Development of an IWRM Strategy for the Zambezi River Basin

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Development of an IWRM Strategy for the
Zambezi River Basin
OVERVIEW OF ZACPRO 6.2
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BACKGROUND

• 1987 SADCC(now SADC) adopted the Zambezi River
  Action Plan(ZACPLAN)
• Context Economic cooperation and development of
  southern African countries
• Objective to achieve environmentally sound
  planning and management of water and related
  resources in the Zambezi River Basin
• ZACPLAN consists of 19 projects
• ZACPRO 6 is a core project

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BACKGROUND

• ZACPRO 6 Development of an Integrated Water
  Management Plan for the Zambezi River Basin
• ZACPRO 6 has gone through different stages
• ZACPRO 6.1(1995-1999)- focused on development of
  a database system (ZACBASE) and water use sector
  studies
• Under ZACPRO 6.1, little under was given to the
  institutional environment in which tools and
  models operate
• ZACPRO 6 PHASE II(2001-) Development of an IWRM
  strategy for the Zambezi River Basin

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BACKGROUND

• ZACPRO 6 PHASE II more emphasis on institutional
  environment in which tools and models may be
  embedded
• PHASE II follow up and complementary to PHASE I
• Agreement for ZACPRO PHASE II signed in March,
  2001, implementation started in October, 2001
• Project Implementation Unit is housed at ZRA in
  Lusaka, Zambia

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BACKGROUND

• Overall Objective To improve integrated water
  resources management to facilitate social and
  economic development, and protection against
  floods, droughts, water resources pollution and
  environmental degradation in the Zambezi River
  Basin
• Immediate ObjectiveTo assist and facilitate the
  efforts of the Zambezi riparian states to create
  and develop an enabling institutional environment
  for the achievement of the overall objective

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PROJECT ORGANISATION AND FOCUS AREAS

• SADC Project
• ZRA Implementing Agency
• PIU
• PSC Regional ownership, responsible for results
• JPMC oversee project progress, planning,
  budgeting
• NSC
• (a) stakeholder participation, platform on which
  national consensus can be reached on WRM issues
• (b)National input on decisions and issues dealt
  with by project
• 
  

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PROJECT ORGANISATION AND FOCUS AREAS

• (c)Dissemination of ideas, activities and outputs
  of project(to home stakeholders and interest
  groups)
• (d)Link between project implementation and
  national thinking
• (e)Platform for discussing other shared basins
• (f)Discussion of issues of national interest
  before engaging the region
• 
  

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FUNDING PARTNERS

• Sida
• Royal Norwegian Embassy, Lusaka
• DANIDA
• 
  

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7 Major Ouput Areas
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Progress

• Functioning PIU (enabling environment
• Functioning JPMC(enabling environment)
• Functioning PSC(enabling environment)
• NSCs launched and functional in 7 of the 8
  riparian countries( Angola yet to
  launch)(stakeholder participation ownership)
• Secondment programme commenced(confidence
  buildinglegitimacy)
• Support rendered to ZAMCOM negotiation and
  development process(institutional framework)
• Awareness and collaboration activities
  enhanced(e.g Zambezi Newsletter, MOUs with other
  projects and programmes(Shared Perspectives
  Transparency)

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Progress

• Website development at an advanced stage
• Preparations for a rapid assessment/update study
  at advanced stage
• 1st Stakeholders conference..

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The Way Forward

• Consolidation and strengthening of the gains of
  the past 3 years and building up to Assessment
  and Strategy Definition
• (assessments/update of baseline information
  development and evaluation of options evaluation
  of options recommendations choice of options)
• seen in context of an overall strategy
  development process
• Note
• NSCs are very important instruments in
  operationalising the tenets of ownership and
  stakeholder participation as well as providing a
  forum for riparian countries to discuss issues of
  national interest prior to making regional
  commitments

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The Zambezi Basin IWRM Strategy Development
Process Under ZACPRO 6 Phase II
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)

• What is an IWRM Strategy?
• Why the Strategy? (Rationale)
• What is the regional context?
• What are the key elements of the strategy
  development process?
• What is the status of the strategy development
  process?
• How does the process (as planned) fit together?
• How is the process planned to unfold in the
  months(and years) ahead?

