Understanding e-flows in the Limpopo basin

Summary

E-flows refer to the quantity, timing, and quality of water flows required to sustain freshwater and estuarine ecosystems. In simpler terms, e-flows refer to the amount of water that a system (river or stream) needs to stay healthy and support plants and animals.

LIMCOM Member States gathered along the Olifants River in South Africa in October 2025 for a basin-wide workshop to strengthen their capacity on environmental flows (e-flows) assessment.

The capacitation is expected to lead towards a harmonized transboundary e-flows implementation arrangement in the Limpopo River Basin (LRB), and ultimately an environmental e-flows harmonization agreement among the four Member States.

But, what exactly are e-flows?
E-flows refer to the quantity, timing, and quality of water flows required to sustain freshwater and estuarine ecosystems.

In simpler terms, e-flows refer to the amount of water that a system (river or stream) needs to stay healthy and support plants and animals. E-flows matter because

• They support fish migration
• Help sediment transport among many other functions

So, how would one describe the status of e-flows in the Limpopo
While the need for sustainable management is recognized in the LRB, the implementation of e-flows assessment and management is complex, particularly in a transboundary context.

To address this situation, LIMCOM is actively working on transboundary e-flows assessment, notably through the application of the Probabilistic Flow (ProbFlo) framework.

This framework uses a Bayesian Networks approach to assess the risk of altered flows to ecosystem services.

The framework was applied in the basin a few years ago under the Resilient Waters Program of 2018-22 and subsequently under the current flagship LIMCOM project “Integrated Transboundary River Basin Management for the Sustainable Development of the Limpopo River Basin.”

Towards a harmonized transboundary e-flows implementation arrangement
The task now, is to move from the technical assessment to a unified, basin-wide implementation strategy, which requires harmonizing the e-flows assessment and implementation modalities with the specific national e-flows policies from each of the four LIMCOM Member States namely Botswana Mozambique South Africa and Zimbabwe.

To facilitate this crucial step forward, LIMCOM is thus engaged in various initiatives to strengthen the capacity of Member States in e-flows assessment and implementation, leading to a harmonized transboundary e-flows implementation arrangement in the LRB.