exemplifies the current set of disconnects between land and water reform even though at the local level land and water are integrated Hodgson, 2004; Derman
et al. 2005. Preserving urban Africa‟s scarce water supplies requires recognition of
urban –rural water cycle linkages and holistic, coordinated, and equitable regional
policies and practices that support ecosystem function Showers, 2002. According to Nhapi, 2009 Harare cannot overcome its water-related problems
under the current set-up. He recommends that a corporatised body, free from political influence and with a higher degree of autonomy, be established to run
the water services for Harare and the neighbouring towns. There is existence of a right to water and livelihood, which can be
responsive to gender and poverty in local norms and practices in Zimbabwe Derman and Hellum, 2006. These local norms and practices can be
incorporated within water management laws and policies at regional, national and local levels.
Water scarcity results in an increase in the incidence of water-related diseases and environmental contamination. Evidence suggests that water scarcity
in Bulawayo represents a huge cost to residents and the environment Manzungu et al. 2010.
2.7 Water management is the Southern African Development Committee SADC
SADC states embarked in a series of efforts aiming at promoting regional cooperation in the water sector. The culminating point of these efforts has been
the signing of the Protocol on Shared Watercourse Systems PSWS. Water resource scarcity has been a strong motivator to regional cooperation between
SADC states rather than triggering conflict between states. This is pro-peace and seems in contrast with those that affirm that the next wars will be water wars.
In line with PSWS several SADC states have reformed their legal arrangements in the water sector to align them with the principles of IWRM. If
this undoubtedly represents a significant “move forward” from the apartheid era, it is also evident that while these concepts of regional cooperation and sustainable
development are well accepted in the political terminology they dont seem to
have as yet, a practical application. The concept of regional cooperation is therefore still very immature and is still not well established in state practice.
National interest continues to play a predominant role in the management of water resources where each state, attempts to “secure” as much water as
possible through the building of dams or the adoption of complex interbasin transfer schemes. The difficulty in achieving regional cooperation is also the
result of an uneven regional power distribution. Water policies inherited from
the past and centered on the building of large dams and securing water through interbasin transfer schemes have deleterious effects on the river ecosystem. They
also appear to be a short term solution to the problem of water scarcity. Water management approaches aiming at augmenting the supply of water
resources have a double effect. On the one hand IBTs and dams end up exacerbating the already unequal water distribution that characterizes the SADC
region, on the other hand the environmental impacts associated with these policies renders the water supplied in this way highly unreliable. Furthermore, the
increasing industralization of the region and its extremely high population growth has led to the overexploitation and pollution of water resources further reducing
the possibility of employing them in economic activities. At the moment, many international river basins in the Southern African region are facing point of
closure Turton and Ashton, 2008.
2.8 Trends in water policy in Zimbabwe