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)

• What are the critical (next) steps and
  linkages(backward and forward)?
• How can the process be speeded up?
• How does the process relate with complementary
  initiatives?

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INSPIRATION....VISION

• The riparian countries will achieve a higher and
  sustainable socio-economic development for all,
  through equitable and sustainable utilisation of
  water (and related) resources of the Zambezi
  River Basin
• There is more to be gained than to be lost by
  jointly managing the basin

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WHAT IS AN IWRM STRATEGY?

• A set of medium to long term (IWRM) programmes to
  support the achievement of development goals
• The objective is to provide for measures to
  manage (and develop) water resources in
  accordance with adopted policies and goals

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WHAT IS THE RATIONALE?

• The Zambezi River, with its many tributaries, is
  probably the most important source of water(and
  livelihood) in SADC
• Water resources of the basin are unevenly
  distributed in space and time
• Challenges in the basin include increasing water
  demand, environmental concerms endemicity and
  persistence of poverty piecemeal, uncoordinated
  and haphazard water resources management and
  development floods and drought

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WHAT IS THE RATIONALE?

• Since water is essential to sustain development,
  it is important to have a strategy to develop and
  manage it properly
• The purpose of the strategy is to select and
  prioritise measures to manage the water resources
  of the Zambezi Basin in accordance with the
  policies set out by the riparian states
• Expected outcome sustainable, equitable and
  coordinated development within the basin, through
  the proper use of the basins water resources

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THE REGIONAL CONTEXT

• Southern African Water Vision
• Regional Water Policy
• Regional Water Strategy(under development)
• Regional Strategic Action Plan
• ZAMCOM Agreement
• Increasingly friendly national enabling
  environments

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THE IWRM STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT PROCESS FOR THE
ZAMBEZI

• Traditional Cyclic Process
• Where do we want to be?(objectives, goals,
  policies)
• Where are we now?(assessment, analysis of issues)
• How can we get where we want to be(options,
  choices)
• Which way is best?(STRATEGY)
• How will resources be allocated?(strategic plan,
  investment plan)
• How do we ensure arrival at goals(implementation
  and control).back to
• Where do we want to be?(objectives, goals,
  policies)

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CYCLIC PROCESS
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THE IWRM STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT PROCESS FOR THE
ZAMBEZI

• The IWRM strategy development process under
  ZACPRO 6 PHASE II is expected to lead to improved
  water resources management which would in turn
  facilitate socio-economic development in the
  Zambezi River Basin
• Improved, integrated water resources management
  requires improvements in the following key areas

• Enabling environment (including institutions)
• IWRM tools and systems
• IWRM Strategies and Plans
• Investments

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THE IWRM STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT PROCESS FOR THE
ZAMBEZI

• The strategy development process has been
  designed to revolve around the above areas of
  focus more or less in that order but also mindful
  of parallel processes and overlaps( life must
  continue.)
• Expectations
• Strategy should establish expectations for
  infrastructure and other water management systems
  (improve water availability, protection of water
  resources, flood protection, coordinated and
  integrated management and development, capacity
  building strategies, etc)

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WHAT IS THE STATUS OF THE STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT
PROCESS?

• The strategy development process has been
  designed to achieve the following outputs
• Functioning ZACPRO institutions and supervisory
  arrangements
• Functioning ZAMCOM
• Functioning information system(includes
  assessments, analyses)
• Versatile and appropriate planning and
  managements models and tools
• Basin-wide IWRM Strategy(document)

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HOW DOES IT ALL FIT TOGETHER?

