Achieving a More Egalitarian Water Allocation System in Zimbabwe

A number of major changes have affected water use in Zimbabwe. These include an increased urban population putting heavy pressure on the inadequate and poorly maintained water infrastructure resulting in serious environmental concerns including deteriorating water quality; a land reform programme that has dramatically reduced the number of large-scale farmers and given rise to new smallholder and medium farmers in resettlement schemes and an increase in mining that has become an important water user and a significant polluter. The rural communal areas comprising almost half the land area and population have also been neglected. With the current water crises in Zimbabwe there is a clear opportunity to address these issues and to establish a more efficient, effective and equitable allocation of water between the wide range of existing and emerging water users.