Conjunctive Water Resources Management Research in the Shire River/Aquifer System (Shire ConWat)

The Shire River Basin Project

About

About Project

The reason for the conjunctive management of groundwater systems

The potential benefits that can be derived from international water cooperation are often limited by separate management of ground and surface water. Globally, over 300 treaties have been crafted for freshwater river basins while dedicated groundwater treaties are still less than 10. Similarly, numerous river basin organisations (RBOs) exist, which are primarily oriented toward surface water management. However, joint groundwater institutions are scant. Failure to apply greater focus to groundwater – and more importantly, integrated approaches to surface and groundwater – may mask key opportunities for improving the management of water across borders.

Surface water and groundwater systems are connected in most landscapes. The interconnectedness between and among water sources calls for conjunctive management of those sources to encourage their optimal use. Conjunctive management refers to the simultaneous management of ground and surface water resources, to achieve security of water supply and environmental sustainability.

The conjunctive management of water resources can bring a range of benefits including contribution to vulnerability reduction, climate resilience and protection of aquatic and terrestrial life, as well as optimising water productivity and environmental sustainability. This is more so the case in shared river-aquifer systems where increasing and often conflicting water demand has to be addressed. Within SADC, where more than 15 river basins are shared, and 25 shared aquifers have been identified to date, primarily in arid and semi-arid and climate-sensitive regions, conjunctive management of shared water systems is even more urgent. Good progress is seen on developing joint agreements and institutions related to transboundary river basins and increasingly also on aquifers. However, little coordination of the work on surface and groundwater exists to date. Yet, up to 60% of the populations in this region is reliant on groundwater, while focus of international work has traditionally been on surface water.

As part of fulfilling the vision of the Southern Africa Development Community’s Groundwater Management Institute (SADC-GMI) to ensure the equitable and sustainable use and protection of groundwater in the SADC region, important work is being undertaken on shared aquifers. The lessons learnt from the ongoing work related to the Transboundary Aquifers (TBA) of Ramotswa (Botswana and South Africa) and Stampriet (Botswana, Namibia and South Africa) inspired the decision to broaden research and stakeholder engagement on the management of TBAs in the region. As such, research into shared groundwater aquifers is growing with the aim of assisting RBOs and other institutions in integrating groundwater and surface water management. The Shire Basin (Malawi, Mozambique) has been identified as an important pilot case to develop comprehensive assessment tools and joint stakeholder processes, which will inform conjunctive transboundary water management in the basin and more broadly in the region.

Approach

Our Approach

Implementation of conjunctive water management requires objective research to enhance technical capacity and build relevant institutions. The Shire Conjunctive Water Management Project (Shire ConWat) focuses on the Shire River-Aquifer system, a transboundary water management area shared between Malawi and Mozambique.The Shire ConWat is part of the SADC-GMI ongoing project (The Sustainable Groundwater Management in SADC Member States), funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Multi-Donor Trust Fund Cooperation in International Waters in Africa (CIWA) through the World Bank.

The Shire System was identified as an ideal research area to investigate the conjunctive management of water resources because of the close coincidence between the geographic boundaries of the transboundary surface water and aquifer systems. The project recognizes that optimal transboundary water management results from taking conjunctive approaches that optimise water use across a diversity of water resources and scales. Supporting conjunctive cross-border water management in the Shire will be pursued through three key task areas: a Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA), a Joint Strategic Action Plan (JSAP) and Knowledge Management of Research Results. The choice of the Shire Basin was approved by the SADC Member States as part of the SADC-GMI’s work plan that went through its extra-ordinary Steering Committee meeting in June 2017.

The work is framed within ZAMCOM (Zambezi Watercourse Commission) and other existing national and international organizations with a key role in managing water resources sustainably in the Shire Basin.These include the ARA Zambeze and the National Directorate of Water Resources Management (DNGRH) in Mozambique, and the Shire River Basin Management Program and the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Development in Malawi.The project will establish an extended network to enable discussion and dissemination of findings. This network will include SADC, AMCOW, the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program (CAADP), and the African Network of Basin Organizations (ANBO).

