A need for

1
A need for joined up thinking Groundwater
management in rural Uganda

• Carolyn Roberts
• University of Gloucestershire, UK

Association of American Geographers AGM, San
Francisco, USA, April 2007
2
Location
3
Key influences on water policy and management in
Uganda

• Economic fragility and high levels of
  indebtedness
• Rapid population growth in rural and urban areas,
  leading to inability to meet basic needs
• Post-colonial political instability and ethnic
  tensions, leading to infrastructural collapse in
  the 1970s and 80s
• Low levels of literacy (lt50)
• 1.4m people displaced by civil insurrection
• Weak infrastructure, institutions, technical
  expertise, investment

4
Agenda 21 summary

• Water resources must be planned and managed in
  an integral and holistic way to prevent shortage
  of water, or pollution of water sources, from
  impeding development. Satisfaction of basic human
  needs and preservation of ecosystems must be the
  priorities after these, water users should be
  charged appropriately.
• By the year 2000 all states should have national
  action programmes for water management, based on
  catchment basins or sub-basins, and efficient
  water-use programmes. These could include
  integration of water resource with land use
  planning and other development and conservation
  activities, demand management through pricing or
  regulation.

5
Water-related Millennium Development Goals for
Uganda

• 100 rural population to have access to safe and
  adequate water and sanitation (latrines) by 2015
• Access is defined as a safe source within 1.5
  km
• Reductions in water-related diseases such as
  diarrhoea
• Some progress (World Bank, 2002) but probably
  currently lagging behind targets on both water
  supplies and sanitation

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UNESCO Water Supply and Sanitation Sector
Assessment, 2000
Urban water supply Rural water supply Urban sanitation Rural sanitation
Population 000s (A.D. 2000) 3,083 18,695 3,083 18,695
Pop with house connection/ public sewer 204 229 220 28
Pop with Public Waterpoint/non-sewer sanitation 1,341 2,763 1,834 10,274
Population Served 2,200 8,600 2,960 13,460
Population served 72 46 96 72
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Ugandas physical environment

• 24,000 sq km high altitude (1000m) equatorial
  territory, in the Nile Basin
• 17 open water with lakes and swamps
• Granitic basement
• Lateritic Fe/Al soils, clay loams
• Monsoonal climate
• Tropical forest/savannah mosaic

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Ugandas human background

• Population c. 25 m
• Growth rate 3.1 /a
• 50 population under 15
• Mean family size 5.5-6 children
• Life expectancy at birth c.M46, F51 yrs
• GDP 310 /hd
• Inflation 6
• 154th in world ranking of economic indicators

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Approx. 80 rural population
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Large villages and small towns
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Water availability in Uganda

• Uganda apparently has a large volume of available
  water per head
• Mean water use in Africa is 47l/hd/day
• UNEP estimate 25 African countries, including
  Uganda, will experience water scarcity or
  stress in the next 20-30 years, mainly because
  of population growth
• Climate change will increase uncertainty
• Distribution and quality problems also influence
  scarcity

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Ugandan policies on water

• 1990 Water and Sanitation Programme began for
  rural towns (500-50,000 people)
• 1992 UNCED (Integrated Water Resource Management)
• 1994 Uganda Water Action Plan
• 1995 Uganda Water Statute
• 1996 Uganda (Draft) Water Policy
• 1998 Regulations for the control of water
  resources, water and sewerage and waste water
  discharges
• Uganda Wetlands Conservation Strategy
• 1999-2000 Africas Water Vision (U.N.)
• 2000 Uganda Rural Water and Sanitation Investment
  Plan and Strategy
• 2001 Nile Basin Strategic Action Programme

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Current emphases in Ugandan water policy

• Rational use of water, in an integrated way
• Decentralisation of responsibility for
  implementation from the Ministry of Water, Lands
  and Environments Water Development Department to
  District Offices
• Full cost recovery with some cross-subsidisation
  of safe water services for poor people
• Full stakeholder involvement (Mobilisation
  Officers)
• NGO/aid agency and private sector involvement
• Accountability
• Safe storage, treatment and disposal of waste,
  according to the Polluter Pays principle
• Technical training at local level
• Increasing emphasis on privatisation

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Key areas for research

• Comparison of supply management situation in
  2001-6 with the late 1960s
• Environmental footprints of settlements
• Environmental impacts of water management
  strategies
• Economic and social costs and benefits of water
  supply arrangements
• Sustainability criteria for water supplies in
  developing areas (Loucks and Gladwell, 1999)
• Field investigation conducted by UoG and NTCK
  staff and students

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Gilbert Whites Drawers of Water, 1972
Drawers of Water, 2004
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Case study villages
Kamuli
Iganga
Kaliro
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Alternative supplies of water in rural areas

• Household connected to mains supply, pumped from
  river, reservoir or borehole
• Public or private standpipe with tap
• Borehole with handpump
• Well
• Spring or protected spring
• River, lake or swamp
• Puddle

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High tech pumped supply from small reservoir
Kamuli

