Climate Change Adaptation and Water

In this blog I have already discussed the impacts of climate change, how these impacts can create conflict over water resources, and water policy.  But what is being done to help communities adapt to the impacts of climate change?  How are communities themselves adapting?  These questions are very important given the projected impacts of climate change in East Africa.

"As people accept that climate change is real and here to stay,

they are likely to realize that while

 reducing greenhouse gas emissions is all about energy,

adapting to climate change will be all about water."

- Rijsberman

 

Children carrying water. 
Photo courtesy of  http://www.ids.ac.uk/news/making-social-protection-climate-smart

Africa is considered to be one of the most vulnerable continents to climate variability because of the multiple stresses and low adaptive capacity.  Additionally, poor communities typically have limited adaptive capacity with limited political, economic, and informational resources. Tanzania is no exception.

Climate change in Tanzania will impact the water, agricultural, forest, health, energy, and economic sectors.  Agriculture is especially vulnerable because 80% of people in Tanzania are employed in the agricultural sector and agriculture accounts for 45% of the national GDP, and variable precipitation could lower yields and threaten food security and the economy.  Most Tanzanians rely on maize as their main food source and maize yields are predicted to decline due to climate change, which would have major impacts on food security, poverty, and hunger. 

Additionally, access to clean water could be at risk.  For the entire continent of Africa, projections show that by 2025 75- 250 million Africans may be at an increased water stress due to climate change.  Tanzania's economic performance also relies on access to water and water shortages from the 2003 drought are estimated to have cut economic growth by 10% for the year.  Furthermore, hydropower is important in Tanzania, and currently represents 50 - 60% of energy production.  

Solar water pump.

Photo courtesy of treehugger.com

 

So how are communities adapting to climate change?

 

The Community Water Initiative, a program of the United Nations Development Programme, has two projects in Tanzania.  One project ran from 2001 to 2006 and aimed to improve infrastructure by building a solar powered water supply and irrigation system.  This project took place in Chanyauru, which lies on the shore of Lake Victoria.  The project benefited over 1,000 villagers and made irrigation available to improve food security and increased income in addition to improve accessibility of water for domestic purposes.  The second project undertaken by the CWI was in Moshi and focused on recycling waste water for paddy irrigation farming.  This project took place from 2006 to 2008 and helped build a waste water treatment system to be used for irrigation.    

 

While these projects, and others like it, are a start to helping vulnerable communities in East Africa adapt to the impacts of climate change, they are just a start.  More needs to be done in order to prevent devastating consequences in an already poor area of the world. 

This is an excellent short video discussing climate change adaptation in Tanzania!

Courtesy of youtube.com

 

Are Water Policies in East Africa Helping?

Carrying water
Photo courtesy of WaterAid.org

How does water policy influence access to water?  What are the current water policies?  Are they improving access to water?  These questions are important because water policy may shows how committed a country is to providing water to its citizens.  Water is a basic human necessity and an unfortunately scarce and inaccessible resource in some East African countries.  

Because water policy is country specific, this entry will focus on Tanzanian water policy as a case study for how water policy influences access to water.  The history of water policy sets the stage for the current issues surrounding water.  The history of the water sector in Tanzania dates back to the 1930s when water supply was confined to urban areas and farming settlements owned by foreign settlers.  The first real water plan was the Rural Water Supply Programme, which lasted from 1971 to 1991 and aimed to provide water within 400 meters of every household by 1991.  This program grew out of the Ujumaa program a 10 year socialist period where 70% of the Tanzanian population was relocated to village centers.  In 1972 the central government abolished local government authorities and then ironically labeled this 'decentralization.'  The district water department operated without input from local people and in subsequent year's public services collapsed and there was a serious outbreak of cholera in many urban areas in the late 1970s.  This failure of the central government to provide water to people led to the re-establishment of Town and Municipal Councils in 1978.    

The first National Water Policy was created in 1991.  This policy also aimed to provide water within 400 meters of every household by 2002.  The greatest contribution of the 1991 National Water Policy was the creation of village water committees in each village.  In July of 2002 a new National Water Policy was revised through a multi-stakeholder consultation that followed many national and international policy reforms of the 1990s.  There were 4 key revisions to the policy and they focused on increasing community ownership and management of water facilities and private sector participation.  However, under this policy communities assumed responsibility for maintaining facilities without having adequate financial resources to do this

Pumping water.
Photo courtesy of UNICEF

In 2006, the National Water Sector Development Strategy and National Water Sector Development Programme were implemented.  The National Water Sector Development Strategy sets out a strategy for implementing the National Water Policy of 2002 and is guided by the principles of decentralization and localization of management and resources.  The National Water Sector Development Programme promotes the integration of water supply and sanitation with hygiene education.

