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INTRODUCTION

1.1
Hydrology
Hydrology is the study of the occurrence and distribution of natural waters of the earth. It refers to the
availability in terms of quantity and quality. It is a physical science that deals with the movement of
water from the sea to the atmosphere by evaporation, the transport of water vapour by wind, the
precipitation on land and the subsequent movement, storage and retention of that water in surface
channels, in the soil, in the saturated zone beneath the soil and the transfer of the water between the
phases and its eventual disposal by rivers to the sea or by evaporation from the earth, the leaves of
vegetation or open water surfaces. The sun provides radiant energy and is the main driving force of
the hydrological cycle. Its components differ in different parts of the earth according to the radiation
received, the manner in which water is conveyed by atmospheric movement and precipitated. It is
influenced by the vegetation, the soil, the geological and topographic structure of the earth on which
precipitation occurs.
In the broad sense Hydrology has many components and would include the movement of water into
and from the atmosphere but these processes are considered to be within the domain of meteorology,
climatology and soil science. The influence of vegetation falls within the domain of botany.
In the more narrow sense, Hydrology deals with the movement of water from its precipitation on the
earth to its return to the sea as river discharge or to the atmosphere as evaporation. It deals with the
movement of water on the surface, in sheet flow and in open channels, infiltration to and the retention
in the soil, movement within the soil and into the zone of saturation, groundwater storage, the
vegetation-soil moisture relationship as it affects water movement and movement within the zone of
saturation to wells and stream channels that penetrate the zone. The areas of study in hydrology
include precipitation, infiltration, percolation, surface runoff, groundwater flow and evaporation.
Engineering Hydrology is the study of these aspects of hydrology, which are relevant to the solution
of engineering problems in the control and utilization of water. It implies a method of study or
analysis, which is designed to answer in a qualitative manner questions in an engineering context.
Such problems arise usually in;
1. Forecasting or the estimation when? some hydrological event will occur: Operations
2. Frequency Prediction or the estimation of how often? an event will occur: Design
Problems of the first category arise most directly in the operation of hydrological controls like the
opening of sluice gates in anticipation of a flood wave or the evacuation of a population of a town
threatened by rising floods. Problems of the second category are associated with design like the
frequency of occurrence of a critical water level in a reservoir or the critical flow over a spillway.
The term Forecasting is usually applied in the context of Deterministic Models. In this case the input
data determines the output uniquely as a function of time not merely as a frequency distribution. A
unit hydrograph is an example, because for a particular amount of rainfall the discharge is determined
even though it may be subject to error in comparison to the actual discharge hydrograph.
Frequency prediction deals with Stochastic Models. In this case the output is given in a probabilistic
manner. For instance, any statement about the maximum flood that could occur in a river during a
fifty year period is a stochastic one (Nash, 1983).
1.2
Water Resources Engineering
Water Resources Engineering is the study of the occurrence of water in nature with the purpose of
putting it to the beneficial use of man. A resource is a total sum of goods and services that will be
used to improve and sustain the standard of living. All resources go into nature through cycles. The
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speed with which transformation of these resources occurs dictates as to whether they are renewable
or non renewable.
The development of water resources requires: the conception, planning, design, construction and
operation of facilities to control and utilize water. This is basically a function of Civil Engineers or
Water Resources Engineers, but the services of other specialists are required. These include social
scientists, economists, politicians, chemists, biologists and other specialists. Each water development
project encounters a unique set of physical conditions in terms of availability of water and demand
and standard designs are rarely used.
Water is controlled, utilized and regulated (Linsley and Franzini, 1979) to serve a variety of purposes
as indicated below:
I) Control of water is achieved so that water will not cause excessive damage to property,
inconveniences to the public or loss of life. Some of the applications in water resources
engineering are flood mitigation, land drainage, sewerage and highway culvert design.
II) Utilization of Water for Beneficial Purposes - This may be achieved through water supply
projects, irrigation, hydroelectric power development and navigation improvements.
III) Water Quality Management Pollution threatens the utility of water for municipal and irrigation
uses and threatens the aesthetic value of water resources. Water quality management is an
important phase. Non structural methods such as zoning for flood mitigation and preservation
of natural beauty as in the case of an underground power station at Murchison falls are factors
which the water resources engineer must consider.
Quantity of Water
In simple terms the job of the water resources engineer is reduced to a number of basic questions.
Since water resource projects are for the control or use of water the first question is How much water
is needed? This is one of the most difficult design problems because it involves social economic and
engineering aspects as well. Almost all projects designs depend on the answer to the question.
