Kafue Flats, Zambia:

Preserving Biodiversity through Water Management

Africa needs more infrastructure to collect, store and distribute water. However, this infrastructure,
particularly large dams, tends to disrupt the natural water cycles and the ecosystems relying on
them. How can water and hydropower management be reconciled with these fragile ecosys-
tems? The Kafue Flats case illustrates the role that technological innovation and cooperation
can play in this respect.

The Kafue River in Zambia is a major tributary of the Zambezi River. The
Kafue Flats is a 6,500 square kilometre floodplain midway along the river
that was once one of the richest wildlife habitats in Africa and sustained
local peoples through hunting, fishing, and cropping on the Flats as floods
receded at the end of the wet season. Following construction of the Kafue
Gorge hydro-electric dam downstream of the Flats, the Itezhi-tezhi Dam
was built upstream in 1978 to store wet season peak flows to maximise hy-
dropower production at the lower dam, which is the primary power source
for Zambia. The operations of the upper dam interrupted the beneficial wet season flooding
of the Kafue Flats, resulting in serious social and ecological impacts. Around 1.3 million Zambi-
ans from several ethnic groups live in the greater watershed and about 300,000 of these people
rely directly on the Kafue Flats.

Photo: WWF-Canon / Martin Harvey

Sugar cane farms rely heavily on water from
the Kafue River for irrigation, and effluents
from sugar-cane processing are discharged
back into the river. Rich in nutrients this causes
plant growth (Water hyacinth) which clogs up
waterways. Local people have problems
navigating the river and fish suffocate.

24 Water Management
 Zambia

Working together for multi-stakeholder gain

In 1999, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) ini-
tiated dialogue among the Zambian Govern-
ment, the Zambia Electricity Supply Corpora-
tion (ZESCO), local peoples and commercial
farmers, to restore a more natural flow pat-
tern to water releases from the Itezhi-tezhi
Dam. It brought in Dutch technical exper-
tise on flows management, and served as
an advocate for conservation. The Zambian
Government’s Ministry of Energy and Water
Development (MEWD) is the government reg-
ulator that has sought to reconcile conflicting
objectives in managing the dams, while also
promoting development. ZESCO is the gov-
ernment owned supplier of electricity who
operates the dams, and has sought to mini-
mise their impacts on local people and the en-
vironment. Local peoples are from different
cultures and have different interests, ranging
from traditional owners who wanted to see restoration of the In early 2007, a major flow mimicking natural wet season flood-
environment and traditional livelihood activities, commercial ing was released for the first time. Concurrent modules have
farmers wanting a reliable irrigation water supply, and recent been launched for wetlands rehabilitation, focusing on infra-
residents of the region looking for improved livelihoods. Local structure development, tourism enhancement and community-
people were involved via their local chiefs and headmen and based natural resource management.
community steering committees.
The long term results are expected to be considerable. It is an-
The two following years (1999-2000) were spent scoping the ticipated that, as a result of the restoration of a wet season
project and building working relationships. Between 2000 and flood from 2007, the environmental health of Kafue Flats will
2002, an integrated water resources management study for the start to improve. The livelihoods of local people are expected to
flats was undertaken by Dutch consultants, using WWF funding show a similar trend, with increased fish and pasture productiv-
and under the supervision of ZESCO and MEWD. The KAFRIBA ity, the development of a wildlife based tourism industry and
(Kafue River Basin) hydrology model was developed, based on sustained irrigation capacity. Environmental health is expected
a Pitman rainfall model. It has been linked with real time data, to improve, especially in reserves, where populations of the
obtained from the new rainfall and river gauging stations in- threatened Kafue lechwe antelope should increase. Besides,
stalled in the catchment to predict water flows and reservoir hydro-electricity production will be maintained or increased,
levels. In 2004, an agreement was reached among all partners thanks to a better management of water flows.
to implement new dam operating rules associated with the
KAFRIBA model.

Innovation for Sustainable Development: Local Case Studies from Africa 25

Increasing impacts
The project has already had dramatic implications in terms of
water governance. It has influenced development of Zambian
Government policy on water resources. The Integrated Water
Resources Management Strategy for the Kafue Flats developed
under this partnership was endorsed by the Ministry of Energy
& Water Development in 2002. The project has also seen the
designation of over 3 million hectares of wetlands as Ramsar environmental flow systems require agreements in the societ-
sites in the Kafue River basin, fulfilling Zambia’s commitments ies concerned on the social, economic and environmental val-
under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. WWF is in dia- ues to be sustained by these flows, to determine the needed
logue with the Zambian Government on the integration of the volume, quality and timing of water flows. This can be a pow-
successful methods at Kafue Flats erful process for improving governance
into the proposed new Water Act, and promoting societal harmony.
including provisions for establish-
ment of Sub-Catchment Councils. There is considerable opportunity to rep-
The project has also informed the licate in other areas where dams are hav-
national Water Resources Action Plan ing ongoing environmental and social
and National Wetlands Strategy. impacts. Successful projects will depend
on the willingness of governments, dam
The results are clearly conditioned operators, NGOs and local communities
by the specificities of the Kafue to collaborate; good water governance;
Flats. Besides water abundance that availability of funding and data; access to
characterises the Zambezi River technicians; and limited development on
and has helped ease the sharing floodplain areas that will enable restora-
of water, the initiative has ben- tion of environmental flows. Re-operat-
efited from the long-term com- ing dams to provide environmental flow
mitment of the various partners. releases is being undertaken in many
The implementation of this project places in the developed world, including
has been time consuming, lasting in the European Union, United States of
more than 8 years so far, and costly. America and Australia. Rarely have these
For the first 6 years alone, the Ka- methods been successfully applied in de-
fue Flats initiative cost more than veloping countries, despite the potential
US$1 million. Furthermore, effective for substantial benefits for people.

26 Water Management
 Kafue Flats, Zambia:
Preserving Biodiversity through Water Management

At a Zambezi River basin scale, discussions are underway on the feasibility of up-scaling of the environ-
mental flows model from Kafue Flats to other dams, mainly the Kafue Gorge, Cahorra Bassa and Kariba
dams, so as to extend benefits to the entire course of the rivers in Zambia and Mozambique.

These discussions include the Zambezi River Authority, the Joint Operational Technical Committee for
Cahorra Bassa and Kariba dams, and the SADC agreement for an IWRM strategy for the Zambezi under
the auspices of its shared water protocol. Further, preparations are underway to develop a conjoint
operation and management strategy for the three dams.

Inspection of drying fish in

Shimungalu fishing village
on the Kafue River
Photo: WWF-Canon / Martin Harvey

Innovation for Sustainable Development: Local Case Studies from Africa 27