One important thing to bring up is that past and current water policies in Tanzania are influenced by larger international policies.  One example is the UN Millennium Development Goals, which call for a massive worldwide increase of access to water services.  The Tanzania water sector performance targets are derived from the Millennium Development Goals and aimed to increase the proportion of the rural population with access to clean water from 53% in 2003 to 65% in 2010 and increase the urban population's access to clean water from 73% in 2003 to 90% by 2012.

 

Figure 1.Percentage of the Tanzanian population
with access to improved water facilities. 
The percentage is going down in both urban
 and rural areas.
Figure courtesy of mtega.com

So how are these policies actually affecting access to water in Tanzania?  Are they effective?  While this is a hard question to answer Tanzania is far from reaching its goal of providing water within 400 meters of every household.  In the 2000s, there was actually a decrease in the access to improved water supplies.  According to the NGO WaterAid only 54% of the population has access to improved water facilities.  A World Bank report published in 2012 reported that only 44% of the rural population in Tanzania had access to improved water sources.  Improved water sources are water sources that do not include things like lakes or streams, which are often dirty and polluted.  These numbers are all far below the government policy targets. 

While Tanzanian water policy has great goals of improving access to water they are failing in delivering on those promises.  There are however several international NGOs that are trying to make up where Tanzanian water policies fell short.  WaterAid and ADRA are two such organizations and both focus on improving access to water for rural populations.  Regardless if it is the government or international NGOs that are working to improve access to water it is important that work continues on this issue.  Access to water is a basic right of every person on this planet in order to live a healthy life.       

  

Climate Change: Creating Conflict Over Water

How will climate change affect East Africa?  What is happening and what are the scientific predictions for the future?  How will this affect access to water?  These are important questions  to answer because climate change could have significant and potentially devastating effects on water and access to water in East Africa. 

This short video introduces the impacts of climate change

on water resources and people.

Video courtesy of youtube.com

According to a report by CARE International, in East Africa climate change will be directly felt in terms of the following:

  -  Higher temperatures
  -  Changes in the timing and quality of rains
  -  An increase in the frequency of climate hazards including floods, droughts, and storms
  -  Sea level rise

Temperatures in Africa rose by 0.7° C during the 20th century.  More precipitation is expected in those parts of East Africa that have been historically wetter and this could cause flooding and soil erosion.  As discussed in a previous blog, the glaciers and snow cover on Mt. Kilimanjaro have been retreating and melting.  For example, scientists have observed 55% glacier loss between 1962 and 2000.  On the coasts, coral bleaching in the western Indian Ocean region has caused a 30% loss of corals, which in turn has reduced tourism in places like Zanzibar.

 

How will climate change influence access to water?  Also according CARE International, the availability of freshwater in Tanzania is expected to decrease by 1/2 of 1990 levels by 2025.  This will cause water stress, and is a concern in Tanzania because 1/4 of the population already spends over 30 minutes per day walking to collect water.  A decrease in water availability may force communities to walk farther and search harder for water.  Access to water can also cause tensions and violence between communities.  A recent study by John O'Loughlin, a geography professor at the University of Colorado - Boulder, explored the connection between climate change and conflict in East Africa.  This study examined 16,359 individual conflicts from 1990 to 2009 and found that much warmer than normal temperatures raise the risk of violence.  For example, in Kenya , in September 2012 there were clashes between the Pokomo and Orma communities over water and land, which caused the killing of at least 30 people.  These two groups both rely on the Tana river to provide water for their livestock and tensions have been exacerbated in the past few years due to drought.   

Photo of women in Tanzania fighting over water

Photo courtesy of www.sauti-zetu.org

 

What is being done to help communities adapt to climate change?  How can we avoid conflict and violence over access to water?  Luckily, international and national organizations have already recognized this problem and are working towards solutions.  One example is the Pangani River BasinManagement Project.  This project is generating technical information, promoting collaboration between water and climate change sectors, and initiating information exchanges about how to adapt to water stress and climate change.  UNICEF is also taking action to fight against drought, famine, and conflict.  Since 2011, UNICEF has provided 4.5 million people with access to safe water and treated over 1 million malnourished children. 

 

 

Where does water come from in East Africa?

So far this blog has discussed how access to water in East Africa is valued, in terms of money, health, and labor, and also how access to water can create serious human-wildlife conflicts. Another incredibly important topic that needs addressing is the science of water in East Africa.  Where does water come from?  What causes drought in the region? Answering these questions is critical in understanding access to water in East Africa.