How much water can be expected? Peak rates of flow are the basis of design of projects to control
excess water, while volume of flow during longer periods is of interest in designing projects for use of
water e.g. water supply, irrigation. The answers to this question can be found through the application
of Hydrological Techniques in the study of the occurrence and distribution of natural waters of the
earth.
The water flowing in a natural stream is not necessarily available for use by any person or group
deserving it. The right to use water is of significance especially in regions where water is scarce.
Like other things of value, water rights are protected by law and the legal answer to the question,
who may use this water? may be required before the quantities of available water can be evaluated.
The diversion of natural stream flow, which may cause property damage and alterations in natural
flow conditions, is governed by legal restrictions, which should be investigated before completion of
the project design. In Uganda, a Water Act provides the legal framework for the use of water and
since Uganda is one of the Nile River Riparian countries, it is bound by the River Nile treaties signed
in the 19th and 20th Centuries.
1.2.2 Water Quality
Once the adequacy in terms of quantity, has been ascertained, water must withstand certain tests of
quality. Problems of water quality are encountered in planning water supply and irrigation projects
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and in the disposal of waste water. For instance, in Kampala City, the sewerage works, the breweries
and the leather industries pollute the Murchison Bay on Lake Victoria. Polluted streams affect fish
and wildlife and are unsuitable for the recreation and may be slightly malodorous or unsightly.
Chemical and bacteriological tests are employed to determine the amount and characters of the
impurities in water. Agronomists and physiologists must evaluate the effect of these impurities on
crops or human consumers. The engineer must then provide the necessary facilities for removing
impurities from water by mechanical, chemical or bacteriological methods.
In Uganda, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) is the Government Authority,
responsible for regulating the disposal of wastes to safeguard our waters against pollution.
In a major investment like the construction of a factory, irrigation scheme, or hydropower scheme, it
is mandatory that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is done, before any planning or
implementation authority may be granted.

1.3
The Current Use of Water
Todays water crisis is widespread, and continuing with current policies for managing water will only
widen and deepen that crisis.
During the 20th century, the world population tripled-while water use for human purposes multiplied
six fold! (Lindqvist et al, 1997). The most obvious uses of water for people are drinking, cooking,
bathing, cleaning, and for some, watering food plots. This domestic water use, though crucial, is only
a small part of the total. Worldwide, industry uses nearly double the amount of water as compared to
households, mainly for cooling in the production of electricity. Far more water is needed to produce
food and fibre (cereals, fruits, meat, and cotton) and maintain the natural environment.
1.3.1 The Worlds Water Resources
A key characteristic of the worlds fresh water resources is their uneven distribution in time and
space. Until recently, water resource management focused almost exclusively on redistributing water
to when and where people want it for their use. This is a supply-side (engineering) approach. But
there are many signs that water is running out-or getting a lot less plentiful in more places as
populations and per capita water use grow-and damaging ecosystems from which it is withdrawn. So,
we need to look at what water is used for and to manage these competing claims in an integrated
framework.
Think of freshwater as green or blue. Green water-the rainfall that is stored in the soil and then
evaporates or is incorporated in plants and organisms-is the main source of water for natural
ecosystems and for rain fed agriculture, which produces 60% of the worlds food. Blue waterrenewable surface water runoff and groundwater recharge-is the main source of human withdrawals
and the traditional focus of water resource management.
The blue water available is about 40,000 cubic kilometers a year (Shiklomanov, 1998). Of this, an
estimated 3,800 cubic kilometers, roughly 10%, were withdrawn for human uses in 1995. Of the water
withdrawn, about 2,100 cubic kilometers were consumed. The remainder was returned to streams and
aquifers, usually with significant reductions in quality.
Some of the water can be considered as renewable water resources, even though people use only a
small fraction of these resources globally, this fraction is much higher-up to 80-90%- in mainly arid
and semi arid river basins where water is scarce. Also in many tropical basins, a large amount of
water is available on average over the year, but its unequal temporal distribution means that it is not
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usable or that massive infrastructure is required to protect people from it and to store it for later use,
with considerable social and environmental impacts. An example of this is the Runde catchment in
Zimbabwe, where there is spatio-temporal variability, inter annual and inter monthly variability
(Mugabe et al, 2007).
