Description
This case study describes the Ugandan experience of forming and implementing the principles of integrated water resources management.
The provision of safe and adequate drinking water is considered a fundamental human right in Uganda which is enshrined in the Constitution of 1995. In spite of water being a human right by the Ugandan constitution, only 61% and 68% of the population of Uganda has access to safe drinking water in the rural and urban areas respectively.
Although Uganda is considered well endowed with water resources, these resources exhibit both seasonal and spatial variability. Geographically, some parts of the country have too little water during certain periods of the year while others have too much water. Both of these situations often result in disasters in form of droughts and floods in different areas of the country.
This situation is aggravated by rapid population growth, deforestation, increased agricultural production, urbanization and industrialization which are leading to rapid depletion and degradation of available water resources.
The inadequate water infrastructure and the necessity to deal with the effects of climatic changes exacerbate this situation even further. Water shortages, water quality deterioration, flood and drought impacts are some of the problems, which require urgent attention and action. Uganda's quest for economic and social development is increasingly related to water.
Action taken
In 1994 Uganda took an initiative to prepare a Water Action Plan (WAP) and since then, the situation of water resource management has improved significantly.
The WAP was a comprehensive set of documents that detailed the activities associated with water resources development and management and further defined priority action areas to revitalize the water resources management sub-sector. It provided the government with guidelines and strategies for the protection of and development of water resources and a structure for their management at national, district and local levels. The WAP provided recommendations and laid a proper foundation for other important document.
As a follow up to the recommendations of the WAP, the Government enacted a Water Statute (1995) and gazetted a National Water Policy (1999), thus putting in place a comprehensive enabling legal and institutional framework for water resources management in the country. In the same year (1995) the National Environment Statute was also enacted to provide a framework for co-ordination and sound management of the environment including environmental impact assessment of water resource related projects.
Since the preparation of WAP in 1994, Uganda has been promoting IWRM as an integral part of its strategy. An enabling legal and institutional framework has paved a way for establishment of water resources data and information for use in planning of water resources projects has been improved.
Other arrangements such as a regulatory framework to control water abstraction and the pollution of water bodies played a crucial role in this regard. In 2003 the Directorate of Water Development initiated the Water Sector Program Support, WSPS 2 (2003-2007), which aimed to develop a cadre of highly trained and motivated staff to handle issues of water management in the country.
Lessons learned
Priorities for water management are mainly geared towards domestic service provision at the expense of economic aspects and more long term sustainability aspects such as operation and maintenance and water resources management.
Uganda’s strategic development is focused on hydropower production, improvement of agricultural production (through the provision of water for production), domestic water supply, improvement of water transport on lakes and rivers.
There is lack of an operational IWRM framework due to the failure to expand water and poverty focus beyond drinking water and sanitation making it difficult to reap the benefits of IWRM. For instance, there is still a lack of multi-purpose infrastructure in Uganda to handle the various water demands.
The power supply of Uganda is almost totally dependent on hydropower while sewerage and sanitation service requirements increase in step with improvements in water supplies and have important health implications. The water supply sector is still under expansion and small scale irrigation is being promoted which is expected to increase in future.