During its establishment, it managed a single project: the supply and distribution of water in what was then called the Shashe Development Area.

The Government of Botswana expanded this mandate to include planning, construction, operation, treatment, maintenance, and distribution of water resources in the country’s urban centres and other areas.

The Corporation was given a new mandate to supply potable water to all urban centres and villages across the country and manage wastewater and sanitation services.

[2] The WUC was established in 1970 to manage a water supply and distribution project in the Shashe Development Area.

[3] Today the WUC provides water to the cities of Gaborone and Francistown and the towns of Lobatse, Jwaneng, Selebi-Phikwe and Sowa.

[4] The WUC is economically self-sufficient, raising enough revenue from billing and subsidies to cover operational costs, investments and debt servicing.

[7] The WUC is administratively divided into the South region based in Gaborone with Management Centers servicing Gaborone, Mochudi, Lobatse, Molepolole, Kanye, Gantsi and Tshabong; and the North region based in Francistown with Management Centers servicing Francistown, Mahalapye, Palapye, Serowe, Selebi Phikwe, Masunga, Maun and Kasane.

[9] The WUC's assets include the Gaborone, Nnywane, Bokaa, Shashe and Letsibogo dams, the 360 kilometres (220 mi) long North South Carrier Scheme pipeline, water treatment plants, pump stations and other equipment.

More water is lost from the reservoirs through evaporation than through consumption, and this is expected to increase due to global climate change.

[16] Starting in 1992, the WUC has been piping water to every city plot in Gaborone, taking responsibility for installation and for billing and collection charges.

In the late 2000s the GCC began removing the standpipes so as to reduce costs, causing serious problems to the many people who could not afford to pay the WUC for on-plot connections.