Photos of Mt. Kilimanjaro just 6 years apart.
Photo courtesy of http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/scndkili.htm

Where does the water come from?  Where do people get their water?  The water utilized by both rural and urban populations in East Africa comes from a variety of sources, including lakes, rivers, springs, and boreholes.  Water in East Africa even comes from glaciers like those on Mt. Kilimanjaro.  Dr. Lonnie Thompson of Ohio State University studies Mt. Kilimanjaro and has warned that sometime between 2015 and 2020 the famous ice fields will melt (which is due to climate change and this will be explored further in a future blog post).  Dr. Thompson predicts that the impact of this on local water supplies will be serious.  The population living near the base of the mountain relies on the melt water flowing from the glaciers and ice fields, as well as the rainforests that cover the sides of the mountain, to supply their springs with water.  If the ice on Mt. Kilimanjaro disappears completely the springs could dry up and East Africans depending on that water may be forced to look somewhere else to meet their daily water needs. 

In fact, communities near Mt. Kilimanjaro are already feeling these effects.  The town of Moshi, which is just south of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, depends on the Shiri Spring and Nsere Spring for 95% of their water.  However, the glacial changes on the mountain have seriously affected the supply of water to residents in the Moshi Municipality.  This has forced the management of the Moshi Urban Water and Sewage Authority to ration their precious water.

Map of the groundwater resources mapped by researchers
from the British Geological Survey and the University College London.
Photo courtesy of Environmental Research Letters

Water in East Africa also comes from boreholes that tap into ground water resources.  This is an important water source for people because boreholes and wells can be dug where there is an absence of lakes, rivers, and streams.  Researchers from the British Geological Survey and the University College London mapped the ground water resources and aquifers and found that the notoriously dry continent of Africa is actually sitting on a vast reservoir of ground water. According to this research, countries that were previously deemed as water scarce may have substantial groundwater resources. These findings could impact East Africans and potentially improve water access with the drilling of more boreholes.  However, the researchers recommend that boreholes should be appropriately located for small-scale water supply because this would be more appropriate than developing high-yielding boreholes without properly understanding the local groundwater conditions.  

What causes droughts in the region?  These variations in precipitation are exceedingly important because they influence access to water.  Droughts also influence where and how much water is available. Droughts can dry up wells and lakes that local populations depend on.  A study published in Science  predicted that the recent droughts in East Africa result from cooler waters on the other side of the globe.  La Nina conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean impact rain in East Africa and have been found to reduce the amount of rain in the area.  This same study study found that East Africa’s rains have been influenced by the warming and cooling of the Pacific Ocean for the past 20,000 years, based on data collected from sediments on the bottom of Lake Challe, which is a crater lake in the foothill of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Understanding where water resources come from and what influences rain in East Africa is critical to understanding access to water. Droughts can dry up springs, lakes, and rivers.  Greater knowledge about groundwater stores can help improve access to water through the digging of boreholes.  Access to water is critical for those living in East Africa, and the science of water can influence people's access to water. 

Women pumping water from a borehole
Photo courtesy of http://www.ucis.pitt.edu/africa/studyabroad
/Pitt_In_AfricaUniversityofPittsburgh.php

Women collecting water from a river.
Photo courtesy of http://www.guardian.co.uk/

Communities or Conservation? Who gets the water?

Elelphants roam in Kenya's Amboseli National Park
Photo courtesy of Visit Mount Kenya Tours

Should water be for conservation or for communities? I think most policy makers, local communities, and wildlife species would argue that water should be accessible for everyone and meet the needs of everything on the planet that needs water to survive. However this is not as easy as it sounds and often times in East Africa conservation areas and communities battle over access to water.

Conservation areas in East Africa are famous for their iconic wildlife and scenic views. These protected areas are often designed around water, and wildlife will migrate to these areas during the dry season because there are lakes, rivers, or springs that provide water year round. One example is the world famous Amboseli National Park, which is gets its water from nearby Mt. Kilimanjaro.   However, this water is also important to the local Maasai living outside of Amboseli National Park. A 2002 article by Meitamei Ole Dapash in Animal Welfare Intsitute Quarterly describes the conflict between Maasai and wildlife over the basic necessity of water.

The Amboseli Maasai - Elephant dialogue is convened under a tree.
Photo courtesy of the Animal Welfare Institute Quarterly

According to this article, during the 1999-2000 drought, elephant – Maasai conflicts escalated as residents adjacent to Amboseli National Park were driven into the park to collect water for their basic livelihood needs. About 80% of the permanent sources of water in the region are located in the center of the park. To add to the conflict, women and children were forced to walk 10-15 kilometers daily through the park to fetch water for household use. To mitigate the situation the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) distributes approximately USD 10,000 annually to the 7 communities surrounding the park. However, this is a very meager amount given the large annual revenue of Amboseli National Park of USD 3.3 million and the heavy burden placed on the local people for water access and human – wildlife conflict. This 1999-2000 drought intensified the competition for limited water resources, but the Maasai Environmental Resource Coalition (MERC) helped to create a dialogue to discuss human-wildife issues, and in particular human-elephant, conflicts with the KWS. While there is no easy answer to how to mitigate conflict, an open dialogue is a great start to help promote water access for both conservation and communities.