• Fits together unusually well.
• Southern African Water Vision, Regional Water
  Policy, Regional Water Strategy, Regional
  Strategic Action Plan Revised Protocol, ZAMCOM
  Agreement are all IWRM friendly
• Generally regional frameworks are supportive of
  IWRM strategy formulation for the Zambezi River
  Basin
• Under current ZACPRO 6.2 workplan (2005/2006),
  the following elements in the strategy
  development process are prominent

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HOW DOES IT ALL FIT TOGETHER?

• Enhanced stakeholder participation
• Confidence building
• Information exchange, public awareness and
  communication
• Technical assistance to ZAMCOM development
• Build up to what?
• Detailed assessment (informed basis, shared
  perspective)
• Strategy definition

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LOOKING AHEAD (AND CHECKLISTING)

• Critical elements for the strategy formulation
  process for the Zambezi River Basin are in place
• How then do we build upon progress attained so
  far?

The process has to go through two major
outstanding phases
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LOOKING AHEAD (AND CHECKLISTING)

• What are the phases?
• Phase 1- (Rapid) Water Resources Assessment
• (a) Reviews
• (b) Inventory of resources/assessment
• (c) Identification/updating of key issues
  selection, analysis, ranking

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LOOKING AHEAD (AND CHECKLISTING)

• Intervening period used for
• Review processes
• Consultations
• Decisions by oversight bodies
• TORs for strategy definition

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LOOKING AHEAD (AND CHECKLISTING)

• Phase II - Strategy Definition
• Development of options in a consultative manner
• Evaluation of options
• Recommendations
• Choice of options

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CRITICAL STEPS AND LINKAGES

• Quality and extent of IWRM strategy will depend
  upon availability and accessibility of reliable
  information
• The legitimacy and acceptability of the strategy
  will depend largely upon the process followed in
  its development
• ZACPRO 6.2 Year 1(2005/2006) activities focus
  more on seeking to ensure commitment of the
  riparian states, development of shared
  perspectives, trust and confidence as part of the
  overall process of strategy development
• How??

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CRITICAL STEPS AND LINKAGES

• ZAMCOM Development( enabling environment for IWRM
  strategy)
• Stakeholder Participation (ownership of strategy)
• Confidence Building (acceptability, legitimacy of
  strategy)
• Information Exchange, Public Awareness,
  Communication (shared perspectives, transparency
  with regard to strategy development)
• The above areas of on-going work are therefore
  crucially supportive of the overall strategy
  development process.

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CRITICAL STEPS AND LINKAGES

• Once again what are the critical outstanding
  steps?
• (a) Rapid assessment/updated situation analysis
  (draft TORs prepared development of TORs for
  strategy definition part of outputs)
• (b) Review workshops/meetings
• (c) Consultative strategy definition (assisted by
  consultants, expert groups)
• What are the forward linkages???

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CRITICAL STEPS AND LINKAGES

• IWRM Strategy will provide a basis for
  developing the ZAMCOM Strategic Plan as envisaged
  in the ZAMCOM Agreement
• (Refer Cycle)

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HOW CAN THE PROCESS BE SPEEDED UP?

• Importance of process
• Fast tracking may mean rolling out a very
  indicative strategy that would then be updated as
  information systems, tools and models are
  developed
• Some planned Year 1 and Year 2 activities can be
  brought forward(e.g detailed and diagnostic
  studies, assessments)
• Rapid assessment study proposed(TORs prepared)

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HOW CAN THE PROCESS BE SPEEDED UP?

• PIU has moved to accommodate commencement of
  preparation for rapid assessment in Year 1

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CONCLUDING REMARKS

• Strategy formulation at the scale of a large
  river basin is necessarily complex and time
  consuming
• Fact information and knowledge systems are weak
  in the basin
• Fact generally there is political will and
  commitment on the part of riarian states to
  develop an IWRM strategy
• Some speeding up of the process of strategy
  formulation is possible
• Critical deliberate work on updated assessment
  and situation analysis in order to provide a
  solid, informed and accepted basis for strategy
  defn.

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CONCLUDING REMARKS

• Together we can make it happen.

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THANK YOU