This would imply making the most of the decentralisation of responsibilities and allowing river basin councils to use their decision-making powers on important issues. It would help co-ordinate and articulate river basin plans with national and state priorities and programmes to foster more coherent and effective decision making and information sharing. Although there are some optimistic signs at the sub-basin level with several COTAS, clean beach committees and river basin commissions attracting financial resources from governmental institutions to address local problems, the lack of binding basin plans and financial autonomy remain serious constraints to the relevance and efficiency of river basin authorities.