Elephant – Maasai conflicts also occur when water resources are only located near human populations, forcing wildlife to roam into villages and heavily populated areas. This news piece by Kenya Citizen TV from 2009 illustrates the human – elephant conflicts over water in Kenya and even poses some solutions, such as prohibiting human populations from living near wildlife areas. As a warning, this video does have some graphic content.

Video courtesy of Kenya Citizen TV

So where do we go from here? Who should have access to water: the wildlife or the local populations? What kinds of policy solutions are there for this problem? Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to these questions. According to Elizabeth Osirmoro, manager for the Mount Kenya East Project:

“The problem began when these areas [around Mt. Kenya] were settled by farmers looking for land to work. More and more new settlements are pushing right up to the park boundary and some have even encroached into the forest reserve. As a result competition for resources between humans and wildlife has intensified.”

Elephants attempting to cross a fence.
Photo courtesy of L. Osborn from africa-elephant.org

The KWS is working on human wildlife conflict mitigation measures including building electric fences and other wildlife proof barriers. Fences help protect farmers crops and precious water resources. But is this fair for wildlife to be excluded? Building fences is expensive and the fences require maintenance. Additionally, the KWS encourages farmers to build moats and trenches around their land, although this is very time consuming and labor intensive. Solving this problem in East Africa is not easy and will take time. Collaboration and an open dialogue between groups may be the way forward, such as the example of the KWS and the Maasai Environmental Resource Coalition. However, fences and physical barriers excluding either people or wildlife are other proposed solutions, and these solutions leave much to be desired.

What is the Value of Water?

Every living thing on this planet needs water to survive.  It sustains life.  But how can we put a value on something so important?  Access to water in East Africa is a critical issue that highlights how water, arguably the most important natural resource, is valued and how truly important it is. 

Can we put a dollar amount on the value of water?  Watercarrier.org says that the cost of digging a well in East Africa ranges from US$5,000 to US$35,000.  Many organizations dig wells in East Africa, providing access to water in communities where there was none, but for other communities they must pay these costs themselves.  Besides paying for wells, East Africans also pay to have water piped to their house or village.  According to Porras et al. (2001), East Africans pay between US$0.77 and US$1.06 per cubic meter of water.  So we can put a monetary value on water based on how much it costs to build the pipes and wells that deliver it to East Africans.  But is this really the value of water?  For the poor family that now has easy access to clean water this resource is priceless.     

Courtesy of the World Health Organization

What about the value of water for health?  Access to clean water saves lives.  In Kenya, the World Health Organization found that in children under the age of five, 21% of deaths are from diarrhea.  Diarrhea is most commonly caused by drinking dirty, unsafe water because families have no access to clean water.  With access to clean water these deaths are preventable.  Can we put a value on the lives saved by access to water?  There are various organizations that are working to bring clean drinking water to communities, and thus improve health conditions and decrease water borne illnesses.  According to UNICEF in the 1990's more than a billion people gained access to safe drinking water worldwide.  In Tanzania alone the number of people with access to safe drinking water jumped from 38% in 1990 to 68% in 2000.   Besides access to safe drinking water, health education is important to teach people about sanitation and water treatment techniques.  AMREF has one water project in Mkuranga district, Tanzania, that helps communities establish water funds to improve water infrastructure and dig wells, and provides education about water sanitation, child health, and general hygiene and sanitation.     

Photo courtesy of volunteerkilimanjaro.wordpress.com

What about the value of time?  East African women and children are usually in charge of collecting water for their family.  Research in Uganda by the United Nations Development Program found that households average 660 hours per year collecting water, which equals 2 full months of labor.  If these households had better access to water women’s precious time could be spent getting educated, working on incoming generating projects, and spending time with their families.  This problem can be solved by building more wells and bringing water closer to those who need it.  Living Water International is one organization that recognizes the value of time and is working on projects worldwide to improve access to water for communities.  

So what is the value of water?  For East Africans it is invaluable.  The economic value of water is important, but more important is the value of water to the livelihoods and lives of East Africans.  Water can improve education, health, labor efforts, and agriculture.  Water sustains life.       

Video courtesy of charitywater.org