Water Sector Development Program.

This Water Sector Development Program (WSDP) has been prepared by the Ministry of Water Resources. It contributes to major socio-economic targets such as enhancing the access of the population to safe drinking water, improving food security through extending irrigation, and increasing the national production of electricity by constructing dams. It must be consistent with the National Water Management Policy and the National Water Strategy. The planning horizon of the WSDP is 15 years, divided into three 5-year periods of the short-term (2002-2006), medium-term (2007-2011), and long-term (2012-2016) in order to suit the existing practice of 5-year development plans of Regional and Federal institutions.
The national and regional priorities reflected in the WSDP relate largely to: (a) developing water resources for different uses; and (b) meeting national and regional development objectives that reinforce prospects for successful WSDP outcomes. The WSDP focuses particularly on action to: Make clean water available for drinking and sanitation; Make water available for livestock in nomadic and other special areas; Extend irrigation for agricultural production to the maximum possible; Expand generation capacity to meet hydroelectric power needs; Provide water for industrial development; Provide water for fisheries, tourism, and transportation, among other uses.
Targets to be achieved are expressed in separate programs: Water Supply and Sewerage Development Program (consisting of urban water supply, rural water supply, livestock water supply, and urban sewerage projects), the Irrigation Development Program (which empasizes small-scale irrigation), the Hydropower Development Program, Water Resources Development Program (mainly concerning water-flow management), and the Institution- and Capacity-Building Program (concerning intitutional development. For each program, main components are defined. Specific objectives of the Water Supply and Sewerage Development Program are: (a) Provide potable water to most of both the urban and rural population, and water for sewerage where conditions permit. (b) Provide water for livestock, particularly in critical areas such as nomadic regions and drought-prone areas. (c) Make water available for industrial development. (d) Operate and maintain water supply and sewerage services on an efficient and sustainable basis, with effective management. (e) Ensure protection and conservation of resources and control pollution and wastage, as part of management policy. (f) Ensure sustainable resource development through the development of human resources at all levels, legislation and the regulatory framework, and other appropriate means of capacity building. (g) Promote stakeholders participation in the planning, design, implementation, rehabilitation, operation, and maintenance of water supply and sewerage schemes. The major stakeholders are the Federal and Regional executing institutions, the local communities, women, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). One of the goals of the Water Resources Development Program is to protect water resources from pollution through development and enforcement of appropriate mechanisms and standards.
Finally, the WSDP analysis potential social and environmental impacts, defines a program of implementation and identifies financial requirements. The Water Sector Development Plan (WSDP) is a call for action addressed to the Federal and Regional Governments, the private sector, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), local communities and individuals, and international development partners of Ethiopia. The WSDP recommends an array of investments and measures, which emerged through an extensive consultative process, for each subsector and supporting program. These measures are outlined below as main elements of the implementation strategy. implementation of the Plan requires the involvement of the State, private sector and local communities. Establishment of following organs is proposed: a National Steering Committee (NSC); a Federal Program Management Unit (FPMU) at the Ministry of Water Resources; a Regional Program Management Units (RPMUs) at the Executive Council Office; a Sub-program Level Teams at the FPMU and RPMUs.