The protection and management of water resources at the river basin scale is gaining in importance world-wide. Only through careful and sustainable management can the current water problems be addressed, particularly in developing countries. The Nile River with its ten riparian states is like no other basin faced with specific challenges in terms of reaching integrated water resource management. On invitation of the German Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (gtz) and the German Ministry for Development and Co-operation, experts and decision-makers from the Nile riparian states visited several German and European water management institutions on 23 November 2005 and came together with Ecologic staff to exchange thoughts and ideas on experiences with the water management challenge in Europe and Africa.

In the framework of the informal dinner dialogue, which was moderated by R. Andreas Kraemer, the following themes were addressed:

After a brief introduction to the genesis and further development of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), potential future activities in the individual Nile countries as well as at the basin level were discussed. The main challenges for the future will evolve around the transition from the water-sharing to the benefit-sharing approach. The NBI has, as a multilateral organisation with the support of international donors, provided a good basis for this process. The next steps will have to tackle the implementation of concrete projects, such as the sustainable development of irrigation systems, securing fair access to water for all and a balanced use of hydropower, so as to contribute to attaining the Millennium Development goals.

Possible inspiration and impulses from European water management practices can be drawn from the current implementation process of the EC Water Framework Directive, particularly in the transboundary river basins Danube and Rhine. These do not only provide ideas for the design of governance mechanism in such river basins, but also for the implementation of the polluter-pays principle, the selection of cost-efficient measures for attaining environmental goals, public participation and public involvement as well as transboundary conflict management. At the same time experience from Europe shows that approaches need to be adapted to the specific local circumstances and that there is no ‚one size fits all‘ solution, which might be universally applicable to all river basins.

The representatives from Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, the Republic of Congo, Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda were also specifically interested in learning about new European Research efforts in the area of adaptive water management, examining the vulnerability and resilience of water management systems in the light of increasing uncertainties due to changing boundary conditions. Here you can find more Information about the NeWater project.

Keywords: water, resource, management, river, basin, Nile, Africa, Europe

Moderator: R. Andreas Kraemer
Event title: Visit of the Nile Basin Initiative
Organiser: Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (gtz)
Date: 23 November 2005
Location: Berlin, Germany