LoGo Water Project in Southern Africa

Full title: Towards effective involvement of local government in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in river basins of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.

Timeframe: January 2005 to December 2007

Coordinator: ICLEI Europe

Partners:
             Natural Environment Research Council: Centre for Ecology and  
             Hydrology (Wallingford, United Kingdom)
             Foundation for a New Water Culture (Zaragosa, Spain)
             International Water and Sanitation Centre (Delft, Netherlands)
             ICLEI Africa (Johannesburg, South Africa)
             Institute of Natural Resources (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa)
             Institute of Water and Sanitation Development (Harare, Zimbabwe)
             Kalahari Conservation Society, (Gabarone, Botswana)
             The World Conservation Union (Maputo, Mozambique)

Municipalities involved:
            - 8 associate local governments from the Limpopo river basin
            - Additional local governments as participants in specific events


Aim:   The LoGo Water project aims to significantly improve the capacity of
            local  governments to fulfil their role in the adoption of sound integrated
            water resources management solutions and thus contribute to the  
            achievement of the water related Millennium Development Goals.

Objectives:
         •   Gaining an up-to-date overview on existing research at international
              on the models and frameworks of local governments’ participation
              in IWRM.
         •   Receiving an overview on the current situation of the involvement of 
              local governments in water management in the SADC region, taking 
              into account its Protocol on Shared Watercourses.
         •   Receiving an overview on the current situation of the involvement of 
              European local governments in IWRM in face of the EU Water
              Framework Directive (WFD).
         •   Finding a joint position on an effective role for local governments in  
              IWRM in the river basins of the SADC region.
         •   Becoming aware of the constraints that prevent local governments 
              from effectively fulfilling such a role in IWRM in the SADC region.
         •   Guiding local governments on the implementation of actions aimed at
              adopting IWRM practices. Also, guiding other stakeholders in IWRM 
              at national and international level.
         •   Guiding future research towards areas of most need for the further
              application of IWRM and towards an increased co-operation between
              EU and Southern African researchers.
         •   Disseminate the results of the project across the all result in order to
              raise awareness and encourage implementation of IWRM in Southern
              Africa, direct policies towards sustainability, and foster further
              research on the topic.

Summary:

A Consortium of leading African and European researchers and major stakeholders in IWRM will examine existing scientific findings and practical experiences regarding local government involvement in IWRM and further build on this knowledge in consultation with additional partners. Here, focus will be on the actual end-users of the project results: the local governments. The Consortium will therefore enter into a special project relationship with eight selected cities, towns or communities in the Limpopo river basin, the model region for the project.

Expected outcome: significant improvement of the capacity of local governments to fulfil their role in the adoption of sound integrated water resources management solutions and thus contribute in the achievement of the water-related MDG.

For the information on the progect activities and results click here.

For further information on the programme and its outcomes visit the web site of the LoGo Water.