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5
INSTITUTIONAL
ARRANGEMENTS
AND PLANNED
DEVELOPMENTS
Water resources form the basis of almost every
aspect of life in the Zambezi River Basin. The
resources drive the socio-economic, political and
cultural development of the basin’s population,
as well as maintaining their natural environment.
Apart from sustaining a rich diversity, water
resources are critical for meeting the basic needs
of water supply for domestic and industrial
requirements, sanitation and waste management
in the basin. The need to effectively coordinate
and manage water resources has therefore
become a top priority in the basin to promote
sustainable utilisation.
The challenges of integrated and coordinated
water resources development, environmental
management and sustainable development,
climate change adaptation, infrastructure
development, and the strategies required to
address these challenges underline the need
for stronger regional cooperation and closer
integration in the field of water management
(SADCWater Division 2008). Water resources are
connected in nature and that natural connection
provides a metaphor that well illustrates the need
for connected and coordinated management.
This connectedness is reflected in the theme of
SADC’s third strategic plan for the integrated
development and management of water resources
“Watering Life, Together, Forever”.