Do needs motivate the exchange of data in transboundary waters? Insights from Africa’s shared basins

Figures & data

Table 1. Data exchange attributes in transboundary waters conventions.

1997 UN Watercourses Convention	1992 Water Convention
Hydrological Meteorological Hydrogeological Ecological	Environmental conditions of transboundary waters Experience gained in the application and operation of the best available technology and the results of research and development Emission and monitoring data Measures taken and planned to be taken to prevent, control and reduce Permits or regulations for wastewater discharges

Table 2. Analytical framework for data exchange needs assessment.

Component	Indicators
Context	(1) existing reference to data-sharing in agreements and protocols; (2) documented data-sharing parameters
Data exchange for beneficial uses Agriculture Hydropower Environmental water requirements Urban water supply	(1) River flow, (2) reservoir storage, (3) groundwater level, (4) surface water abstraction, (5) ground water abstraction, (11) precipitation, (12) temperature, (13) humidity and (9) dam releases
Data exchange for risk mitigation Water quality Disaster risk management	(1) pH, (2) electrical conductivity, (3) suspended sediments, (4) nitrates, (5) microbiological data, (6) pesticides, (7) agriculture return flows, (8) bio indicators, (9) waste water discharge quantities, (10) river flow and (11) reservoir storage

Note: Certain indicators, such as river flow, are relevant for multiple components.

Figure 1. African basins of focus.

Source: R. Alankara. Note: Readers of the print version can view the figures in colour online at https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2023.2177075

Table 3. Basin country units (BCUs) and corresponding area in the basin after filtering for at least 5% area in basin.

River basin	BCUs
Cuvelai	Angola (31%), Namibia (69%)
Lake Chad	Chad (44%), Niger (27%), Nigeria (7%), Sudan (6%), Central African Republic (8%)
Limpopo	Botswana (20%), Mozambique (20%), South Africa (45%), Zimbabwe (15%)
Niger	Algeria (8%), Mali (26%), Niger (23%), Nigeria (27%)
Okavango	Angola (22%), Botswana (50%), Namibia (25%)
Orange–Senqu^a	Botswana (14%), Namibia (25%), South Africa (58%)
Pungwe	Mozambique (96%), Zimbabwe (4%)
Ruvuma	Mozambique (65%), Tanzania (33%)
Senegal	Guinea (7%), Mali (38%), Mauritania (38%), Senegal (17%)
Volta	Burkina Faso (42%), Ghana (41%), Togo (7%)
Zambezi	Angola (19%), Malawi (8%), Mozambique (12%), Zambia (42%), Zimbabwe (15%)

Note: ^aLesotho was excluded from this study because it contains only 3% of the Orange–Senqu basin, and all other riparian countries contain more than 5% of the basin.

Source: TFDD (2017).

Table 4. Coverage of data exchange in basin-wide treaties applying to basins of focus.^a

