The country water resources assistancestrategy for Zambia provides an analysis of the role ofwater in the economy and identifies the specific challenges,development opportunities and policies which inform anagreed framework for priority areas of assistance. Zambialies entirely within the catchments of the Zambezi and Congorivers and all internal runoff is shared by downstream andparallel riparian countries. This strategic geographicposition in the upper reaches of both these catchmentsprovides an important context for any water resourcesdevelopment. Zambia has played an important role indevelopment of the Southern African Development Community(SADC) revised protocol on shared water courses (2000) andis engaged in the process of developing co-operativemechanisms with riparian states. However, the existing legalframework explicitly excludes any provisions for addressingissues on shared waters in the Zambezi and Luapula rivers,along with that portion of the Luangwa River whichconstitutes the boundary between Zambia and Mozambique.These account for more than 60 percent of Zambia'swater resources. Economic development is undermined byphysical scarcity of water. Despite the relative abundance,the uneven distribution of water resources across thecountry, high climatic variability (resulting in frequentfloods and droughts) and degradation of water qualityincreasingly results in localized issues of scarcity.Despite continuing efforts to reduce pollution flow into theKafue River, severe water quality issues persist in theCopper belt, posing serious health risks to the populationand limiting the availability of water for productivepurposes. The high dependency on hydropower, with 96 percentof the installed capacity produced within a 300km radius inthe Kafue/Zambezi complex, will further increasevulnerability of the national economy to impacts associatedwith changing climatic conditions.
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