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The government has unveiled a new Board for the Water Resources Management Authority (WARMA), with a strong directive to intensify the fight against illegal water abstraction and pollution through stiffer penalties, improved surveillance, and zero tolerance for environmental violations.
Water Development and Sanitation Minister, Collins Nzovu, who officiated at the unveiling in Lusaka on Monday, said while Zambia’s legal framework provides for penalties under the Water Resources Management Act No. 21 of 2011, enforcement remains weak and must be urgently strengthened.
He challenged the new WARMA Board to transform the institution into a proactive and robust regulator, not a passive observer.
“The era of leniency is over. The law must now speak—and it must speak firmly,” Nzovu declared, citing increased pollution of rivers and streams, especially from mining, agriculture, and industrial waste, as a growing national crisis.
He referenced recent incidents on the Copperbelt, including pollution of the Chambishi Stream, Mwambashi River,and the Kafue River, as examples of the scale of environmental degradation that demands urgent action.
Nzovu directed WARMA to increase enforcement efforts, particularly targeting gold mining areas in Nangoma-Mumbwa, Solwezi, and Kanchibiya, and to build effective compliance frameworks in partnership with stakeholders.
He further announced that the government was reviewing the Water Resources Management Act, with a key proposal to reduce the water permit issuance period from 60 to 30 days.
The revision aims to align the Act with global and national priorities while ensuring WARMA remains both a facilitator of development and a guardian of sustainability.
Nzovu said WARMA must lead efforts to map and gazette critical water sources as “Water Resources Protection Areas” and finalize management plans supported by community engagement and legal enforcement.
“We are already working on a Statutory Instrument to support this. This Board must lead with urgency,” he said.
He also emphasized the implementation of Statutory Instrument No. 73 of 2024 on Water Harvesting and Storage, urging WARMA to champion rainwater harvesting initiatives across all levels—from households to communities—to prevent water scarcity.
Meanwhile, newly appointed WARMA Board Chairperson, Dr. John Kunda, acknowledged that climate change was severely affecting water availability, threatening both livelihoods and infrastructure.
Kunda said the Board would prioritize resilience by integrating climate adaptation strategies and implementing the water harvesting statutory instrument to support availability for households, agriculture, and industry.
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