Masters Degree Programme in
Integrated Water Resources Management
Course module
IWRM 0.5
Policies, Laws and Institutions
June 2003
WaterNet
IWRM 0.5
Policies, Laws and Institutions
June 2003
Aim
The aim of the 3-week module “Policies, Laws and Institutions” is:
To provide the students with a critical understanding of the interrelations
between institutions, policies and laws related to water, at local, national
and transnational level.
The structure of this module is indicated in the syllabus (see next page).
Lecture materials
The lecture materials consist of two lecture notes (Water Law; and Management and
Institutions), each with a reader, hand outs for both lecture series, as well as references
documents supplied on a CD Rom. These materials also include a sample exam. A table
of content of all materials is given on the last pages of this introduction.
Time allocation
An indication of time allocation is given on page 3.
Happy learning!
Harare, June 2003
Annette Bos
Pieter van der Zaag
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Syllabus
Name of module
Policies, laws and institutions
Code of module
IWRM 0.5
Pre-requisite module(s)
IWRM 0.1, IWRM 0.2, IWRM 0.3, IWRM 0.4
Credit weight
3
Objectives
To provide the students with a critical understanding of the interrelations
between institutions, policies and laws related to water, at local, national and
transnational level.
Summary syllabus
Water Law
1
Introduction: institutions, policies and the law (4h lect., 6h assignment;
analysing national water policies of Southern Africa)
2
Principles of Environmental Law (2 h lect.)
3
National water legislation (4h lect.)
4
Water quality and environmental law (2h lect.)
5
Legislation of international waters (6h lect., 1 h film, 6h role play:
negotiation between riparian countries; 6 h assignment comparing
Protocol with a national water law; or Protocol with UN Convention)
Management and Institutions
1
Natural resources management (2h lect.; 6h assignment: 2 paged paper
on local water institutions)
2
Introduction to management (2h lect.; 1h exercise)
3
Institutions, organisations and management (1h lect., 1h film)
4
Organisations (1h lect., 1h exercise performance indicators, 1h film)
5
Reading organisations: the use of metaphors (1 h lect.)
6
Institutional arrangements for IWRM (1 h lect., 1 h film)
7
Institutional analysis at the operational functioning level (1 h lect.; 4 h
assignment on institutional analysis and organisational models for a
water company)
8
Decentralisation (1 h lect)
9
Organisation arrangements in the Water Sector (1 h lect., 2h case)
Reader
-
Water Law
National Water policies
International Water Law
Management & Institutions
Assignments
-
Analysing national water policies of Southern Africa
-
Local water institutions
-
Institutional analysis and organisational models for a water company
Contact time
58h
Lecture contact
28h
Non-lecture contact
30h
Non contact time
Self study
62h
Reading and study: 20h
Assignments: 24h
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Preparation & exam: 16h
Method of Examination
3 hours exam paper: 67%
Coursework (assignments): 33%
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Sample lecture schedule
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Morning Programme: Introduction
Lecture: Introduction: institutions, policies and the law
Afternoon programme
Read: Gleick: Water as a human right
Morning Programme
Lecture: Principles of Environmental Law
Afternoon Programme
Read: lecture note, case study
Morning Programme:
Lecture: National water legislation
Case study of national water reform (e.g. Zimbabwe, South Africa)
Afternoon programme
Assignment; analysing national water policies of Southern Africa
Morning Programme:
Assignment; analysing national water policies of Southern Africa
Afternoon programme
Presentation assignment
Morning Programme
Lecture: Water quality and environmental law
Afternoon programme
Read: lecture note
Morning Programme:
Lecture: Legislation of international waters
Afternoon Programme: focus on institutional analysis
Video: part 6 of "Water, the drop of life"
Read: Wolf, UN Convention, SADC Protocol
Morning Programme:
Lecture: Legislation of international waters
Game: Water message game
Afternoon programme
Read: Mutare/Pungwe case study
Roleplay Mutare/Pungwe
Morning Programme; focus on institutions and organisations
 Introduction to Resources / Water Management
 Local institutions
 Assignment: Compare local water institutions
Afternoon programme; focus on organisational structure
Self study assignment
Morning Programme; focus on institutions and organisations
 Presentation of assignment
Afternoon programme; focus on organisational structure
 Management through institutional arrangements
 Organisations as open systems
 Organisational behaviour (behaviour of people, organisation structure, behaviour of
organisation)
 Exercise: Organisational structure (advantages and disadvantages of tall and flat
hierarchies, differentiation by functions or by services/products
 Role of manager within organisation; video “The unorganised manager, part 1)
Morning Programme: focus on performance indicators Organisational aspects (resource
mobilisation and monitoring and evaluation)
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