The (Soil Water Assessment Tool - SWAT) model represents a large set of basin modeling tools such
as hydrologic modeling including climate change, management of water supplies in arid regions, large
scale flooding and offsite impacts of land management. This was applied to the large and complex
hydro system in North West of Algeria. The results showed that the model reproduces and generates
properly the climatic variables and permits correct water resources assessment in the basin (Yebri et
al, 2007). The SWAT model was also applied to various catchments of the Nilotic countries with
varying physiographic and climatic conditions. Input data of various types such as coarse/high
resolution, measured, global internet, spatial and climate data sets were used. The results showed the
model performance efficiency increased with high resolution data. In general the performance was
satisfactory and thus prospects for wider applications exist (Ndombaand and Birhanu, 2008).
The performance of Nile Forecast system (NFS) hydrological component was assessed with regard to
long term simulations for assessing the impact of climate change on river flow. A set of six
performance criteria that measure different aspects of the monthly hydrograph (i.e. baseflow,
peakflow) using data for the 1940-1999 period were considered. The results showed a variable
performance, which was mainly dependent upon the quality of the data. The best performance was the
Blue Nile followed by Lake Victoria. Performance was not satisfactory for the Sobat, the Equatorial
lakes below Lake Victoria and the Bahr ElJabal sub basins (Elshamy, 2008).
In many temperate zone river basins, adequate water resources are relatively evenly distributed over
the year, but they are used so intensively that surface and groundwater resources become polluted and
good-quality water becomes scarce.
In most African countries there is a gap between national water policies and water services. These will
undoubtedly increase the challenge to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and based
on a study of the good practices in South Africa notes that a strong political will in policy
implementation and moving resources in the right direction are necessary prerequisites for meeting
the MDGs (Folifac, 2007)
Uganda is among the few fortunate countries with sizeable fresh water resources. The countrys lakes,
rivers and underground aquifers are sources of drinking water, fisheries, industry, hydropower,
transportation and food security.
1.3.2 Land and Water Interaction
Land use depends on easy access to fresh water. Many land uses have also impacts on rainwater
partitioning at the ground level and, therefore, water quality. Environmental problems are often side
effects of land-based human activities and mirror natures response to mismanagement of land, water
and waste.
i) Manipulation of the landscape
The landscape provides the natural resources on, which socio-economic development depends (water,
soil fertility/biomass, energy, minerals). Man is forced to manipulate different landscape components
to better fit with human needs and aspirations. Water pathways are manipulated in order to secure life
support for water supply, food supply, energy supply); and soil and vegetation are manipulated to
grow and harvest the biomass needed. Also, manipulations occur while protecting people from water
related hazards.
ii) Side effects are unavoidable
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Environmental problems are generated when land and water are manipulated physically or
chemically. In the landscape there is a system continuity that emerges from the water cycle. Water- a
unique solvent that is also chemically reactive is continually moving through the landscape, above and
below the soil surface on its way from the water divide down to the coast or the enclosed lake where
the river and ground water flows end. The disturbances generated are conveyed onwards from air to
soil and terrestrial ecosystems, onwards to ground water, rivers to coastal and marine water and the
ecosystem they host.
Typical side effects of human activities are related to water over-exploitation, waste production, land
manipulation, mismanaged irrigation systems, etc. Such side effects are extremely widespread, and
basically involve depletion and pollution, thereby reducing the resources base, creating productivity
problems and reducing the options for future activities.
In Summary, most environmental problems emerge from one of three alternative origins, all related to
development:
Waste handling (including human waste) involving polluting output to the atmosphere, and the
water bodies
Biomass dependence, and the manipulation of soil and vegetation that is necessary both for
production and for harvesting of flora and fauna
Water dependence, calling for withdrawal of water to supply society with the water needed for
basic human needs (including irrigated food production) as well as other socio-economic
production
In the continuous system of water flows represented by the river basin, a withdrawal of water in the
upper end of a river will have repercussions on the amount of water available downstream.
There is also an interaction between vegetation and run-off, since the river is fed by the rainwater
surplus left after evaporation from wet surfaces and transpiration. Therefore, intensified vegetation in
agriculture and forestry might send more water back to the atmosphere, leaving less for downstream
users. This is a particular problem in tropical and sub-tropical countries where the evaporative
demand is especially high.
