Council Approves Basin Authorities

Desiring a governing body to efficiently utilise the vast potential of many Ethiopian rivers, the Council of Ministers has approved the creation of Basin Authorities and a Regulatory Council. Ethiopia's rich water resource potential has yet to be the growth generating engine that it could be for the country's 70 million plus population.

The Council of Ministers has approved the proposal to establish Basin Authorities and a Regulatory Council presented to it by the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR). The Council has passed the document on to Parliament where it will be presented to the Legal Affairs Standing Committee and the House.

The Authorities would be established for seven of the 12 river basins in the country.

The Abay, Baro-Akobo, Genale-Dawa, Mereb, Omo-Gibe, Tekeze, Rift Valley and Wabe Shebelle River Basins will have Authorities if the bill is endorsed by the Parliament. The Ogaden, Danakil and Aysha Basins have dried up and thus will not be establishing an Authority.

Of the 12 basins it is only the Awash Basin that already has an Authority which was set up in October 2005.

According to the proposal, the Abay Basin Council and Abay Basin Authority will be the first such entities to be established. The Abay Basin passes through three Regional States, the Oromia, Amhara and Benishangul-Gumuz. The Basin has the potential to develop 2.5 million hectares of land; 1.7 million on the banks of the river itself.

The 800,000ht balance can be developed by routing the River into the Awash, according to a study conducted by MoWR. The Abay River also has the capacity to generate 45,000-75,000 GW of electric power.

The Councils are being established to enable the Basins to administer themselves for effective utilisation of water resources, according to the Water Resources Administration Policy.

The Councils will focus on licensing water related activities, working on improving water utilisation cultures, resolving conflicts that arise over water usage and collecting water services payments from the users of the Basins.

According to the draft document, the Councils would be the regulating body for the Authority. It would give solutions to conflicts arising between regions sharing the Basins, and would also present ideas to the government on the amount the users of the Basin pay.

The cost of the study, which was conducted and completed by the French BRL, Dutch DHB and Ethiopian T&A, consultancy firms, was covered by a 1.4 million Euroc grant provided by the French government.

Fekahmed Negash, head of the Abay Basin Council and Authority Founding Project, told Fortune that setting up the two institutions on the River Basins would have a significant impact in bringing about needed development in Basin areas.

"This is a huge undertaking which will likely bring about significant changes for residents of these areas, as well as for the Regional States that they are located in," he said.

The draft document is one of the bills the house is expected to endorse during the opening celebration of the Ethiopian Millennium, Parliament sources disclosed to Fortune.