Wateraid Zambia supports regulation of ground water BUT..

WaterAid believes that ground water regulation is essential for sustainable management of water as a natural resource, including monitoring of changes of water levels, water quality and effects of water abstraction overtime, particularly in case of large scale commercial use.

WaterAid notes that many households in rural, urban and peri urban areas depend on ground water and in many cases, drilling of boreholes has become an option for those that do not have access to water supplied by commercial utilities or other providers. Use of boreholes has increased significantly especially in urban and peri urban areas where population growth has outstripped existing water supply infrastructure. At the same time, many households are not connected to sewerage lines and therefore rely on septic tanks.

In Lusaka, for instance, only 14% of households are connected to the sewer network while the rest depend on septic tanks and other on-site sanitation
facilities that often do not meet minimum technical standards. Therefore, the risk of contamination of ground water is very high and this is a situation that the country needs to address, as the recent Cholera outbreak underlines. Further, the growing demand for abstraction of ground water (and that of surface water) in Agriculture and Industries also poses significant risks for ground water, if left unregulated.

The water act of 2011 therefore foresees various instruments for sustainable water resources management in order to safeguard this viable resource in the long run. The Statutory Instruments recently gazetted are part of these instruments. Against this background, WaterAid agrees with the introduction of ground water regulation with the understanding that:

• The regulation particularly targets ground water abstraction for large scale commercial use and will also significantly help in addressing ground water quality;
• That communal boreholes are exempt to restrictions that apply on water usage in the statutory instrument;
• That monitoring of ground water incurs significant costs and the one-off payment for registration of existing and new boreholes is necessary to support this;
• The water usage fees for commercial purposes increase water use efficiency,thereby reduce abstraction, and hence safeguard our precious resources.
• That the 10.000 litres per borehole per day (i.e. 10m³) threshold provided for households at no cost for consumption is adequate.

WaterAid however, cautions that implementation of the regulation is not a one off activity and is a long term, ongoing venture that needs to be well resourced and therefore Government needs to think about a long term financing mechanism for water resources management and development, and water supply and sanitation services,and adequately resource the water sector in the national budget , particularly allocating more resources in the national budget to water resource management The Water Resources Act 2011 established the Water Resources Management Authority WARMA.

WARMA as the enforcing agency for water resources management, needs to ensure clear accountability for revenue generated from implementation of the regulation and must demonstrate how revenue is re-invested in enhancing water resource management, respecting key principals of good financial governance of public institutions.

WARMA also needs to ensure that processes for approval of borehole drilling are transparent and effectively addressed and do not become a bureaucratic hindrance that will delay the drilling of boreholes as water is a critical commodity that must be quickly available. Therefore, WaterAid recommends that WARMA revises and shortens the turnaround time for approvals.

Finally, WaterAid reiterates its appeal; to government to invest more in water supply,sanitation and hygiene services, especially in urban and periurban areas to reduce dependency on individual boreholes.

Issued by:
Pamela M. Chisanga
Country Director- Zambia