Although Rwanda is endowed with abundant surface water, population growth, climate change and poverty are driving changes that are likely to both increase water scarcity and contribute to deteriorating water quality in the coming twenty to thirty years.

The water tenure assessment was carried out in the Muvumba catchment area in Nyagatare District and the Yanze sub-catchment area in Rulindo District. It identifies and compares the various water tenure arrangements that exist in Rwanda and highlights the challenges that may hinder the effectiveness of those arrangements. It also provides recommendations on how to achieve a more responsible and equitable governance of water tenure.

Key recommendations for the governance of water tenure in Rwanda include:

• Taking into consideration the mandate of the newly created National Consultative Committee on Water (NCCW), create (or embed within the NCCW) a technical, inter-agency working group. The group should focus on key areas of legislative reform under the current water law, with reference to the findings of this water tenure assessment.
• Finalize the preparation of ministerial orders on water use permits and water use fees to create a comprehensive regulatory package that can be rapidly implemented once any necessary revisions to the law are enacted. If legislative reform should prove to be untenable, key issues highlighted in the report could be included in a ministerial order as an alternative.
• Assess capacities and needs, including human and technical resource requirements, to enable the rapid, systematic and comprehensive implementation of the permitting regime as well as possible funding sources and a detailed implementation plan.
• Establish a water fee structure (such as a block tariff system) that charges water users according to use levels to increase the financial capacity of the water service institutions. Fee schedules and permit durations should also be aligned with adaptive management goals adopted by the government to enable water institutions to respond to changes in use, availability of water, water quality and so on. The duration of permits should be sufficiently long to ensure tenure security, but not too long preclude necessary adjustments to respond to changed hydrological conditions and climate change impacts.