In some cases this has been as a result of poorly managed and increasingly excessive abstraction of water resources with increasing demand for water thirsty high value crops.

This has been further compounded by variability in the climate in this region.

The weak policy environment and the transboundary nature of water resources require common legislation and joint management arrangements.

However, the three governments of , and have for instance, different water resources use and conservation policies and are at different stages in their policy development processes. This presents a major challenge when planning for and implementing regional freshwater programmes.

Lack of adequate data on water resources (flows, quality, environmental flows etc) has led to the poor understanding of river basin and catchment linkages and management requirements, causing water catchment degradation. This has resulted in water being undervalued and mismanaged and hence leading to biodiversity loss due to human activity within river basins. 

There has also been a lack of adequate capacity in IWRM/IRBM at all levels including WWF.