Water and Power

KEYWORDS: Water, Development, Power, Hegemons, Data, IWRM

Welcome back! 

In previous posts, we’ve seen how Africa’s history of colonialism is linked to its current relationship with water and politics through targeted displacement of communities and inherited water laws that exacerbate inequality. This final post is about the relationship between the control of water and regional power. 

There is a high potential for conflict over water in Southern Africa as all the states are competing for a diminishing resource that has a significant influence on regional power and economic development. There is also an increased level of complexity due to the uncertainty of climate change. One source of regional power disparity in relation to water is a historical lack of data sharing between riparians. This is largely due to the inherited colonial management plans for river basins not including any agreements to do so, leading to regional hegemonies. The data imbalance exacerbates power dynamics by allowing regional hegemons to dominate and control negotiations over water management. 

Figure 1: Orange River separating South Africa and Namibia, by Poplawski, M. 

Having control over water distribution makes states more politically influential across the region. It significantly impacts economic growth by creating jobs and supporting industries vital to African economies such as agriculture, as well as water and food security affecting national health. Turnton (2003) argues that once states start growing economically, their priority shifts from physical management of water resources to developing effective water management institutions which increase their capacity to negotiate transboundary water agreements. Despite South Africa being the regional hegemon, water scarce Namibia and Botswana have used social resources to negotiate a water supply that allows for economic growth, and in turn, have created the opportunity to control water distribution and reduce regional power imbalances. However, bilateral agreements that are inherently unequal continue to favour South Africa across the region. Its government has maintained full control of the Orange River where the highly contested border separates South Africa and Namibia despite the latter creating the Orange-Senqu Commission body with the goal of facilitating cooperation between riparians. Transboundary disputes, especially bilateral ones are likely to remain unresolved without foreign intervention even with policy models such as Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and the existence of institutions like the Southern African Development Community (SADC).  

Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) is a globally recognised policy model that is considered by many to be a useful vehicle for regional cooperation. The main principles are to facilitate coordinated resource management, economic growth, equality and sustainability. However, it has been criticised for conflicting policies on land and water reform and being too vague in its aims, meaning institutions can claim they have successful IWRM policies without significantly improving their water management systems. Another important drawback is the neo-colonial values that dispossess informal and small-scale water users by supporting permit systems. However, means for regional cooperation are necessary and a combination of water management strategies must be adopted to facilitate knowledge sharing and reduce the impact of hegemons through balancing power throughout Southern Africa. 

Thank you for reading my final blog post! I hope you have enjoyed exploring water through the lens of politics and colonialism in Africa with me.

Figure 2: Okavango Delta, Botswana, by AmuraWorld