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.