Geneva, 10 – 11 December

This document has been prepared by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) for the Round Table Conference (RTC) on "Integrated Water Resources Development and Management in the Southern African Development Community".  The purpose of the document is to explore opportunities for policy dialogue, consensus-building and resource mobilisation between SADC and its co-operating partners.  The theme was chosen by SADC because of the increasing recognition that effective stewardship of the region's water resources will play an important role in helping member-states achieve SADC's key development objectives of poverty alleviation, food security and industrial development.  Likewise, the large number of shared water bodies among member-states clearly demonstrates that commonly agreed approaches and solutions must be found for water resources if SADC is to attain its goal of an "integrated regional economy [achieved] on the basis of balance, equity and mutual benefit."

This document seeks to highlight how SADC is approaching the development and management of its water resources and to identify areas where further assistance from the international donor community is being sought to advance and consolidate efforts currently under way.  The document provides an overview and some of the characteristics of the water sector in SADC's development efforts, briefly traces the evolution of SADC's water policy, and looks at the emerging policy consensus now set by SADC for the water sector.  The document also highlights ongoing efforts at regional co-operation for water resources development, as well as some of the constraints affecting SADC's capability to achieve more expanded water resources development.  The document then turns to an overview of the recently endorsed  Regional Strategic Action Plan For Integrated Water Resources Development and Management, in the SADC Countries, (1999-2004).  The SADC Council of Ministers approved this Action Plan at their meeting held in Port Louis, Mauritius, on 7 - 14 September 1998.  Emerging from the Action Plan, the last section presents an overview and rationale for the areas of support requested for consideration by the Round Table Conference participants.

Three points are emphasised: 

First, this document is concerned only with water resource issues of a regional character or with transboundary implications.  Each member-state clearly has water sector projects or institutional issues that are strictly national in focus, but which, by this definition, fall outside the scope of this document and the purview of this RTC.

Second, the express concerns of the two newest SADC members - the Democratic Republic of Congo and Seychelles, which joined in September 1997 - have not been included in the Regional Strategic Action Plan or this RTC document.  This is because their membership came into effect only after most of the background technical materials had been gathered and synthesised for the Strategic Action Plan.  It is, nonetheless, expected that the regional activities identified within this RTC framework will prove equally valuable to SADC's two newest member-states

Third, it is important to underscore the fact that the Round Table Conference, for which this document is prepared, represents the first time that SADC has approached the donor community using the RTC mechanism to seek assistance for one of its priority sectors. The goal of the RTC is to improve the effective deployment of resources from both SADC and the international donor community by focusing on a single (albeit complex) sector, and to minimise confusion or misunderstandings about where and how available resources are allocated.

Characteristics and Importance of the Water Sector

The continental SADC region (less the Democratic Republic of Congo) has a total land area of nearly 6.8 million sq. km.  Regional estimates put renewable freshwater resources at an annual average of 650 billion m³, which is distributed amongst rivers, lakes and groundwater bodies throughout the region.  There are fifteen major rivers shared among the continental SADC member-states. (See Annex 2.) All the continental SADC countries share one or more river basins

Climate is a major influence on the availability of water in the region.  Rainfall patterns vary dramatically within the region, and in many parts rainfall is unreliable, leaving some areas with an abundance of water and others a scarcity.  Drought conditions normally trigger serious hydrological imbalances, causing loss or damage to crops, shortage of water for people, livestock and wildlife, as well as famine and disease. The result has had severe impacts on a wide range of environmental and economic activities in the region. For instance, the droughts of 1991-92 and 1994-95 reduced economic activity and impaired the quality of life for most people and wildlife.

By and large, the most significant characteristic of water resources for the SADC region is increasing water scarcity as demand escalates under rapidly growing population pressure. In the quarter century between 1995 and 2020, the region's population is likely to almost double to 262 million people.  The number of people added to the region's population every year is likely to increase from 4.1 million people in 1999 to 5.75 million by 2020, even though the annual population growth rate is likely to have peaked during 1990-95 at 2.92 percent and begun a downturn to reach 2.36 percent by 2020.  

Unless remedied, growing water scarcity will severely limit SADC countries from addressing the development challenges of poverty reduction, food security, and industrial development.

Poverty has risen steadily in the region with no indications that the numbers of poor will diminish over the short term.  If this trend is to be reversed, people's standard of living must be improved, and water availability is a key to this shift.  The poor generally have limited access to clean drinking water and adequate sanitation.  More than 60 million people in the SADC region lack access to safe water, and more than 65 million lack basic sanitation services.

Food security is closely intertwined with poverty.  Most of SADC' s poor live in rural areas where household food security is reflected in insufficient food production or seasonal food insecurity due to cyclical rainfall patterns. Food security appears to have deteriorated very significantly during the last 10-15 years, with the number of food-insecure people in the region, excluding South Africa, having almost doubled from 22 million in the early 1980s to 39 million people in  the early 1990s.  This number translates into an increase from 37 percent to 46 percent the proportion of the region's population that is food insecure.

