Sustainable water management

 

We advocate for Sustainable Water Management (SWM) systems, thus promoting participatory management of water resources taking into account the needs of present and future users.  
Our water management program attempts to deal with water in a holistic fashion, taking into account the various sectors affecting water use, including political, economic, social, technological and environmental considerations. During the International Conference on Water and the Environment (ICWE) in 1992 at Dublin, four principles of Sustainable Water Management were arrived at; namely:

 

• Freshwater is a finite and valuable resource that is essential to sustain life, the environment and development.

• The development and management of our water resources should be based on a participatory approach, involving users, planners and policy makers at all levels.

• Women play a central role in the provision, management and safeguarding of water resources.

• Water has an economic value and should therefore be seen as an economic good.

 

These principles will guide our water management approaches. These principles reflect the importance of water in our daily lives and the need for proper communication, gender equity, and economic and policy incentives to manage the resource properly.

 

GOALS FOR GUIDING SUSTAINABLE WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Criteria for sustainable water use and management must provide guidance for the individuals and institutions that use and manage water, resolve conflicts over water, and deal with the unavoidable uncertainties and risks in decision-making. Accordingly, sustainability goals for water must apply to the role of public, private, governmental and non-governmental parties.

 

Gleick (1996) provided a broad definition of sustainable water use:

  "the use of water that supports the ability of human society to endure and flourish into the indefinite future without undermining the integrity of the hydrological cycle or the ecological systems that depend on it".
 

Sustainability goals for water planning

 

1.A basic water requirement will be guaranteed to all humans to maintain human health.

 

2.A basic water requirement will be guaranteed to restore and maintain the health of ecosystems.

 

3.Water quality will be maintained to meet certain minimum standards. These standards will vary depending on location and how the water is to be used.

 

4.Human actions should not be allowed to impair the long-term renewability of freshwater stocks and flows.

 

5.Data on water resources availability, use and quality will be collected and made accessible to all parties.

 

6.Institutional mechanisms will be developed to prevent and resolve conflicts over water.

 

7.Water planning and decision-making will be democratic; ensuring representation of all affected parties and fostering direct participation of affected interests.

 

Our projects/activities in Sustainable Water Management include:

 

• Capacity building and awareness raising on challenges of water scarcity and coping mechanisms-  targeting  water users, water managers, policy makers, politicians, natural resource managers

• Improving the efficiency of water use, to reduce losses, and increase recycling to satisfy human needs and conserve and/or restore ecosystem and its functions.

• Promoting multiple water-use-systems- a single system for domestic use, crop production, aquaculture, agro-forestry, and livestock production- to reduce poverty and improve water productivity.

• Protect and restore degraded water catchment areas on which the wildlife and the rural poor’s livelihoods depend.

• Protecting rivers from pollution and helping restoring polluted rivers.

• Drafting river basin management plans

• Rain water harvesting project for schools and communities- to help meet increasing water demand, and provide clean, health water to schools. The project also serves as demonstration projects for the neighboring communities. The project also contributes to conserving rivers in the nature reserve.