Lesotho needs to urgently put in place integrated catchment management. If not all soil, all agriculture and all cattle will be seriously affected in less than 10 years. What to do? In this project I have suggested a 'way ahead' to the water Sector Coordinating Committee. The message is in the power point.

1. 1
 O v e r v i e w o f t h e TA
 P r o j e c t Ta s k A – I C M P l a n , P i l o t c a t c h m e n t s ,
g u i d e l i n e s , r o a d m a p t o i m p l e m e n t I C M
8 t h A p r i l 2 0 1 6 , M a s e r u
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR
INTEGRATED CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT
EUROPEAID/132633/C/SER/MULTI

2. THE ISSUE – A SIMPLIFIED MESSAGE
“It has been estimated
that an average 1.3
tonnes of soil flows
across the border every
second, of every day in
every year…..”
This has inspired some
commentators to suggest
that “all the soil will have
gone by 2040”.
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or 15 five tonne trucks, every minute….

3. “IF THAT HAPPENS …”WHITE GOLD” IS UNDER THREAT.
all storage will have been
compromised by sedimentation,
and instead of being attenuated
by both natural and built
infrastructure,
all rainfall will run-off
immediately and become raging
floods leaving drought in its
wake for the rest of the year”
Quote from “water agriculture and
energy security nexus in Africa” –
IWA/IUCN/ICA Nexus Tradeoffs
conference, Geneva Dec 2015
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BUT
Ho ribeha motho ka pitsa ya moeta. ……….(To tell one what he already knows.)
And .
Dikgomo ke banka ya Mosotho……………... (Cattle are the bank of a Mosotho.)
Notwithstanding the above – monetising this loss could translate into a serious
impact on national ‘water security’ – which has a wide ranging meaning

4. RATIONALE FOR THIS TA (FROM THE TOR)
Currently, there appears insufficient
coordination in efforts in terms of
managing land and water resources
Various land and water resources
institutions are applying individualised
evaluation strategies with their unique
objectives and methods in mind.
This “compartmentalised” approach to
ICM does not bring much progress and
improvement on land and water
resources management in the country.
Such disconnected compartments will not
put the ICM train on the right track …!
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5. THE TASK FOR THIS TA, IS TO ASSIST IN…
Joining up the compartments
– Develop Connected
Guidelines & Plans
Putting it on the right track –
formally designate the
boundaries of catchments
Providing it with a proper
engine – get the legislation,
the institutions & capacitated
people in place
All of this is needed - NOW !!!
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6. SCOPE OF THIS TASK
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Lesotho
Experience
• Analyse past ICM related activities
Local &
Central
• Evaluate Local actions & Central
actions
Piloting
• Select a pilot catchment and
implement well structured
GUIDELINES , underpinned by a sound
legal framework

7. LESSONS FROM PAST EXPERIENCE
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8. STAKEHOLDERS SAY WHAT THEY MEAN BY “ICM” TO
RESOLVE ISSUES
5 said - Soil erosion / degradation /
water harvesting
5 said - Loss of water resource /
supply / over abstraction
2 said - Collaboration between
institutions
1 said - Water pollution
2 said - Monitoring, compliance,
enforcement
2 said - livelihoods & food security
1 said - overgrazing
CONCLUSION ? – ICM as a means to
resolve key issues, can mean many
things to different people …..
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9. Serious
droughts and
serious floods
have occurred
and, WILL
reoccur
OVER RIDING AIM – SOCIO-ECONOMIC WELL BEING,
FOR THE LONG TERM….
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10. SCIENTIFIC & KNOWLEDGE BASED PLANNING – THE
ONLY ROAD TO SOUND ICM
 Coordinating role
 Water resources planning
 Water data management
 Allocating water
 Prevention, monitoring & enforcing
 Protecting & conserving ecosystems
 Resolving conflicts
 Preparing against water disasters
(floods, draughts)
 Operation & management
 Constructing facilities
 Maintaining facilities
 Education of basin communities
 Mobilizing financial resources
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11. A ROAD MAP – KICK STARTS THE JOURNEY TO GOOD ICM
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Formalise the Long Term
Strategy - Gazetted
Designate the six catchments
- Gazetted
Confirm the ICM
responsibility to LA’s
Establish formal MoU’s
between Mayors (Planning)
Assign ICM duty to Dist
Planning Unit, (Exec Secy)
Seek TA for community
based design of ICM actions
There might be
twists & turns
ahead…

12. The catchment / basin must
be seen as a “whole” –
water is the life blood of the
land…
DEDICATED ICM PLANS – CUMULATING ALL THE EFFORTS
IN ALL THE MICRO CATCHMENTS
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Community A – focus on issues associated
with steep slopes, wetlands etc
Community B – focus on issues associated
with lower slopes, agric, etc
Community C – focus on issues associated
with flatter lands, commercial agric, etc
Major investments – addressing basin wide
issues – sediment control, flood retention, etc
– carried out in direct conjunction with upper
community actions – never in isolation.
A link & a sequence is essential

13. WHAT ELSE IS NEEDED ?
• Process Indicators: eg
‘proportion of land covered by
legally enabled ICM Plans’;
• Output Indicators: eg ‘area
under irrigation (ha)’, or ‘volume
of water harvested for use’;
• Outcome Indicators: eg
Sediment Load, Water Quantity
and Quality from the selected
catchments, improvements in
livelihoods.
Process
indicators
Output
indicators
Outcome
indicators
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14. WHERE TO PILOT COMPREHENSIVE ICM PLANS?
Catchment(s) where we can:
get early gains
improve / consolidate past
(poor) work
get water for critical demands
get socio-economic losses on
key infrastructure, if not
managed properly
deliver benefits to community
gain multi sectoral benefits
Strengthen existing
institutional structures
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National data is available
(not great, but ok) – Just
choose the catchment(s)
to work in !
South Puthiasana
catchment could be a
high ranking candidate ?

15. PERSONAL EXPERIENCE…
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16. The object of our efforts are people who
live in the catchments
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EU TA - Lesotho Integrated Catchment Management
TA TEAM S Puri IWRM / Team Leader
J Berkhout Water Resources Expert
E Smidt Capacity Development Expert
Thank you
for your
attention !