Water Management
Water governance
Except for Malawi, the water law of the five countries does not
recognise customary water law as part of the legal system, and yet,
in all give countries, customary law is still active in large parts of the
rural areas.
Money
On the financial side, there are two key questions that need to
be addressed around using permit systems to generate funds
for water resources management. The first of these relates to
the cost-effectiveness of billing systems. The act of billing a
water user, receiving and banking the money, and taking action
against defaulters, costs the state money. However, no one has
done the calculations of what the minimum volume of water is
to bill cost-effectively. From high level estimates, it would appear
that in the case of small users, the state may well be paying more
than they are collecting
In addition, the question of what water resources management
(WRM) functions should be paid for by users, and by which
users, needs further examination, particularly in the context of
encouraging small-scale water use as a way out of poverty for
millions of people across the five countries. For example, the
exemption of small-scale users from paying water charges is an
option that needs further exploration.
The other side of the coin is to ask what WRM functions
should be paid for out of taxes, rather than water use charges,
particularly in relation to using water for poverty eradication.
Despite the challenges faced by the five countries in
implementing permit systems as part of a broader suite of WRM
tools, there are also useful adaptations and good practices
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emerging. In most countries in Africa, water permit systems are
still in the early stages of implementation, and the time is ripe for
the sharing of knowledge and experience.
Without this, the risk of failure in the implementation of permit
systems is real. This risk underscores the need for further robust
study, and the documentation and sharing of best practices
among officials, practitioners and researchers to reconfigure
permit systems into realistic, fit-for-purpose regulatory tools
that improve the water security of all, in particular, the most
vulnerable, in Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe
and elsewhere in Africa.
This article is based on a policy brief prepared by the
Pegasys Institute in collaboration with the International
Water Management Institute, and is an output from
the REACH programme funded by UK Aid from the UK
Department for International Development (DFID) for
the benefit of developing countries (Aries Code 201880).
However, the views expressed and information contained
in it are not necessarily those of or endorsed by DFID,
which can accept no responsibility for such views or
information or for any reliance placed on them.
Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • July - August 2017
The Water Wheel May/June 2017
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