Integrated Water Management at Local Government Level for Southern Africa

Southern Africa is a land rich in mineral resources, but developments are restricted in the largest part of the sub-continent due to a lack of adequate access to available water resources. To address this shortfall an understanding is required of the management structures responsible for the delivery of water to the user. To understand the drivers responsible for effective water supply, a study of the full water supply chain in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe was done, comparing the different management models and the problems associated with the implementation of these different management models. A scorecard was developed to identify the readiness of selected local authorities to ensure effective WDM, taking water resources, purification, distribution, consumer demands, return flows and institutional aspects into consideration. The study concluded that, while significant differences do exist among water authorities, the biggest challenge rests with the management of return flows, while purification management seems to be the best addressed step in the water chain.