River Basin Management Guidelines for Water Management in Uganda: Comparison with EU case studies
(2016) In TVVR16/5006 VVRM01 20161Division of Water Resources Engineering
- Abstract
- This research is based on the hypothesis that the EU water legislation establish river basin management rules which are based on better scientific knowledge and available technologies than the existing national policy and legal framework supporting water management in Uganda. It is however acknowledged that the requirements of the existing EU water policies are hardly often directly applied to the situations of a developing country such as Uganda, but that they provide lessons that are useful when preparing agreements and policies in these countries. This therefore means that alternatives always have to be found to ensure that water quality management may be efficiently undertaken in the most economical and technically feasible way.... (More)
- This research is based on the hypothesis that the EU water legislation establish river basin management rules which are based on better scientific knowledge and available technologies than the existing national policy and legal framework supporting water management in Uganda. It is however acknowledged that the requirements of the existing EU water policies are hardly often directly applied to the situations of a developing country such as Uganda, but that they provide lessons that are useful when preparing agreements and policies in these countries. This therefore means that alternatives always have to be found to ensure that water quality management may be efficiently undertaken in the most economical and technically feasible way. Therefore, this research aims at making an in-depth study of the existing EU water legislation, gather practical experiences from different river basins and examine how these may be adapted to the situation of Uganda. In general, the key issues that are necessary for improved WRM in Uganda include:
• A comprehensive strategy for management of national and international shared water resources;
• An updated policy and legal framework supporting WRM in the country;
• A revised institutional framework for policy making, planning and coordination of WRM at various levels;
• A long term capacity building programme for WRM;
• A clear guideline to promote the active participation of various stakeholders in WRM;
• Increased allocation of funds for WRM; and enforcement of the laws. (Less) - Popular Abstract
- What can Uganda’s water sector learn from EU water legislation?
This study identified a number of differences and similarities between the current rules for water governance in the European Union and Uganda. The rules for water governance in the European Union is referred here as the European Union water legislation and for Uganda is the national water policy and Act. The study focused on issues such as the assessment and management of flood and drought risks, and plans to prepare for and adapt to climate change; groundwater management; water pricing; gender awareness etc. as the basis for comparison. From these detailed comparisons, the following key issues were identified as necessary for improved management of water resources in... (More) - What can Uganda’s water sector learn from EU water legislation?
This study identified a number of differences and similarities between the current rules for water governance in the European Union and Uganda. The rules for water governance in the European Union is referred here as the European Union water legislation and for Uganda is the national water policy and Act. The study focused on issues such as the assessment and management of flood and drought risks, and plans to prepare for and adapt to climate change; groundwater management; water pricing; gender awareness etc. as the basis for comparison. From these detailed comparisons, the following key issues were identified as necessary for improved management of water resources in Uganda: a detailed plan for the management of national and international shared water resources; an updated national policy and legislation for managing water resources in the country; a revised management arrangement for policy making, planning and coordinating water resources management at various levels within the country; a long term programme for developing and strengthening the skills, abilities, processes and resources that people need for managing water resources; a clear national policy to promote the active participation of various water users and interested parties in the management of water resources; increased allocation of funds for managing water resources; and ensuring that the water users and interested parties comply with national legislation that is in place for managing water resources.
The economy of Uganda and welfare of the population intimately depend on the natural environment, both as a source of subsistence and as a basis for production. Environmental degradation in the country such as depletion and degradation of water resources due to rapid population growth, increased agricultural production, hydropower generation, urbanization, industrialization and poverty in rural areas etc. is critical. To find out what can be done differently to improve water resources management in the country, the government undertook water resources management reform studies from 2003 to 2005. The recommendation to come from these reform studies was that there is need for a change from centralised water resources management where all the water resources management functions are performed by the central government to managing water resources at the river basin or catchment level as the most effective way to put in place the plans to deal with the challenges facing water resources management in the country. But what is this basin or catchment? Consider a full jerry can of water, when the lid is opened so that the water is allowed to flow out into a hole dug into the ground. The jerry can in this case is the basin or catchment and the hole into which the water flows represents the sea. Hence, a river basin or catchment is an area of land that drains to a specific point, usually a sea. Oh! Wait a minute! Uganda still lacks full legal backing and clear regulation to clearly specify the roles and responsibilities, rights and obligations of water users and interested parties in the management of water resources, which is a very crucial component for managing water resources at the catchment level. What can Uganda do now? Uganda needs to update the existing national policy and legislation supporting water management. But is there a reference standard that can be used for updating the current national policy and legislation for water management in Uganda? I get it! Let us consider the European Union water legislation as the best water legislation presently available, hence the reference standard for updating the existing national policy and legislation in Uganda. Therefore, we compare the existing national water policy and legislation in Uganda with the European Union water legislation. Oh! Let us not forget to test the compliance of the existing national policy for water management in Uganda and the Water Framework Directive, which is one of the many European Union’s water legislation and a focal point of all European Union water legislation, with five relevant internationally agreed principles promoting integrated water resources management. The basis of integrated water resources management is that all the different uses of water resources should be considered together since they are interdependent. From these detailed comparisons, recommendations can then be proposed on how to improve the national water policy of Uganda. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8885014
- author
- Okello, Peter LU
- supervisor
-
- Linus Zhang LU
- organization
- course
- VVRM01 20161
- year
- 2016
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- EU water notes, International conferences, Water Framework Directive, Uganda, National Water Policy, Integrated water resources management.
- publication/series
- TVVR16/5006
- report number
- 16/5006
- ISSN
- 1101-9824
- language
- English
- additional info
- Examiner: Magnus Persson
- id
- 8885014
- date added to LUP
- 2016-07-12 09:39:13
- date last changed
- 2019-04-01 12:00:53
@misc{8885014,
abstract = {{This research is based on the hypothesis that the EU water legislation establish river basin management rules which are based on better scientific knowledge and available technologies than the existing national policy and legal framework supporting water management in Uganda. It is however acknowledged that the requirements of the existing EU water policies are hardly often directly applied to the situations of a developing country such as Uganda, but that they provide lessons that are useful when preparing agreements and policies in these countries. This therefore means that alternatives always have to be found to ensure that water quality management may be efficiently undertaken in the most economical and technically feasible way. Therefore, this research aims at making an in-depth study of the existing EU water legislation, gather practical experiences from different river basins and examine how these may be adapted to the situation of Uganda. In general, the key issues that are necessary for improved WRM in Uganda include:
• A comprehensive strategy for management of national and international shared water resources;
• An updated policy and legal framework supporting WRM in the country;
• A revised institutional framework for policy making, planning and coordination of WRM at various levels;
• A long term capacity building programme for WRM;
• A clear guideline to promote the active participation of various stakeholders in WRM;
• Increased allocation of funds for WRM; and enforcement of the laws.}},
author = {{Okello, Peter}},
issn = {{1101-9824}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
series = {{TVVR16/5006}},
title = {{River Basin Management Guidelines for Water Management in Uganda: Comparison with EU case studies}},
year = {{2016}},
}