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IWRM FRAMEWORK IN THE ZAMBEZI BASIN
IWRM can be achieved only within a framework
that provides platforms, mechanisms, and tools
for an equitable, efficient and sustainable sharing
of water resources. This calls for institutional
roles, an enabling legal environment and appropriate
management instruments.
Institutional Roles
Regional institutions are needed to facilitate
water management and SADC has played its role
in this regard, providing a platform for initiation
of the Zambezi River Action Plan (ZACPLAN),
which has several related projects (ZACPROs).
At basin level, negotiations are at an advanced
stage for the Zambezi River Basin Commission
(ZAMCOM) and it is hoped that this will soon
become a reality. This is seen as a prerequisite
for the sustainability of ZACPLAN activities.
On a bilateral level, the Zambezi River
Authority (ZRA) was established between
Zambia and Zimbabwe in 1987 for management
of the use, extraction and storage of water in
respect of Kariba dam.
At country and local levels, catchment councils
and sub-catchment councils have been established
in some countries.
The need for an enabling environment
Regional and national legislation and policies
should be formulated to guide the development
and management of water resources in the
Zambezi Basin.
At regional level, the Revised SADC Protocol on
Shared Watercourses serves this purpose. The pioneering
role that the Zambezi River has played in
the establishment of this protocol has to be
acknowledged: ZACPRO 2 was a ZACPLAN project
with the objective of compilation of national laws
related to the environment and development of
regional legislation for management of the basin.
This served as the model from which the original
SADC protocol was constructed.
At basin level, when the Zambezi River Basin
Commission (ZAMCOM) is established, it will
have a constitution and laws as developed within
the ZACPRO 2 project.
At country level, different legislation and policies
exist that are being implemented within each
country, such as the Zimbabwe water law of
1998 or the Zambia Water Act. The challenge in
respect of country legislation is twofold:
- countries within the basin are at different levels
of development of their water legislation; and
- there is a need to harmonise legislation for a
common approach to water resources management
within the basin and region.
Management instruments
Finally, management instruments provide the
tools that facilitate decision-making in water
resources management. They comprise water
resources assessment; communication and information
systems; water allocation and conflict resolution
tools; regulatory instruments consisting of
direct controls and economic instruments that
encourage self-regulation. While these instruments
may not exist in all basin states, the ZRA
has the mandate to use those available on behalf
of Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The challenge again is to standardise such
tools within each basin state and throughout the
SADC region. This would be relevant to methods
of data collection processing and storage (such
as the SADC HYCOS project); water quality standards;
protocols for EIAs, etc.
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