2014: The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Permanent Okavango River Basin Water Commission (OKACOM) published a synthesis report on the Cubango-Okavango River Basin Water Audit (CORBWA) Project, which synthesizes sixteen basin and country-level thematic reports. The report includes an introduction presenting the basin and OKACOM, water audits and the methodology, other sections address: trends in water resources availability; water use in the Cubango-Okavango River Basin; the value and costs of water resources; the policy environment; policy options; and conclusions and recommendations.

The report emphasizes that integrated water resources management (IWRM) serves as the basis for basin management, as it has been adopted by both OKACOM and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Among IWRM options identified by the report are the development of criteria for equitable and reasonable allocation, as well as: re-use of treated wastewater; use of water-pricing; reduction of water losses; and management of demand in sectors such as energy, mining and agriculture, including livestock. The report concludes by identifying drivers of change, such as: population dynamics; land use change; poverty; and climate change. Among concerns, the report highlights: greater variation and reduction of hydrological flow; changes in sediment dynamics; changes in water quality; and changes in abundance and distribution of biota.

The report calls for: operationalizing ‘development space’ to guide and control water allocations and benefit sharing; developing procedures and guidelines for resource allocation and benefit sharing; developing joint standards for water requirements and water quality; determining positions on development of joint infrastructure; monitoring flows, quality and use, and linking water flows and ecological requirements; modifying and expanding monitoring networks; recording river water abstractions; monitoring livelihoods and poverty; establishing water allocation and benefit sharing mechanisms and procedures; prioritizing improved access to water in Angola; ensuring access to water for efficient poverty eradication programmes; and capacity building, including training in the Water Evaluation and Planning System (WEAP) modeling tool.

The CORBWA Project is a component of a larger project ‘Coping with water scarcity: the role of agriculture – developing national water audits in Africa’ aiming to develop methodologies for assessing water availability. The CORBWA Project is funded by the FAO, supporting OKACOM’s Environmental Protection and Sustainable Management of the Okavango River Basin (EPSMO) Project. [FAO Publication: Synthesis Report: Cubango-Okavango River Basin Water Audit (CORBWA) Project] [FAO CORBWA Project Information]