Water Governance in Tanzania – A Synthesis of Legal and Institutional Frameworks for Groundwater Management in the Upper Great Ruaha River Catchment

Abstract

The importance of groundwater resources in buffering the effects of climate change on water scarcity and security is highly acknowledged worldwide. However, groundwater development and use can only be sustainable with a more robust policy and institutional arrangements related to water governance. The purpose of this study was to analyse the legal framework of water resource development and management in order to contribute in identifying policy constraints to sustainable groundwater resource development and management in Tanzania. The paper used information from literature reviews and data collected through qualitative methods using a case study of Usangu Plains in the Upper Great Ruaha River Catchment in Tanzania. The findings reveal that water governance institutional frameworks are well structured to provide guidelines on how water as a basic human resource can be utilised and properly managed, but most importantly, these institutional arrangements place disproportionate emphasis on groundwater. Attaining sustainable groundwater development and use requires new disclosures and narratives in water policy and law, integrating both surface and groundwater resources. The weaknesses identified in groundwater governance need to be taken on Board once, the existing water institutional frameworks open to perfection for sustainable utilisation of groundwater resources