be addressed through constant enforcement of the existing policy where the user pays for the water. Policy initiatives could also consider incentives for industry and domestic consumers by reducing tax for categories that comply with better water use practices.

Water pricing

Water pricing in the basin states varies with consumer categories. In Zimbabwe for instance, water is currently under priced. The main pricing mechanism is the national "blend" price whereby the historical cost of the several government-constructed dams and associated works was averaged to calculate this price. The problem with the current system is the use of national blend prices. This measure barely adheres to the "user pays principle". The system also involves extensive cross-subsidisation, with some consumers paying more than the costs, while others pay much less.

Several issues and problems affect the effective management of the basin's water resources. These include pollution, eutrophication, siltation induced by poor land uses, changed flow regimes, aquatic weeds, increased competition for water, potential degradation and loss of wetland ecosystems, poor planning and sectoral approaches.

A number of riparian states have embarked on national water reform programmes whose main objectives are to improve water resources management through institutional and legislative reviews. Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe are all involved in water resources reform programmes whose main objectives are to improve the management of water and ensure equitable distribution.

Throughout the Zambezi Basin, there is a move towards greater involvement of communities in the management and conservation of water and wetland resources. In Malawi and Namibia, successful water management arrangements have been put in place through the establishment of water point committees while in Mozambique, there are irrigation cooperatives.

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