Day 14
Introduction to performance indicators
Exercise: Objective performance indicators (what are they, why do we need them and
how can they be used, by whom)
Afternoon Programme: focus on institutional analysis
 Exercise: Subjective performance indicators (leadership, organisational autonomy,
management & administration, consumer organisation, commercial organisation,
legislative framework and organisational culture)
 Introduction to institutional analysis; PEST and SWOT analysis explored
 Role of manager within organisation; video “The unorganised manager, part 2)
Morning Programme; focus on decentralisation and private sector participation
 Introduction decentralisation and its forms
 Introduction modes of organisation (leading to delegated management)
 Private sector participation; why, spectrum of options, role for government, risks
Afternoon programme:
 case study private sector participation
Morning Programme
 Assignment institutional analysis and organisational models for a water company
Afternoon programme
 Presentations of assignment
 Role of manager within organisation; video “The unorganised manager, part 3)
 Feedback on questionnaire (leadership and motivation)
Prepare for exam
Day 15
Exam
Day 12
Day 13
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Tables of Contents Lecture Materials
Lecture note Water Law
1. Introduction: institutions, policies and the law
1.1 Natural resources management
1.2 Institutions
1.3 The law
1.4 Policies
1.5 A legal framework for IWRM
1.6 Institutional aspects for IWRM
1.7 Conclusion
2. Principles of Environmental Law
2.1 What is Law?
2.2 What is Environmental Law?
2.3 Principles
2.4 Environmental Law Principles common to Municipal Law and International Law
2.5 Principles derived from Customary International Law
2.6 Other Principles derived from other areas of Municipal Law
3. National water legislation
3.1 Sources of water law
3.2 Recent trends in water legislation
3.3 Water allocation under water scarcity
3.4 Striking a balance: between state regulation and individual security
3.5 Rights to groundwater
4. Water quality and environmental law
4.1 Natural law
4.2 Water related environmental regulation
4.3 Legal approaches to water related environmental issues
4.4 International aspects of water pollution: the case of the Rhine
4.5 Some limitations of regulating water quality
5. Legislation of international waters
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Overview of legal issues of some large international rivers
5.3 History of legal principles for international rivers
5.4 Towards the UN Convention
5.5 Legal Principles
5.6 Towards the SADC Protocol
5.7 Conflicts over shared river basins: possible scenarios
5.8 Dispute Resolution Approaches and their Application
5.9 Towards a Strategy for the integrated management of shared basins
5.10 Conclusions
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Reader Water Law
National water law
Gleick, P., 1999, The Human Right to Water. Water Policy 1(5): 487-503
Van der Zaag, P., Zimbabwe’s legal water reform. Unpublished paper
Nhidza, E., 2001, Implications of water sector to local authorities in Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe
Engineer March 2001, pp. 13-16
International water law
UN, 1997, Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses.
Text as adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 21 May 1997
SADC, 2000, (Revised) Protocol on Shared Watercourses in the Southern African Development
Community. SADC, Gaborone, August 2000
Wolf, A.T., 1999, Criteria for equitable allocations: the heart of international water conflict.
Natural Resources Forum 23: 3-30
Sherk, G.W., P. Wouters and S. Rochford, 2000, Water Wars in the Near Future? Reconciling
Competing Claims for the World's Diminishing Freshwater Resources - The Challenge of
the Next Millennium. Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy,
University of Dundee
Carmo Vaz, Á., & A. Lopes Pereira, 2000, The Incomati and Limpopo international river basins; a
view from downstream. Water Policy 2(1-2): 99-112
Ashton, P., 2000, Southern African water conflicts: are they inevitable or preventable? In:
Green Cross International,. 2000, Water for peace in the Middle East and Southern
Africa. Green Cross International, Geneva; pp.94-98
Van der Zaag, P., I.M. Seyam & H.H.G. Savenije, 2002, Towards measurable criteria
for the equitable sharing of international water resources. Water Policy 4(1): 1932
Handouts Water Law