Industrial Development in SADC, like elsewhere in the world, is fuelled to a large extent by the rivers, lakes and ground water of the region.  However, outside of South Africa, less than  one percent of the region’s hydroelectric potential has been developed, while existing electrical generation is threatened as a result of low water levels in the numerous reservoirs, arising from the frequent droughts which afflict the region.  Within SADC, the mining, manufacturing and service sectors are the main sources of formal employment.  As these sectors expand, their demand for water will also increase.  At the same time it is important to note that mining and manufacturing, together with agriculture, are the primary sources of pollution in the region.  Industrial waste  can be found in the ocean waters  along the entire SADC coastline.

The Emerging Water Policy Consensus

SADC's concern and attention to water resources management and development have evolved over the last decade, going back to the member-states' participation in a number of international conferences, beginning in 1990.  These included:

i.the UNDP Global Consultation on Safe Water and Sanitation for the 1990s, New Delhi, 1990;

ii. the International Conference on Water and Environment, Dublin, 1992;

iii. the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 1992; and ,

iv. the ongoing UN Commission on Sustainable Development.

The Regional Protocol on Shared Watercourse Systems, in 1995, was the direct result of SADC's growing recognition of the importance of water resources for the region's development.  Key elements of the Protocol call for member-states to:

• develop close co-operation for judicious and co-ordinated utilisation of the resources of shared watercourse systems in the SADC region;

• co-ordinate environmentally sound development of shared watercourse systems in the SADC region in order to support socio-economic development;

• hold regional conventions on equitable utilisation and management of the resources of shared watercourse systems in the SADC region;

• consolidate other agreements in the SADC region regarding the common utilisation of certain watercourses; and

• promote the SADC integration process in accordance with Article 22 of the Treaty establishing  the Community.

Constraints to the Development  of SADC's Water Sector

Regional integrated water resources development and management requires multidimensional planning and implementation capacity, which incorporates both national and regional institutions.  Such institutions are needed to better facilitate the identification and implementation of national and transboundary projects and programmes.  In large measure, this capacity is still lacking throughout most of the region.  Seven major issues and constraints are identified that limit SADC member-states' ability to achieve a more integrated approach to water resources development.

The Legal and Regulatory Framework: National water legislation in most SADC countries is inadequate and weakly enforced.  One reason effective integrated water resources development and management is difficult to attain is because different national laws covering water often conflict.  Concerning the jurisprudence of treaties, most regional SADC treaties are still not applicable at the national level unless and until their obligations are incorporated in national law. 

Institutional Strengthening: The efficient operation and management of water resources development and the equitable sharing and utilisation of their benefits are marginally realised due to a lack of comprehensive, integrated basin-wide approach in the development and management process.  The management of water resources requires strong and effective mechanisms for inter-sectoral planning and co-ordination.  

Linkages with Sustainable Development Policies:  Current macro-economic policies in the region have only just begun to address the economic incentives to encourage the conservation and sustainable use of water resources.  Economic instruments can encourage cost effectiveness, increase investments in water infrastructure, and act as incentives for efficient use of water and pollution control.  Although this is a relatively new concern for many SADC countries, there is considerable scope for making macro policies for the water sector -- and the regulatory framework for their enforcement -- more economically and socially responsible.

Data Collection, Management and Dissemination:  SADC countries need to improve the knowledge base for improved management of water resources.  Integrated management is dependent on acquiring appropriate information, managing this information and making it available to a large diversity of end users.  Regional and local capacities need to be developed for the continuous updating of pertinent data for planning and monitoring purposes.

Awareness Building, Education and Training:  There is insufficient awareness about the state of water resources to address their economic, social, environmental and management implications.  This limited understanding represents a serious constraint to improved water resources management and development. 

Stakeholder Participation:  Government ministries, municipalities or water companies are usually responsible for the water supply.  The disadvantage of this top-down approach to water resources development is that almost no choice is given to beneficiaries for selecting the kinds of water services they receive.  Similarly, irrigation projects have often had a sad legacy of not seeking to involve the intended beneficiaries in project design and implementation.

Infrastructure:  Inadequate infrastructure has hindered the optimal distribution of domestic water and sanitation services generally, and especially, to the poor.  In some urban areas growth in population has outstripped designed infrastructure systems, many of which now require redesign and upgrading.  In fact, most large water infrastructure, most notably dams, were constructed for single purposes use, such as hydropower or irrigation.  Therefore, they are unable to meet the growing demands of multi-purpose usage. At the same time, ground water, which is the main source for many rural areas, has not been well developed.

