Rwanda National Water Resources Master Plan.

This National Water Resources Master Plan of Rwanda (NWRPM) translates objectives and statements of the National Policy for Water Resources Management into concrete actions. The general objective of the Master Plan is to ensure a sustainable water resources development, utilization and management in Rwanda. It shall be a blueprint for a process of sustainable water, land and related resources development and management with the aim to maximize economic and social welfare in an equitable manner while safeguarding the environment. The time horizon of the Plan will cover the period up to 2040 with intermediate planning steps for 2020, 2030 and 2040. The Plan is composed of i) the Master Plan, ii) the Water Management Information System (MIS), and iii) the institutional and legal road maps.
The Master Plan decribes the relationship of the available renewable resources with water demand from primary use (essentially water supply to sustain livelihood and the environment) and from numerous water using commercial ventures in different categories (industrial, mining, fisheries, livestock, irrigation, hydropower, navigation, recreation, etc.). Based on existing population data, growth projections thereof and identified development opportunities, water balances (water resources - water demand equilibriums) for the current situation and for 2020, 2030 and 2040 future dates have been estimated for nine catchments throughout Rwanda. The specific objectives of the Master Plan are to: Quantify available water resources (surface and groundwater, in time and space); Quantify water resources demand by sector and catchment; Identify surplus and deficit areas both in time and space; Propose a management plan for optimal and rational utilization of available quantity of water resources; Qualify all available water resources in the study area. In addition to the key issues identified for each particular catchment, a number of nationwide development opportunities are proposed.
The Water MIS is a dynamic water resources management tool which is conceived for the collection, analysis and interpretation of water related data with the aim to facilitate appropriate water management decisions. The idea is that new data are continuously fed into the system, analyzed and interpreted with the result that the water management decisions are made on the basis of up to date data. It consists of three modules - the water resources module; the water use and demand module; and the the balances module. The balances module holds the creation of water balances at the catchment level between interpreted resources data and processed and interpreted demand data for current or future dates. A further option is the balance between interpreted resources data and water use according to issued permits or between resources data and water use data declared by the water users.
The third element of the Plan is the institutional and legal road map. The legal road map reviews the existing legal instruments and lists a number of suggestions to modify the current boundaries of existing and newly proposed institutional entities. There shall be an Water Interministerial Committee. Management at catchment level (within the Nile and Congo River basins, nine catchments are identified) plays an important role. This chapter presents the National Water Resources Master Plan for Rwanda. This 'national' Master Plan could not be made without the formulation of a series of nine Master Plan at the catchment level. These Catchment Master Plan are presented as nine appendixes to this National Master Plan (not present in thos Document). For each catchment oservations and recommendations are specified. The creation of Catchment Committees at the level of the nine catchment is highly recommended.