Political challenges to implementing IWRM in Southern Africa Larry A. Swatuk * Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre, University of Botswana, Maun, Botswana Accepted 15 August 2005 Abstract Southern African states are undertaking comprehensive water sector reforms. While motives for reform are partially local, they are in large part driven by the interests and ideologies of Western states and civil societies. Within the Southern African Development Com- munity (SADC), national (water, sanitation, irrigation) master plans are being written or revised. In several states, new Water Acts are in place and new institutions have been created to improve delivery. The stated goal of these activities is integrated water resources man- agement (IWRM) defined simply as equitable, efficient and sustainable use of the resource. This article summarizes findings of social science-oriented scholarship on water management in the region, in particular that published in three special issues of Physics and Chemistry of the Earth (vol. 27, nos. 11–22; vol. 28, nos. 20–27; vol. 29, nos. 15–18). Evidence shows, among other things, that govern- ments have been reluctant to devolve power to stakeholders; that rural dwellers are suspicious of the motives behind reform; that already empowered actors dominate new institutions touting broad-based participation; that efforts to fully recover costs in urban areas have been met with widespread civil resistance; and that new institutions have undermined existing forms of cooperation and conflict resolu- tion, making matters worse not better. At the same time, these studies show the utility of decision support tools, capacity building exer- cises and research and knowledge production—all positive outcomes that should not be discounted. The paper argues that difficulties with reform reflect the highly political nature of the undertaking. Specifically, the new water architecture proposes a profound realign- ment of decision making power in already fragile, underdeveloped states. As a result, what may have started as a project now constitutes a context wherein differently empowered actors negotiate and renegotiate roles and rights to resources. Thus, to achieve sustainable, equitable and efficient water use in the Southern African region, it is important to reflect on the political nature of these activities and to reconsider (and be prepared to revise or discard) the basic assumptions and ideologies driving the reform process. Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Conflict and cooperation; Localisation; Politics; Integrated water resources management; Institutions 1. Introduction [W]ater management is never ÔneutralÕ, ÔtechnicalÕ or Ôan end in itselfÕ. Neither do neutral water institutions exist, whether they are Catchment Management Agencies, Catchment Management Committees, Water User Associ- ations, forums, or Stakeholder Reference Groups. Nor is DWAF [the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry in South Africa] a neutral facilitator for institution building, limiting its role to that of a constitutional watchdog to en- sure demographic representation. Decentralising water management is even less a matter of handing over neutral authority from the state to a neutral public (Schreiner and van Koppen, 2002, p. 975). All policy making discourse is partial in that it is made by coalitions, which reflect those who can best construct and deliver the most persuasive arguments ... Policy is not made on the basis of rational science. Although well observed science can play a role if its messages are as effec- tively constructed as those of other participants in the pol- icy-making process (Allan, 2003, p. 2). Water reforms are underway throughout the SADC region (Swatuk, 2002a, for an overview). Whereas these began piecemeal throughout the 1980s (e.g. the develop- ment of River Basin Committees in Tanzania in 1981; the 1474-7065/$ - see front matter Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.pce.2005.08.033 * Tel.: +267 6861833; fax: +267 6861835. E-mail address: lswatuk@orc.ub.bw www.elsevier.com/locate/pce Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 30 (2005) 872–880