A/HRC/33/49/Add.3 increasing available water resources or reducing water losses, a 46 per cent increase in water availability can be expected. 9 Under the leadership of the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources and with support from international partners, the Water Utilities Corporation, for instance, is implementing a project to reduce water loss by up to 22 per cent by 2018. The Corporation announces the current water supply situation and the water shutdown schedule. Reportedly, it also visits households and schools to encourage water saving by repairing leaking taps and pipes. These are welcome efforts as stakeholder participation and their right to information are essential to managing water losses and wastage and increasing water availability. 27. Water resources management and the provision of water and sanitation services are inextricable. Sustainable water resources are inseparable from sustainable water provision. The Government needs to develop a concrete strategy to increase the availability of water through other measures and not rely on intermittent supply on a long-term basis. Water allocation also needs to be transparent and participatory, taking into account competing water demands. The human rights to water and sanitation do not define a fixed daily water quantity, however, they do oblige the Government to set standards for the availability of water and sanitation by assessing local conditions and requirements and referring to relevant studies. The Government needs to take it into consideration that children, pregnant women and people with chronic diseases are particularly vulnerable to illnesses, such as diarrhoeal diseases, when sufficient water is not available. The 2012 draft national water policy does not specify the target water quantity per household or per capita, however it states that the Government will “determine and regularly update water demands and supply options for all areas supported by service strategies for medium- and long-term planning”. In an environment in which water stress is expected to increase, it is particularly important to set up a system to continuously monitor and evaluate available water resources options so as to respond to water demand. C. Quality of water and sanitation services 28. The Botswana Standards for Drinking Quality Water Specifications requires that potable water meet its minimum standard and that of the World Health Organization Drinking Water Quality Guidelines. The Water Utilities Corporation monitors the quality of drinking water according to this standard. While the Ministry of Health has the responsibility of surveillance of drinking water quality and performs some tests, its role does not seem effective since there is no systematic exchange of information on sampled water quality between the Ministry of Health and the Water Utilities Corporation. The Water Utilities Corporation is not obliged to report the results of its monitoring to the surveillance entity either. 29. According to the official data provided by the Water Utilities Corporation, the compliance level of microbiological analysis of 8 out of 34 monitoring areas in the period from July to September 2015 was below 50 per cent and in 3 monitoring areas, there was no proper data available. This is a worrying result as water safety is one of the critical normative content of the human right to water and has a direct impact on people’s health. 30. While the Water Utilities Corporation monitors the quality of borehole water that is not connected to the network, the Special Rapporteur was informed that the results of water quality monitoring is not systematically or easily available for concerned consumers. In villages that the Special Rapporteur visited, some people stated that the Water Utilities 9 GE.16-12031 Government of Botswana and UNDP, “Reflecting on the challenges of attaining a green economy for Botswana”, p. 5. 9

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