494
A. Vushe
Angola and northern Namibia are models that may be adoptable across the continent.
Management cooperation and benefit sharing on the Kariba Dam between Zimbabwe
and Zambia are not unique, but lessons learned can be applied to other projects to
optimize peaceful utilization of available shared water and land resources. Identifying opportunities for intra-African virtual water trade between water-rich parts of
Africa (e.g., the Congo River Basin) and water-scarce regions like the Sahel and the
Sahara, or semi-arid parts of southern Africa, may be other options worth exploring.
2.1 Conjunctive Use of Surface and Groundwater as a Tool
for Integrated River Basin Management
Cooperation of stakeholders improves water management, leading to well-planned
recharge and recovery phases and consequently to a lower probability of harm to
surface and groundwater resources. Today, conjunctive water management is less
common than conjunctive use, because of weak institutions and coordination mechanisms (World Bank 2006). To improve African resilience to projected water stresses,
stakeholders in the water sector must invest in and reform water management institutions to prioritize implementation of conjunctive water management before conjunctive use. New methods are required to streamline conjunctive management reforms
and investments so that they optimize the balance between improving infrastructure and building conjunctive management capacities. This can be achieved through
improved monitoring systems and management practices, institutional reform and
better alignment of incentive to priorities (Shah et al. 2005). In many African river
basins, research is still needed to quantify and understand the role of watershed
management and particularly role of soil and water conservation practices on aquifer
recharge, metamorphosis of river runoff and surface and aquifer storage, natural
recharge, potential for induced natural and artificial recharge of the aquifer(s), and
comparative economic and environmental benefits derived from the various possible
recharge options (CSE 2002a). The development of GIS techniques could certainly
help to assess overall water resources within a river basin and the effect of various
changing human interventions such as soil and water conservation practices, land
clearance for agriculture, veld fires over large areas, and construction and operation
of large or small dams.
A. Vushe
Angola and northern Namibia are models that may be adoptable across the continent.
Management cooperation and benefit sharing on the Kariba Dam between Zimbabwe
and Zambia are not unique, but lessons learned can be applied to other projects to
optimize peaceful utilization of available shared water and land resources. Identifying opportunities for intra-African virtual water trade between water-rich parts of
Africa (e.g., the Congo River Basin) and water-scarce regions like the Sahel and the
Sahara, or semi-arid parts of southern Africa, may be other options worth exploring.
2.1 Conjunctive Use of Surface and Groundwater as a Tool
for Integrated River Basin Management
Cooperation of stakeholders improves water management, leading to well-planned
recharge and recovery phases and consequently to a lower probability of harm to
surface and groundwater resources. Today, conjunctive water management is less
common than conjunctive use, because of weak institutions and coordination mechanisms (World Bank 2006). To improve African resilience to projected water stresses,
stakeholders in the water sector must invest in and reform water management institutions to prioritize implementation of conjunctive water management before conjunctive use. New methods are required to streamline conjunctive management reforms
and investments so that they optimize the balance between improving infrastructure and building conjunctive management capacities. This can be achieved through
improved monitoring systems and management practices, institutional reform and
better alignment of incentive to priorities (Shah et al. 2005). In many African river
basins, research is still needed to quantify and understand the role of watershed
management and particularly role of soil and water conservation practices on aquifer
recharge, metamorphosis of river runoff and surface and aquifer storage, natural
recharge, potential for induced natural and artificial recharge of the aquifer(s), and
comparative economic and environmental benefits derived from the various possible
recharge options (CSE 2002a). The development of GIS techniques could certainly
help to assess overall water resources within a river basin and the effect of various
changing human interventions such as soil and water conservation practices, land
clearance for agriculture, veld fires over large areas, and construction and operation
of large or small dams.