Tanzania has numerous rivers, lakes, wetlands, springs, and aquifers, producing 126 billion cubic meters (BCM) of renewable freshwater annually. It has a total built storage capacity of 40 BCM from 651 registered dams. Five of the nine hydrological basins in Tanzania primarily feature rivers, while lakes characterize four as the dominant water bodies.
As the steward of Africa's largest freshwater lakes—Victoria, Tanganyika, and Nyasa—Tanzania shares these vital lentic waters and many rivers and aquifers with eight neighboring countries. These three lakes collectively hold approximately 29,380 km³ of freshwater, representing nearly 28% of the World's freshwater supply. Tanzania's share of these critical water resources exceeds 9,100 km³, surpassing the combined storage capacity of all 62,000 large dams worldwide registered by the International Commission on Large Dams (Hirji, under review).
Tanzania's water demand is rapidly increasing due to growing population and economic activity. According to the National Water Policy (NAWAPO) 2002 update for 2025 (MOW, 2025), total water demand reached 62 BCM in 2024 and is projected to rise to 80.2 BCM by 2035. Urban water supply coverage is nearly 92%, and rural supply is around 83%, often struggling with unreliable access due to the uneven distribution of available water sources.
In 2004, the successful water transfer from Lake Victoria to Shinyanga, Kahama, and surrounding rural communities was a significant achievement. The lessons learned from this project and insights from other interbasin water transfer initiatives worldwide can help inform the development of a comprehensive national water supply grid, integrating rivers, groundwater, and lakes, as recommended in the updated NAWAPO.
While natural lakes can offer a reliable water supply throughout the year, it is crucial to systematically address the challenges posed by human activities within lake basins. They include growing demand, reduced inflows, declining water levels, deteriorating water quality, point and nonpoint source water pollution, sedimentation, eutrophication, and the proliferation of water hyacinths. Additionally, climate change presents significant risks to the sustainability of these essential resources.
This paper presents an Integrated Lake Basin Management (ILBM) strategy to support the NAWAPO. The primary goal is to establish a reliable water supply grid system and enhance resilience to climate change. The strategy will address key elements of Lake Basin governance, including policy and legal frameworks, institutional arrangements, capacity building, community engagement, technical considerations, and financial planning. It will underscore transboundary cooperation, collaboration, and environmental and social issues while strengthening ILBM's capacity.