Basin	Treaty or agreement	Data Exchange Protocol	Key Data Exchange Clause in treaty	Specific data or categories provided for in Treaty or Protocol	Reference/Source
Cuvelai	Agreement between the government of the Republic of Angola and the government of the Republic of Namibia on the establishment of the Cuvelai Watercourse Commission (CUVECOM), 16 September 2014	None	Article 10.6: ‘The Secretariat shall […] collect, obtain and evaluate data and information with regard to all relevant aspects of the Cuvelai Watercourse as well as disseminate all such data and information to the Parties’ Article 11.4: ‘The Parties shall exchange available information and data regarding the hydrological, hydrogeological, water quality, meteorological and environmental conditions of the Cuvelai Watercourse’	Hydrological, hydrogeological, water quality, meteorological and environmental conditions	FAOLEX Database
Lake Chad	Water Charter for the Lake Chad Basin, April 2011. Parties: Republic of Cameroon, Central African Republic, Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Republic of Niger, Federal Republic of Nigeria and Republic of Chad	Yes	Article 65: ‘With a view to sustainable management of the Basin, the State Parties undertake to exchange data and information that is available on the Basin via the Commission in order to improve hydrological, environmental and socio-economic knowledge on the Basin’^b	Appendix no. 5 on the exchange of data and information within the Lake Chad Basin Commission: river and stream flows, abstraction volumes, temperature, evapotranspiration, humidity rainfall, conditions of wetlands and protected areas, water storage capacity and level, demographic and socio economic data, water quality, pollutant discharge	Africa Water Facility
Limpopo	Agreement between the Republic of Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe on the Establishment of the Limpopo Watercourse Commission, 27 November 2003	None	Article 7.2: ‘The Council shall advise the contracting Parties on […] all aspects related to the efficient and effective collection processing and dissemination of data and information with regards to the Limpopo’	None	International Environmental Agreements Database
Niger	Revised Convention Establishing the Authority of the Niger Basin, 29 October 1987	None	None	None	International Environmental Agreements Database
	Niger Basin Water Charter, 30 April 2008. Parties: President of the People’s Republic of Benin; President of Faso; President of the Republic of Cameroon; President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire; President of the Republic of Guinea, Head of State; President of the Republic of Mali; President of the Supreme Military Council, Head of State of the Republic of Niger; President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; President of the Republic of Chad		Article 12: ‘The State Parties undertake to: […] consolidate and improve knowledge on the state of the catchment areas water and other natural resources through reinforcement of available databases’ Article 19: ‘The State Parties shall exchange information and consult each other and, if necessary, negotiate on the possible effects of measures planned on the River Niger Basin’	None	International Environmental Agreements Database
Okavango	Agreement on the Establishment of a Permanent Okavango River Basin Water Commission (OKACOM), Windhoek, 16 September 1994. Parties: Governments of the Republic of Angola, Republic of Botswana and Republic of Namibia	Yes	Article 1.3: ‘Each Contracting Party shall, to the extent permitted by its own laws and procedures, provide such information as the Commission may require for the performance of its functions’	Water levels, water discharge, water quality, sediment transport and meteorological data^c	International Environmental Agreements Database
Orange–Senqu	Agreement on the Establishment of the Orange–Senqu River Commission, 3 November 2000. Parties: governments of the Republic of Botswana, Kingdom of Lesotho, Republic of Namibia and Republic of South Africa	None	Article 5.2.8: ‘The Council shall take all measures required to make recommendations, or to advise the Parties, on the following matters: […] the regular exchange of information and consultation on the possible effects of planned measures’ Article 7.4: ‘The Parties shall exchange available information and data regarding the hydrological, water quality, meteorological and environmental condition of the River System’	Hydrological, water quality, meteorological and environmental condition	International Environmental Agreements Database
Pungwe	Agreement between the Republic of Zimbabwe and Republic of Mozambique on cooperation, the development, management and sustainable utilization of the water resources of the Pungwe Watercourse, Chimoio, 11 July 2016	None	Article 13: @When sharing information and data the Parties shall exchange available information on a regular basis on the condition of the Pungwe Watercourse, in particular that of hydrological, hydrogeological, meteorological, environmental conditions, water quality, as well as related forecasts as provided in Annexe 5’^d	According to Annexe 5 data are to be exchanged on rainfall, water level, water quality, water use as reflected in permits, reservoir data and other relevant information	No online reference
Ruvuma	None	None	None	None	None
Senegal	Charter of Senegal River Waters, signed on 28 May 2002. Parties: Republic of Mali, Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Republic of Senegal	Yes	Article 7: ‘The principles used in the distribution of water, as defined in the appendices, take into account the following essential elements: […] the sharing of information on the water flows of the River to take into account the usage constraints;– the safety of the works;– water supply (urban, and rural);– preservation and protection of the environment;– support for agriculture (recession, irrigated), livestock and inland fishing;– hydroelectric production;– freedom of navigation’	Water flows	ECOLEX
Volta	Convention on the Status of the Volta River and the Establishment of Volta Basin Authority (VBA), 19 January 2007	Yes	Article 4: ‘The Parties commit themselves to cooperate closely for the rational and sustainable utilization of the water resources of the Volta Basin on the basis of the following principles (c) the regular exchange of data and information among the State Parties’	None^e	International Environmental Agreements Database
Zambezi	Agreement on the establishment of the Zambezi Watercourse Commission, 13 July 2004. Parties: Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, United Republic of Tanzania and Zimbabwe	Yes	Article 11 (6): ‘the Secretariat shall collect, obtain, collate and evaluate data and information with regards to all relevant aspects of the Zambezi Watercourse as well as disseminate all such data and information to the Member States Article (15) (4) […] A Member State shall however cooperate in good faith […] and provide as much data and information especially on hydrological matters and matters potentially harmful to people and the environment as circumstances permit’	Type of time-series data, which eventually is aimed to be shared between the member states: water levels, discharge, rainfall, evaporation, temperature, sediment concentration and water quality^f	http://gis.nacse.org/tfdd/treaties.php

Notes: ^aThe table also includes obligations related to information exchange to capture instances where data may still be shared, even though such clauses are framed more broadly in the context of the sharing of information.