Assignment analysing national water policies
Water message game
Water message game – lessons and analysis
Pungwe roleplay
Pungwe roleplay – roles
Video (not included)

“Water the Drop of Life”; episode 12: “Water, Water & Peace”
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Lecture note Management and Institutions
1. Natural resources management
2. Introduction to management
2.1 The importance of management in water resources
2.2 Management defined
2.3 Management processes
2.4 Management of water resources
2.5 Critical elements in management
3. Institutions, organisations and management
3.1 “Institutions and Organisations”
3.2 Institutions and Management Performance
4. Organisations
4.1 The concept of organisations
4.2 Organisational behaviour
4.3 History to management
4.4 The meaning of organisational structure
4.5 Organisational aspects
4.6 The changing role of the manager within an organisation
5. Reading organisations: the use of metaphors
5.1 Organisations as machines
5.2 Organisations as organisms
5.3 Organisations as brains
5.4 Organisations and political systems
5.5 Organisations as cultures
6. Institutional arrangements for IWRM
6.1 Institutional framework for IWRM
6.2 Public versus private: the nature of the goods and services
7. Institutional analysis at the operational functioning level
7.1 Institutional analysis; areas to consider
7.2 Institutional analysis; tools
8. Decentralisation
8.1Rationale for decentralisation
8.2 Obstacles to decentralisation
9. Organisation arrangements in the Water Sector
9.1 Taxonomy of modes
9.2 Private Sector Participation
9.3 Forms of private sector participation
9.4 Trends in forms of private sector participation
9.5 Will involvement of the private sector improve performance?
9.6 Factors influencing the outcomes of private sector participation
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Reader Management and Institutions
Van der Zaag, P., 1993, Focus on indigenous water management: Mangrove rice production in
Senegal. Unpublished paper
Van der Zaag, P., 1993, Focus on irrigation management: a government-managed scheme in
Mexico. Unpublished paper
Matsika, P., 1996, Challenges of Independence: Managing technical and social worlds in a farmermanaged irrigation scheme. In: E. Manzungu, and P. van der Zaag (eds.), The practice of
smallholder irrigation; case studies from Zimbabwe. University of Zimbabwe Publications,
Harare; 29-46
Diemer, Geert, 1988, Focus on irrigation management: paradigms in irrigation development in SubSaharan Africa. Paper prepared for the World Congress on Rural Sociology; Bologna, 26 June-1
July 1988
Hofstede, Geert, 1984, Cultural dimensions in management and planning. Asia Pacific Journal
of Management January 1984
Jaspers, Frank G.W., 2001, Institutional arrangements for integrated river basin management.
IHE, Delft
Latham, C.J.K., 2002, Institutional Complexity and the Management of Water as a Common
Pool Resource. Centre for Applied Social Sciences, University of Zimbabwe
World Bank, 1999, Decentralisation; briefing notes, World Bank, Washington D.C. (Paragraph
on natural resources management and decentralisation)
Braadbaart, O., and M. Blokland, 1997, Public water PLC’s for low-income countries. IHE,
Delft
Franco, Quindi C., 1999, ANDA: Transforming El Salvador’s Water Company; Kennedy
School of Management, Harvard University
Merino-Juarez and Gutierrea de Taliercio, 2000, Cancun, Mexico: Water System Privatization,
Kennedy School of Management, Harvard University
Nanthambwe, J.G., 2002, City of Gweru: Privatisation of Urban Water Supply. Unpublished
paper; May 2002
Handouts Management and Institutions


Compare a government-managed with a farmer-managed irrigation scheme
Institutional analysis and organisational models for a water company
Video (not included)

“The unorganised manager”
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