2. 2.1 WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES Water Resources in the SADC Region 2.1.1 Water resources (surface water, groundwater, and rainfall) are unevenly distributed in time and space in the SADC region. Geographically, the region covers an extensive area of approximately 9.3 million square kilometres between latitudes 5o N to 35o S and longitudes 10o to 40o E. There is tremendous variability in climate across the region, which in turn significantly affects the availability of water resources. Average annual rainfall varies from 4,000mm in the north to less than 50mm in south-western parts of the region. The region includes the equatorial rain forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and deserts in Namibia and Botswana. A large part of the region is semi-arid. Surface runoff is higher in the northern parts of the region and most rivers are perennial; but surface runoff is lowest in the southern and western parts of the region, and many rivers are ephemeral. The region is prone to extreme meteorological events. Severe droughts have covered the region frequently over the last two decades, and extreme floods hit the region in two consecutive years, 2000 and 2001, and affected particularly Mozambique and Malawi. 2.1.2 SADC is a region of shared water resources. It is estimated that about 70% of the water resources in the SADC region are shared by more than one country. There are 15 major river basins which are transboundary or watercourses shared by two or more countries (see Figure 1). They range from the large Congo River Basin (3,800,000 square kilometres) to Umbeluzi River Basin (5,500 square kilometres). The Zambezi River Basin (1,400,000 square kilometres), covers eight SADC Member States. Even the small Umbeluzi River is shared by Mozambique and Swaziland. Thus one of the characteristic features in the region, is shared watercourse systems, with complex water rights and potential conflicts over utilization of the shared resources. This common heritage also presents tremendous opportunities for cooperation in managing the shared resources for regional economic development and regional integration. 2.1.3 On a regional basis the average renewable freshwater resources (ground and surface water) of the SADC region are enormous. With a population of approximately 200 million (year 2000 SADC estimate), per capita annual renewable freshwater resources average 8,900 cubic metres (equivalent to about 24,000 litres/person/day). However, this seemingly favourable water situation masks tremendous seasonal, annual and spatial variability. In addition, water is generally not available in places of highest water demand. For example, there are abundant water resources in the northern parts of the region (including the DRC, northern parts of Zambia and Angola); but these are also areas of least water demand at present. Highest water demands are in the southern and south-western parts of the region (northern parts of South Africa, and most of Namibia and Botswana). This high variability in availability of water resources has led to localized deficits in water. Projections of population, water demand, and water development indicate that by 2025 six SADC countries will experience water quality and quantity problems in the dry season, three countries will experience “water stress” and at least two countries (Malawi and South Africa) will experience “absolute scarcity”. 2.1.4 Other characteristics of the water sector in SADC include: low coverage of urban and rural water supply and sanitation services, leading to high incidence of water-borne diseases; rapidly growing and urbanizing populations, leading to growing water scarcity and -6-