Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) is a government-owned corporation that provides water and waste water management services in Botswana. The Board is appointed by the Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources. The water supply is critically important in the arid or semi-arid environment of Botswana.
History
Water Utilities Corporation was established in 1970 by an Act of Parliament (Cap 74:02). During its establishment, it managed a single project: the supply and distribution of water in what was then called the Shashe Development Area. The Government of Botswana expanded this mandate to include planning, construction, operation, treatment, maintenance, and distribution of water resources in the country’s urban centres and other areas. It also involved the supply of bulk water to the then Department of Water Affairs and various Local Authorities for onward distribution to villages and settlements. Between 2009 and 2013, the water sector was restructured. The Corporation was given a new mandate to supply potable water to all urban centres and villages across the country and manage wastewater and sanitation services. These Water Sector Reforms (WSR) resulted from a study to rationalise the water sector in Botswana in order ensuring uniform service levels by the government.
Policy framework
Botswana's water policy is based on the 1991 Botswana National Water Master Plan (NWMP), with recommendations for reform made in a 2006 review. The NWMP covers water resource monitoring and management, and water project feasibility studies and implementation. A Water Sector Reforms Project is being undertaken in 2008-2013. Within the terms of this project, the Water Resources Council advises the Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, monitors and allocates water resources between users, and develops policy for managing water resources. The Department of Water Affairs ensures that sufficient water is available from sustainable sources to meet the needs of the economy. The WUC is responsible for delivery of water and wastewater services country-wide. Local kgotla community meetings resolve water-related disputes.
Operations
The WUC was established in 1970 to manage a water supply and distribution project in the Shashe Development Area. Today the WUC provides water to the cities of Gaborone and Francistown and the towns of Lobatse, Jwaneng, Selebi-Phikwe and Sowa. The WUC is economically self-sufficient, raising enough revenue from billing and subsidies to cover operational costs, investments and debt servicing. When compared to other utilities in sub-Saharan Africa, the WUC is extremely efficient in revenue management.
The WUC is administratively divided into the South region based in Gaborone with Management Centers servicing Gaborone, Mochudi, Lobatse, Molepolole, Kanye, Gantsi and Tshabong; and the North region based in Francistown with Management Centers servicing Francistown, Mahalapye, Palapye, Serowe, Selebi Phikwe, Masunga, Maun and Kasane. In June 2007, the WUC opened a contact center with a toll-free number to handle customer inquiries.
The WUC's assets include the Gaborone, Nnywane, Bokaa, Shashe and Letsibogo dams, the long North South Carrier Scheme pipeline, water treatment plants, pump stations and other equipment. Taken together, the dams have storage capacity of . The WUC also imports some water from the Molatedi Dam in South Africa. The reservoirs contain 90% of total capacity in Botswana. More water is lost from the reservoirs through evaporation than through consumption, and this is expected to increase due to global climate change.
The WUC supplies bulk treated water to the Department of Water Affairs. The Department of Water Affairs arranges distribution of this water and water from its own sources such as well fields to seventeen major villages. About half of the water delivered to the major villages comes from the WUC. District Councils supply water to more than 200 smaller villages. Some water users arrange their own supplies of water. As of 2012, there were plans to transfer responsibility for water supply from the Department of Water Affairs to WUC, and to transfer waste water management from the District Councils to the WUC.