Transboundary Water Management: The Case of the Kikagati/Murongo Hydropower Development Project

Abstract

Water, the energizer of all life on earth, knows no boundaries. It crosses national borders, and links nearly forty per cent of world population together, through their common dependability on a transboundary water source. Transboundary water resources and the management of them are central points of focus in this thesis. A case study will present a hydropower development project in Kagera River. This river floats on the border between Uganda and Tanzania, and it therefore a shared resource. A private developer has been given the task to implement the project. This has not been as easy task, as the resource is shared, and the two states have had to carry out several complicated negotiations in order to decide how the project should be carried out. Through qualitative methods, this research sets out to describe and explain he processes within the Kikagati/Murongo Hydropower Project from its beginning towards its final agreement. This study shows how the negotiation processes of transboundary water resources can be carried out. Moreover, this study shows that water resources cannot be managed well if the involved states do not cooperate.