Why Rufiji River Basin is critical for development
THE Rufiji River Basin is critical for development, particularly in relation to food and water security.
Apart from being rich in water resources and biodiversity, the Basin is endowed with a good climate, fertile soil, minerals and human resource. It is known for its agricultural production and is often called the ‘bread basket’ of Tanzania.
The basin is composed of water from the Kilombero Basin, which contributes 65 per cent, the Luwegu River, which contributes 15 per cent the Ruaha River, which contributes 19.5 per cent; and other small rivers, which contributes 0.5 per cent.
The RBWB Director Mr Florence Mahay said the area produces food and other commercial products for the domestic and foreign markets. For example, he said the basin produces 62 per cent of tea while contributing 40 per cent of sugar in the country.
The Rufiji basin is also important for tourism with the national reserves of Udzungwa, Kitulo, Ruaha and Nyerere while the basin carries 46 of the area suitable for irrigation in the country.
Mr Mahay said that there three hydroelectric generating stations that produce 66 per cent of the country’s hydroelectric power Kidatu 205MW, Kihansi 180MW and Mtera is 80MW.
On top of that, Mr Mahay said the board also has the responsibility to ensure that water flows to the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project (JNHPP) to generate 2115 Megawatts which has been built in the basin in the lower zone where it has already started to be filled with water.
He further said the consumptive water use from the basin annually is 2.4 cubic metres. He said there are 40 billion cubic metres per year of renewable water resources (40BnM3/ year) which is 31 billion cubic metres are surface water and 9 billion cubic metres is groundwater.
“We have allocated 2.4 billion cubic metres per year while the basin has 31 billion cubic meters of water on the ground and 9 billion cubic metres found underground,” he explained.
The RBWB managed the construction of the MASAKA dam in Iringa Rural District, which has completed the construction of a 260-metre long and 14 feet deep reservoir with the capacity to store 439,803 litres of water. The RBWB Director said through the Resilient Natural Resource Management for Tourism and Growth (REGROW) project board was able to buy an excavator and a bulldozer.
“REGROW Project also bought 16 motorcycles for water user communities to improve the management of water sources and water use. The Board is also able to procure machinery to restore rivers that have deviated from their natural positions, cutting down costs on hiring the machines which are worth 1.5bn/-. The RBWB Great Ruaha Catchment Officer, Eng Abisai Chilunda said the machinery is used in all the valleys in the country because it is the first to be bought and owned by the board. Mr Chilunda said that previously they were renting the machinery at a high cost for various activities of conservation and maintenance of water sources.
“Before we were used to renting the plant at 1m/- per day, once we had a call to restore rivers in various conservation and maintenance activities of water sources,” said Eng Chilunda.
For his part, the RBWB Head of Water Resources allocation, Eng Gallus Ndunguru said in a response to the invaders, they have identified 384 main water sources, and 59 limited water sources while the board formed two catchment committees in the Great Ruaha and Kilombero rivers.
The Board has also formed 42 water user communities in various areas of the valley, especially Great Ruaha, Lower Ruaha and Kilombero rivers which monitor water resources and control pollution at the village level. Eng Ndunguru said the board has 137 water resources monitoring stations, 59 river gauging stations, 49 weather stations, nine rainfall stations and 29 groundwater stations.
He said RBWB has placed 2,900 beacons for permanent markings in the reservoirs of water sources and they have planted 45,000 water-friendly trees in the water resources. He also said that they have established three nurseries each containing 15,000 seedlings in Mbarali and Wanging’ombe.
The Director said to date 2005 water permits have been issued in a bid to maintain the safety of the basin’s water resources. He said the statistics show that there are 3,782 users with 1,777 of them using water without permits, a situation that can cause damage to water resources and loss of precious liquid.
He said the presence of people who are carrying out activities in the river basin has created unbalanced competitive water use in the agriculture and energy sectors, especially in the areas of Usangu valley.
Namely agriculture, livestock grazing and human activities as well as low efficiency in water use caused by poor irrigation infrastructure have also affected sources of water. Adding, he said people who use water without permits have increased the magnitude of the problem as they can cause rivers to dry.
Moreover, interference from local politicians is among the challenges that hinder its ability to carry out and accomplish some of its objectives. The board thinks that the obstacles could make it more difficult to carry out President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s orders to safeguard the basin’s water supplies.
President Samia issued roughly eight orders to the Board in December last year when she presided over the filling up of the Julius Nyerere Hydroelectric Dam.
The orders were to make sure that the nation and its citizens benefited from the Rufiji basin and its agricultural potential.
Mr Mahay said the carrying out of directives would require solving some of the most pressing challenges that the Board faces. He mentioned these challenges as including the scarcity of human and financial resources and the low efficiency in the use of water caused by poor irrigation infrastructure.
Mr Mahay said low revenue collection is also a problem. This year, the Basin has a collection target of 2.56bn/- but last year it only collected.