• Cost and maintenance issues

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Metered mains household supply Kamuli

• Take up is very low most residents continue to
  use alternative sources
• Mean daily use in Kamuli in c. 1968 by tap
  holders was 86l/hd/day (Iganga 85l/hd/d)
• Rural use was c 13-16 l/hd/day
• Borehole supplies are also preferred by local
  people on quality grounds

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Public or private pumped supplies to standpipes,
Iganga
Diesel-pumped borehole, with taps
Colonial system, disused
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Borehole and hand pumps

• Frequently funded from foreign aid programmes

22
Protected spring
Protected springs and wells are universal
Open well
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Surface and groundwater quality parameters

• pH
• Conductivity
• Nitrate
• Nitrite
• Ammonia
• Phosphate
• Iron
• Chloride
• E. Coli (partial coverage)

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Questionnaire with users, undertaken at the
source using NTCK student interpreters

• Gender
• Indirect estimates of relative wealth (e.g.
  shoes, bicycle, clothes?)
• Distance travelled and mode of transport
• Household sizes (adults, children)
• Frequency and volume of collections per
  household, per day
• Price of water
• Views on water quality at source, and any
  required treatment prior to consumption
• Other water sources used, and reasons

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Payment for interviews
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Groundwater contamination Kaliro
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Groundwater contamination, Iganga
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Water quality findings

• Village/town impacts on groundwater quality in
  Kamuli, Iganga and Kaliro are clear and
  apparently repeatable, year on year
• Simple analytical technology is adequate
• Comparison with official data suggests comparable
  picture for nitrate, phosphate, ammonia, pH,
  conductivity, iron, chloride
• Bacteriological data may not be required
• Contamination is the result of lack of
  sanitation, pit latrine seepage and detergent
  disposal
• Users frequently draw on contaminated sources, in
  all settings

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Basic findings on water use

• Typical consumption by borehole users in Iganga,
  Kaliro and Kamuli is c. 20l/hd/day
• UK domestic consumption is between 200 and 300
  l/hd/day
• US domestic consumption is c 400 l/hd/day
• Fetching water requires about 5-10 typical
  calorific intake (White et al)

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The safe water chain

• Lack of sanitation and effective drainage impedes
  progress on sustainable supplies
• Implementation is problematic despite the efforts
  of mobilisation officers

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The socio economic impact of scarcity is as
severe as in the 1960s

• For most rural Ugandan women in 2006 the rhythm
  of the working day is still made up of walking,
  queuing and carrying water

32
Iganga Diesel-driven pumped borehole supplying
standpipes

• Water sellers prices are approximately twice
  that of personally carried supplies
• Take up by wealthier residents is significant

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Policy Impact One

• Rapid population growth leading to inadequate
  facilities
• Policy suggests that a new borehole/facility is
  required
• Maximum population within 1.5 km sought
• Boreholes installed in urban/suburban areas
• Local groundwater is contaminated from pit
  latrines and other waste water
• People abandon traditional sources and walk into
  town to collect water from boreholes
• Perception that water quality is good, no
  perceived need or no fuel for boiling
• Increased risk of water-borne diseases

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Health and social wellbeing impacts
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What happens next Policy Impact Two

• Water yields are relatively low per borehole
• Typical use is only c. 20 l/hd/day
• Women and children queue for hours
• Borehole area is poorly maintained and leakage,
  spillage or animal trampling occurs
• Stagnant water supports mosquitoes
• People are infected with malaria whilst queuing
  into the evening
• Privatised health care providers flourish
• Inhabitants perceive higher levels of healthcare
  in urban areas, promoting rural-urban migration

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Key findings

• Villages and small towns have a significant
  environmental footprint on groundwater
• Water quality may be estimated adequately by
  using simple determinands such as conductivity,
  reducing the need to wait for official
  assessments to become available
• Water supply provision must be matched by
  investment in sanitation
• Education is significant, but needs to be based
  on appropriate scientific information

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Strategic targets are being overwhelmed by
population growth
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The impact of privatisation?

• Lack of technical capacity in local government,
  plus issues of non-compliance with central policy
  by aid agencies has promoted privatisation
• Some sources are removed altogether
• Water costs have risen to approximately 10 of
  family income in sampled villages

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Concepts of sustainability

• Sustainable water resource systems are those
  designed and managed to fully contribute to the
  objectives of society, now and in the future,
  while maintaining their ecological,
  environmental, and hydrological integrity
• Loucks and Gladwell, 1999

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Concepts of Sustainability

1. Engineering
2. Economics
3. Environment
4. Equity

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Concepts of sustainability

• Resilience
• Adaptive capacity
• Vulnerability

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Acknowledgements

• Staff and students from National
  Teachers College Kaliro, Uganda
• Staff and students from University of
  Gloucestershire
• Ministry of Water, Lands and Environment,
  Kampala, Uganda
• Uganda Bureau of
• Statistics
• Busoga Trust
• White G.F., Bradley D.J.,
• and White A.U. 1972
• Drawers of Water
• University of Chicago
• Press