Learning about Freshwater in Uganda

AVAILABILITY OF FRESHWATER IN EASTERN AFRICA

Eastern Africa, on the whole, is fairly well endowed with freshwater, with total average renewable freshwater resources amounting to 187 km³/yr (UNDP and others 2000). Uganda has the largest share of this, with 39 km³/yr (1 791 m³/capita/yr), whilst Eritrea has the least, with 2.8 km³/yr (data on per capita resources are not available) (UNDP and others 2000). The amount and distribution of rainfall varies across Eastern Africa, with annual averages ranging from 147 mm for Djibouti to more than 1 000 mm for Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi (FAOSTAT 2000). Intra-annual variations are also high, ranging from: 50–300 mm for Djibouti; 250–700 mm for Somalia; 750–2000 mm for Uganda; and 100–2 400 mm for Ethiopia (FAOSTAT 2000). These intra-annual variations determine, to some extent, water availability. For example, more than 75 per cent of Ethiopia’s rainfall occurs in intense downpours over a period of 3–4 months, whilst conditions are relatively dry for the rest of the year (Ministry of Water Resources 1998). The intensity of these rains and the lack of vegetative cover cause most rainfall to be lost as run-off or evaporation, with only a small percentage available to recharge underground aquifers. Surface water, therefore, dominates freshwater resources in easter Africa (the groundwater resources of Ethiopia and Eritrea, for example, are just 2.6 km³ of the total resources for these countries) (FAOSTAT 1996). Surface water resources are also important in power generation 

The world’s largest storage dam is the Owen Falls Dam on the River Nile in Uganda. The 162-megawatt (MW) capacity hydroelectric station at the dam supplies most of Uganda’s electricity requirements, and exports 30 MW each year to Kenya. In 1999, however, increased domestic demand in Uganda resulted in a drop in supply to Kenya. Kenya’s own hydropower stations supply 78 per cent of the country’s electricity (670 MW in 1999). Ethiopia’s hydropower potential has been estimated at 15 000–30 000 MW, although less than 2 per cent of this had been exploited by 1993, and 90 per cent of all energy consumed is derived from biomass.With such dependency on hydroelectric power, the eastern African countries are vulnerable to power shortages during times of low rainfall, as experienced during 1999 and 2000 by Kenya and Ethiopia. This, in turn, adversely impacts on the economy, as a result of losses in industrial productivity, commercial activities, and transport and communication networks. The government of Kenya is subsequently promoting the development of diesel and geothermal power plants.

The drier countries in the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia) frequently experience drought, and have been devastated by drought-induced famine on several occasions over the past 30 years. The largest freshwater source in eastern Africa is Lake Victoria, the second largest lake in the world. Lake Victoria provides freshwater to the populations of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania directly and, through the Nile River, to Sudan and Egypt. It is also the life and livelihood support of millions of people living around the lake, providing: fish; irrigation water; tourism and recreation; communications; and transport. Other major freshwater lakes in eastern Africa include: Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania; Lake Edward, Lake George, Lake Kyoga and Lake Albert in Uganda; Lake Turkana in Kenya; and eleven freshwater lakes in Ethiopia.