Formalization of Water Rights and its Implications for Equitable Sharing of Water Resources in Tanzania.
Abstract
Tanzania is already in advanced stage of drafting a new legal framework for water resources management, aimed at attaining the objectives of the National Water Policy of 2002. These objectives include the development of a comprehensive framework for promoting the optimal, sustainable and equitable development and use of water resources for the benefit of all Tanzanians; and separation of water resources management legislation from those of service provision. Three separate pieces of legislation will result from the proposed legal framework to cover water resources management, rural water supply and urban water supply and sewerage. In light of proposed framework, this paper surveys the increasing pressure on water resources, the efforts of the government in Tanzania trying to fix property regimes and formalizing informal arrangements related to the use of this resource. The paper starts with a brief discussion of the link between property rights and water resources management. This is the theoretical framework under which the discussion is based. The paper then presents four case studies that display interactions between traditional water management systems and the modern, formal systems. The paper then concludes with a discussion of the proposed policy and legal changes, focusing on the extent to which the proposed legislative dispensation will protect the existing traditional or customary water rights.
Citation
5rd Waternet/ WARFSA Symposium: IWRM and the Millennium Development Goals: Managing Water for Peace and Security;Windhoek, 2-4 November 2004, 11 pp.
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