SADC Regional Strategic Action Plan on Water Resources

At their meeting in Lilongwe, Malawi in June 1998, the SADC Ministers for water resources endorsed the region's first comprehensive Strategic Action Plan for the water sector.  The Plan was, in turn, approved by the 1998 SADC meeting of the Council of Ministers in Port Louis, Mauritius in September.  The Summary Report of the Regional Strategic Action Plan, as approved by the relevant SADC bodies, has been circulated as a background document for the RTC.

As explained in the Summary Report, the major objective of the Action Plan is to provide a framework for the region to successfully meet the challenge of developing a comprehensive and integrated approach to water resources development and management. Such an objective is to be accomplished through a commitment to: (i) attaining a much stronger human and institutional capacity to formulate laws, policies and norms which allow water resources to be used cost-effectively as an economic and social good, and (ii) ensuring the more efficient use of existing and planned infrastructure projects which harness water's potential in an environmentally and economically sustainable manner.

The Action Plan places primary emphasis on improving the enabling environment for more effective water resources development and management, not on "hard" infrastructure, per se.  Priority is given to seven areas, namely, legal/regulatory frameworks, policy formulation, management information systems, human and institutional capacity building, awareness-raising, and expanding stakeholder participation. These elements are seen as critical for making water resources management truly integrated and holistic in approach and for allowing SADC member-states to address the complex issues associated with managing river basins and other transboundary water matters. 

In order to translate the seven strategic areas into tangible results and outcomes, a list of priority projects and interventions were prepared, drawing upon the numerous project proposals and suggested interventions received from member-states, various SADC bodies and other organisations.  A total of 44 regional interventions are included in Table 6 of the Summary Report.  Of these, 31 have been identified as priority projects, which were derived by screening all project submissions, based on the following selection criteria: 

• projects which have emerged as a common need within the integrated water resource development and management strategy for the SADC region;

• projects that are regional or have regional implications;

• projects which will remove obstacles/constraints and create an enabling and conducive environment for joint, collaborative water development ventures; 

• projects which can be implemented in the short term and can lay the foundation for the medium to long term goals of SADC;  and

• support for ongoing projects that are proceeding with a proper level of performance, but where additional finance is required.

Furthermore, 20 of the 31 proposed projects are considered to be of highest priority, having start dates in 1999.  These high priority projects are listed in Annex 4, which outlines the implementation schedule for all 31 priority project proposals.

Rationale and Funding Proposals for Round Table Consideration

In looking to additional international support, SADC recognises that each co-operating partner has different mechanisms and criteria for providing assistance.  For purposes of regional activities affecting SADC governments, in the context of the RTC, this may include (i) assistance directed specifically at and through SADC institutions for the water sector; (ii) assistance directed to other regional or sub-regional entities (such as river basin authorities) in which SADC member-states are a party; and (iii) assistance provided to agencies or institutions within a member-state which includes components that, likewise, provide support or training to institutions or individuals from other SADC countries.  It should be emphasised that the funding proposals presented are not just for SADC institutions, but equally for the other two categories of assistance. Conversely, project proposals of a purely national scope have been excluded from consideration, as was stressed in earlier sections  of this document.

Another point to underscore is that the focus of the proposals is, like that in the Strategic Action Plan itself, on addressing the institutional and managerial capacity for improved water resources development and management  in an equitable and sustainable manner, not on infrastructural projects for the supply and utilisation of water.  It is SADC's view that the major challenge of a truly regional and integrated approach to water resources development is, first and foremost, these institutional and capacity issues.  The foundation for the necessary water infrastructure required to meet increased demand in the coming years must be built on the bedrock of strong institutional, policy and human capacities.  SADC, like the international donor community, recognises that virtually all infrastructural project must be preceded by sound economic, environmental and social analysis and be part of a larger institutional and legal-regulatory framework which optimises the infrastructure's social and economic outcomes.

The proposals presented to the RTC have been grouped according to the seven strategic objectives found in the Regional Strategic Action Plan.  More broadly, the proposals fall within one of three categories:

i.ongoing regional programmes, for which there are current or foreseeable gaps;

ii.capacity building initiatives aimed at overcoming the limitations in policy, legal, data, and stakeholder analysis and involvement; and

iii.strategic studies or 'pre-investment' exercises, designed to improve the   region's project formulation and appraisal capabilities.

A total of US$123.013 million is required, as shown in the table below and in the more detailed breakdown of project proposals found in Annex 3.  Of this amount, US$ 11.183 million -- or 10 percent -- represents SADC’s counterpart funding.  It should be emphasised that the total amount required represents only a preliminary estimate of the funding needed for each identified project activity.  More accurate funding parameters would obviously be developed as each project is fully appraised by interested development partners.  Most of the proposals lend themselves to grant assistance, as opposed to loans or credits. Furthermore, Annex 5 presents  a summary of regional donor activities in  the water in Southern Africa to highlight committed or planned efforts in relation to the interventions proposed for the consideration  of the Round Table Conference.

Summary of Priority Funding Areas
(US $)

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