^bAppendix 3 establishes environmental flows to be maintained; and Appendix 5 gives specific data to be shared.

^cAs provided in the 2010 OKACOM Protocol on Hydrological Data Sharing for the Okavango River Basin.

^dAnnexe 5 of the treaty goes into detail about monitoring stations and points from which data should be exchanged, including the related frequency for exchange of specified parameters.

^eOther provisions, potentially contained in the memoranda of understanding for data exchange between the Volta Basin Authority and the water ministries of the basin countries, could not be accessed.

^fAs articulated in the Rules and Procedures for Sharing of Data and Information Related to the Management and Development of the Zambezi Watercourse.

Figure 2. Level of data exchange needs, consolidated results.

Table 5. Data needs according to specific sector uses (%).

	Use sector
Data	Agriculture	Hydropower	Environmental requirements	Urban water supply	Water quality and pollution	Disaster risk management	Average
River flow	81	78	81	78	81	94	82
Reservoir storage	72	69	66	69	66	75	69
Ground water levels	56	38	66	72	63	47	57
Surface water abstraction volume	75	53	59	59	47	47	57
Ground water abstraction data	59	38	63	75	63	50	58
pH	69	50	63	81	78	50	65
Electrical conductivity	59	50	63	78	84	44	63
Suspended sediments (turbidity)	56	63	66	69	75	47	63
Nitrates	63	38	69	78	88	50	64
Microbiological data	56	38	63	75	59	47	56
Pesticides	59	28	63	69	81	41	57
Precipitation (rainfall)	84	72	75	69	50	84	72
Temperature	69	47	66	63	56	53	59
Humidity	72	50	66	50	50	50	56
Dam releases	78	69	72	66	47	78	68
Waste water discharge quantities	53	44	63	63	53	56	55
Agricultural return flows	66	44	53	53	53	47	53
Bio-indicators	63	41	66	50	44	53	53
Average	66	50	66	68	63	56

Figure 3. (a) Data exchange-need variations according to a strict upstream–downstream classification; and (b) data exchange needs according to a relaxed upstream–downstream classification.

Table 6. Matching expressed need with assessed level of data exchange.

Data	Number of basin country units (BCUs) that expressed a need	Of those that expressed a need, how many had their need satisfied?	%
River flow	31	27	87%
Reservoir storage	30	13	43%
Ground water levels	27	6	22%
Surface water abstraction volume	24	3	13%
Ground water abstraction data	26	0	0%
pH	28	6	21%
Electrical conductivity	28	6	21%
Suspended sediments (turbidity)	26	0	0%
Nitrates	28	4	14%
Microbiological data	26	5	19%
Pesticides	25	0	0%
Precipitation (rainfall)	31	19	61%
Temperature	26	2	8%
Humidity	25	0	0%
Waste water discharge quantities	22	0	0%

Table 7. Role of agreements in supporting satisfaction of data exchange needs.

Basin	Data need assessment	Coverage of data exchange in agreement and /or protocols
Cuvelai	Needs mostly unmet	Specific provisions and guidance
Lake Chad	Needs met	Specific provisions and guidance
Limpopo	Needs mostly unmet	General clause, no specified data
Niger	Needs mostly met	General clause, no specified data
Okavango	Needs mostly unmet	Specific provisions and guidance
Orange–Senqu	Not clear	Specific provisions and guidance
Pungwe	Needs met	Specific provisions and guidance
Ruvuma	Needs mostly unmet	No agreement in place
Senegal	Needs mostly met	Specific provisions and guidance
Volta	Needs mostly unmet	Specific clause, no specified data
Zambezi	Needs mostly met	Specific provisions and guidance

TFDD. (2017). Product of the Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University. Additional information about the TFDD can be found at: http://transboundarywaters.science.oregonstate.edu

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