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National Water Resources Management Agency– Sierra Leone

Little About Us

The National Water Resources Management Agency (NWRMA) was established by an Act of parliament in 2017, to protect, manage and regulate surface and ground water resources in Sierra Leone with an overall vision of becoming one of the leading water resources management Agencies in West Africa. The Agency is responsible for granting of water rights, water resources allotment among competing users, formulation of regulatory measures, information/data collection and sharing on water resources, with a view also to controlling pollution. Trans-boundary water resource issues also fall under the mandate of the Agency.

As the country’s only water resources management entity, raising public awareness is key for its operation as this will serve as a platform to interface with raw water users and key stakeholders in the management of water resources in Sierra Leone.

What We Do

REGULATION

Water Resources Authority (NWRMA) sustainably and equitably allocates water resources among the various competing needs. NWRMA also requires that stakeholders are involved in the process. The “Water use Permit” is used to carry out this function.

PROTECTION

The National Water Resources Management Agency (NWRMA) also controls pollution and improves water quality in the country’s water bodies. This involves regular water quality tests and integrating land use activities into NWRMA Water Quality Control programs.

PUBLIC INFORMATION

The Agency collects all information on water resources, analyses, stores and disseminates it. This information is critical for water allocation, water resources investment decision making and modeling to enact scenarios to better understand the impact of climate change in future.

CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION

The Authority undertakes climate actions in terms of mitigation and adaptation to minimizing the effects of global warming and climate change.

Online Resources

The National Water Resources Management Agency website contains an increasing number of resources that we are making widley available on the site. At present we have a wide range of data, national and river basin specific maps and publications.