ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a general overview of the available information on water resources in the Zambezi Basin. It highlights key gaps and challenges for sustainable development in the basin. The chapter also provides an insight into the status of surface water and groundwater resources, current water infrastructure gaps in satisfying demand and water allocations among competing sectors, in particular the environment, irrigated agriculture, domestic water supply for cities and industrial use and mining. The rich water resources in the Zambezi River Basin have long been a focus for poverty alleviation and economic development endeavours by the riparian governments given the region’s long-standing need for sustainable development. The Zambezi River Basin experiences an intercontinental tropical climate, mainly controlled by the movement of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone. Groundwater contributes significantly to the complex and interdependent hydrological processes in the Zambezi Basin. Groundwater use is also frequently linked to dambos, which consist of varying degrees of groundwater discharge.
