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Promoting economic value of water vital for integrated management of resources
2007-12-31 08:51:38
By Guardian Reporter
When the then Arumeru District Executive Director, Raphael Mapunda, questioned the Ministry of Water and Livestock Development whether it was fair for the Arusha Urban Water Supply Authority to tap water from a source in the district located 40 kilometres away without making any sort of contribution to villagers around the water source, he sparked a conflict that took a long time to get a solution.
The Director`s view was that it was not fair for the Arusha water authority to take water from the source at Nduruma village in the district free of charge and then sell it to Arusha Municipal residents.
The authority did not only tap the water without paying a single cent but it did not contribute, in whatever manner, to the management and protection of the resources from which it earned a hefty income.
He was speaking for the villagers who were responsible for the conservation and protection of the water source but had no say on the management of the water body.
That the issue which arose during a regional meeting to discuss environmental conservation and poverty alleviation drive in the region shows clearly how the district cared for its environment.
The Executive Director had wanted to bring the attention of the delegates to the fact that water is an economic good and as such the Arusha water authority could not take water from the district and sell it to its customers without paying for it.
Two views emerged from the meeting: one was propounded by an official from the Arusha Urban Water Authority who said that as a natural resource the water at Nduruma was government property and it was upon the latter to decide how best to use it.
The official`s argument implied that since AUWSA was a parastatal, it could take as much water as it wanted from the Nduruma source and sell it to Arusha residents without having to worry either about the villager`s concerns or the cost involved in conserving the environment in general and the water resource in particular.
In effect, Nduruma residents could as well decide to pollute the source or engage in human activities that could lead to the drying up of the source and AUWSA wouldn\'t be bothered.
The official from the Ministry on the other hand had a different view.
``Yes, the water belongs to the government but since the villagers are responsible from maintaining the resource AUWSA should compensate the villagers or pay some kind of royalties to the district council,`` the official had said, adding that since AUWSA was a water user just like the Municipal residents, it had to pay for the water it extracts from Nduruma.
The argument posed by the Municipal official does not match with the concept of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) which, among other things, recognizes the basic right of all human beings to have access to clean water but at price.
It is a process which ensures the best possible and sustainable use of water resources for economic and social development while protecting and improving the ecological value of the environment to achieve social equity, economic efficiency and environmental and ecological sustainability which are fundamental to poverty alleviation.
The basis of IWRM is that different uses of water are interdependent.
Yet the right to water, does not, however, mean the exemption from payment for water but rather it recognizes both individual and collective rights including their obligation to protect the resource.
There is therefore a need to shift from the administrative procedures of managing water resources to the use of economic tools as enshrined in the IWRM which is centred on the Dublin principles.
One of the principles underscores the rule that water has an economic value among its competing users and should thus be recognized as an economic good.
Paying for the water one uses is an economic tool that helps to institute efficient and equitable use of water resources while managing water as an economic good leads to financial sustainability of water service provision and raises the quality of the service itself.
While the Arumeru District official was concerned with the economic value of water, Nduruma villagers had another worry; that of the spiritual value of water.
Until recently, elders used to perform traditional rites at the water source which located at the foot of mount Meru.
Even today the places is revered by villages as sacred although traditional rites are rarely being performed.
The spiritual value of water is equally important as the utilization and social value of water.
Indigenous in many parts of the SADC region consider water as a common good that should benefit all and not as something that could be used to make benefits.
Commercialisation of water is thus a threat to its spiritual value.
There is more in the demand by the Arumeru Director than mere money.
By contributing to the conservation of the water source in Nduruma village, Arusha Municipality would be integrated in the combined efforts of all water users at local, district and regional level in ensuring a holistic approach to conserving water resources in order to attain economic development, social welfare and environmental protection.
Conserving the water resource should not solely the responsibility of Nduruma villagers but it should involve all users.
Furthermore, the IWRM approach integrates management of all sectors that use and affect water; such sectors as business, economy, industry, agriculture and social services.
There is need to coordinate the cross section of human activities that use water in Arumeru district itself and in Arusha Municipality.
But in real life situations, there is a very thin line that divides between human activities that use and affect water and those which don\'t use and affect water.
Every human activity invariably uses water or has an impact on water.
That is why it is important to highlight the economic value of water and promote higher value uses of water among the users, so as to reduce widespread inefficiencies in service delivery.
With climate change impacting heavily on water, promoting the economic value or any other value of water for that matter and implementing the IWRM approach should be a priority.
The issue of highlighting the economic value of water among the users as shown in the Arusha conflict is not an isolated case.
Mid this year a group of delegates attending a regional dialogue conference on water in Maputo, Mozambique had an opportunity to visit the Pequenos Libombos Dam, located within the Umbeluzi River Basin, about 35 Km west of Maputo.
The river together with its basin is shared by Mozambique, Swaziland and South Africa while the dam caters for the needs of communities around the reservoir as well as those downstream.
It is a multi-purpose water project that supplies water for domestic, industrial use and irrigation and acts a flood control measure. The dam also generates power for Maputo city.
The delegation also visited a 200 hectare banana farm which draws water for irrigation from the dam.
``How much does the owner of the farm pay for the water he uses to irrigate the banana plants?`` asked one of the participants. The question was directed to an official of the farm who had accompanied the delegation on a tour of the farm.
The answer was not very precise but what is clear here is that the participant wanted to bring to the fore the issue of economic value of water in a bid to ensure sustainable use of water resources for economic development while protecting and improving the ecological value of the environment.
When the user incurs cost for the water they use, there is a tendency to use the water more efficiently and carefully that if they get the water for free.
The increasing costs of water supply and widespread inefficiencies in water service delivery in many SADC countries calls for water users to pay due attention to the economic value of water so as to achieve long term economic sustainability.
In the case of farmers drawing water from the Libombos Dam, observing the economic value of water would lead to efficient use of water and curb wastage.
If this approach is implemented in the other countries which share the Umbeluzi River and its basin, the ultimate result would no only be equitable and sustainable use of water but it would also institute good water governance.
Observing the economic value of water is particularly important now when water resources are under unprecedented pressure from rising populations, industrial development and climate change.
Under the circumstances, the conventional mode of water management which focuses on sectoral approach cannot ensure the sustainability of water and equitable distribution.
Sectoral policies have largely been a failure as they don`t take into consideration all the uses and users of water and those who affect water.
For the IWRM is not just a water issue; it affects development, business, politics and social services. Water gives life to almost all the natural resources that people use, thus all the users should be involved in its management.
Rivers provide food, sustain plants and other living things.
Natural flooding of rivers is often the basis of agriculture and healthy ecosystems.
Such environmental flows need to be maintained within the context of IWRM basing on the principle that water has an economic value and should thus be recognized as an economic good.
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