River Basin Management Guidelines for Water Management in Uganda: Comparison with EU case studies

Abstract: This research is based on the hypothesis that the EU water legislation establish river basin management rules which are based on better scientific knowledge and available technologies than the existing national policy and legal framework supporting water management in Uganda. It is however acknowledged that the requirements of the existing EU water policies are hardly often directly applied to the situations of a developing country such as Uganda, but that they provide lessons that are useful when preparing agreements and policies in these countries. This therefore means that alternatives always have to be found to ensure that water quality management may be efficiently undertaken in the most economical and technically feasible way. Therefore, this research aims at making an in-depth study of the existing EU water legislation, gather practical experiences from different river basins and examine how these may be adapted to the situation of Uganda. In general, the key issues that are necessary for improved WRM in Uganda include: • A comprehensive strategy for management of national and international shared water resources; • An updated policy and legal framework supporting WRM in the country; • A revised institutional framework for policy making, planning and coordination of WRM at various levels; • A long term capacity building programme for WRM; • A clear guideline to promote the active participation of various stakeholders in WRM; • Increased allocation of funds for WRM; and enforcement of the laws.