Objectives

Our Objectives

The overarching objective of the project is to contribute to the sustainable water management in SADC. The specific objective is to identify and develop joint strategic conjunctive management of the shared surface and groundwater resources of the Shire River basin and aquifer systems. Shire ConWat seeks to develop and apply an approach for conjunctive water management in the Shire transboundary river-aquifer system particularly through:

Compiling, synthesizing and disseminating surface and groundwater data and information (including on their dynamic interaction) in the Shire river-aquifer system
Participatory identification of cross-border water issues requiring shared management approaches and development of institutional mechanisms that support the achievement of equitable and sustainable resilience-strengthening water use approaches based on conjunctive management
Documenting and disseminating regionally relevant principles and guidelines for promotion of transboundary conjunctive management of river/aquifer systems based on the Shire river/aquifer system study.

Key Components

Key Components of the Project

Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) to gather the state of knowledge in the system to facilitate identification of priority issues and key ways forward.

Joint Strategic Action Plan (JSAP) to identify priority actions and investments for enhanced national and transboundary water management.

Knowledge Management of the Research Results to compile, synthesize and share the experiences for conjunctive water resources in the SADC region using the Shire river/aquifer system as the pilot study.

Partners

Our Partners

SADC-Groundwater Management Institute (SADC-GMI)

The Southern African Development Community Groundwater Management Institute (SADC-GMI) is established as a section 21 not-for-profit company registered under the South African Companies Act No. 71 of 2008, as amended, with a core mandate to promote sustainable groundwater management and providing solutions to groundwater challenges in the SADC region through creating an enabling policy, legal and regulatory environment, capacity building, advancing research, supporting infrastructure development, and enabling dialogue and accessibility of groundwater information.

The institute is hosted by the University of the Free State’s Institute for Groundwater Studies in Bloemfontein, South Africa on behalf of, and under the strategic guidance of the SADC Secretariat, Directorate of Infrastructure’s Water Division, in Gaborone, Botswana. As a subsidiary structure of SADC, SADC-GMI draws its mandate from the fourth phase Regional Strategic Action Plan for Integrated Water Resources Management (RSAP IV: 2016-2020).

International Water Management Institute (IWMI)

The International Water Management Institute is a non-profit, scientific research organisation focusing on the sustainable use of water and land resources in developing countries, with a mission to provide evidence-based solutions to sustainably manage water and land resources for food security, people’s livelihoods and environment. IWMI works in partnership with governments, civil society and the private sector to develop scalable agricultural water management solutions that have a real impact on poverty reduction, food security and ecosystem health. IWMI is headquartered in Colombo, Sri Lanka, with regional offices across Asia and Africa. IWMI is a CGIAR Research Centre and leads the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE).

National Directorate of water Resources Management (DNGRH) – Mozambique

SADC-GMI collaborates with the Mozambican government on the Shire ConWat project though National Directorate of Water Resources Management, abbreviated as DNGRH. DNGRH is the agency of the Ministry of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources, responsible for promoting the use and sustainable use of water resources to meet current needs and future generations, safeguarding the environment in Mozambique.

Functions of the National Water Resources Management Directorate include but are not limited to the following:

To propose policies and development strategies, conservation, use and management of water resources in river basins;
Ensure the availability of water in quantity and quality for different uses;
To coordinate the cooperation activities in the field of shared water resources, ensuring participation in cooperative bodies in the field of water;
To assess the implementation of international agreements on the joint use of water resources;
Periodically evaluate the water resources of river basins and water requirements at national and regional level.

Ministry of Irrigation and Water Development Department – Malawi

SADC-GMI collaborates with the Malawian government on the Shire ConWat project through the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Development. The mandate of the Ministry is to ascertain a sustainable provision of water supply and sanitation services and implementation of irrigation development programmes in order to contribute to socio-economic growth in Malawi. The mission of the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Development is to manage and develop water resources for sustainable, effective and efficient provision of potable water, sanitation and irrigation systems in support of Malawi’s economic growth and development agenda.

The University of the Strathclyde – Scotland

The University of Strathclyde is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow’s second-oldest university, and received its royal charter in 1964 as the UK’s first technological university. It takes its name from the historic Kingdom of Strathclyde.

The University of Strathclyde is Scotland’s third-largest university by number of students, with students and staff from over 100 countries.

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