Some of the lakes and rivers in the Main Ethiopia Rift (MER) are used for irrigation, soda abstraction,
commercial fish farming, recreation and support a wide variety of endemic birds and wildlife. A few
lakes shrunk due to excessive abstraction; others expanded due to increased surface runoff and
groundwater flux from percolated irrigation water. As a result, excessive land degradation,
deforestation changed the hydro meteorological setting of the region and the chemistry of some of the
lakes changed dramatically. A study revealed that the major changes in the rift valley were due to
improper utilization of water and land resources in the lakes catchment and direct lake water
abstraction aggravated intermittently by climate change (Ayenew, 2007).
iii) Integrated Land and Water Use
In developing a good management system it is thus essential to realize that the water passing through
the landscape has a whole set of parallel functions which have to be taken into account. This
multifunctional character is seldom fully realized:
The health function: access to clean water is essential for human health
The habitat function: the health of aquatic ecosystems is essential for fish/sea food supply is a
major determinant of biodiversity
The religious/psychological function: gives water different key roles in religious ceremonies; and
which makes closeness to water bodies, water views, fountains, etc. fundamental components of
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The two carrier functions: as carrier of solutes (including pollutants) and silt
(erosion/sedimentation), water is active in generating environmental problems by its erosive and
leaching capacities plus the cascading of disturbances that follows from its mobility in the global
water cycle
The two productive functions: a) biomass production essential for the supply of food, fuel wood
and timber (water consumed both as raw material in photosynthesis, and as a column of water
moving through the plant, in through the roots and out through the foliage); b) societal
production, since industrial development has traditionally been lubricated by easy access to
water.
A necessary condition for a certain human development to be sustainable is that parallel attention be
paid to the different functions of water, and the consequences of one type of use on other waterdependent activities and values in the same catchment.
Particularly in the dry tropics, a more adequate approach to water would be to take an integrated
approach, seeing precipitation as the original water resource. There is a distinction between the
green water in the root zone, involved in rain-fed plant production and the blue water in rivers and
groundwater aquifers, involved in other socio-economic production.
With this distinction, the water functions discussed above can be grouped in functions related to:
blue-water based production i.e. health function, socio-economic production function (industry,
irrigation), and habitat function (fishery, recreation, wildlife)
green-water based production, i.e. rain-fed agriculture and in situ biomass production (forestry,
natural vegetation)
destructive capability of water, i.e. carrier function of silts causing erosion/sedimentation, and
solutes causing water quality changes.
1.3.3 Water for Human Activities
Globally, withdrawals for irrigation are nearly 70% of the total withdrawn for human uses- 2,500 of
3,800 cubic kilometers. Withdrawals for industries are about 20% and those for municipal use are
about 10%.
1.3.4 Agriculture and Rural Development
A key ingredient in the green revolution, irrigation raises agricultural productivity-particularly Asia,
which contains about 70% of the worlds irrigated area. Irrigation consumes a large share of the
water withdrawn through evaporation from reservoirs, canals, and soil and through incorporation into
the transpiration by crops. Depending on the technology, consumption can range from 30-40% for
flood irrigation to 90% for drip irrigation. The rest recharges groundwater or contributes to drainage
or return flows. This water can be-and often is- reused, but it has higher salt concentrations and is
often contaminated with nutrients, sediments, and chemical contaminants (pesticides, herbicides) that
can damage the ecosystem.
Urban and Peri-urban agriculture has a significant share of food supply in many cities in sub Saharan
Africa as it supports nontraditional urban diets , particularly with perishable vegetables, fresh milk
and poultry products. It also contributes to employment, livelihoods and poverty alleviation. This type
of agriculture is largely dependent upon irrigated water. As urban or peri-urban sources are often
polluted, vegetable contamination is common and limits the official recognition of this informal sector
(Cofie and Drechsel, 2007).
Spate irrigation is a unique type of water management technique that is characteristic of semi arid
climates, whereby floods are diverted from ephemeral rivers to cultivate subsistence and even cash
crops. A good example of this is in Eritrea, where the traditional Bada system, which spells out the
rules and operations has worked well so far. The challenge is to improve the reconstruction and
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maintenance and how to distribute water in the face of uncertainties and iniquities inherent
(Ghebremariam and Van Steenbergen, 2007).
Unless properly managed, irrigated areas risk becoming waterlogged and building up salt
concentrations that could eventually make the soil infertile. This process probably caused the
downfall of ancient irrigation-based societies and threatens the enormous areas brought under
irrigation in recent decades. By the late 1980s an estimated 50 million hectares of the worlds irrigated
areas had suffered a buildup of salts in the soil.
1.3.5 Domestic and Industrial Consumption
A large share of the water withdrawn by households, services, and industry-up to 90% in areas where
total use is high-is returned as wastewater, but often in such a degraded state that major cleanups are
required before it can be reused. The amounts for personal use (drinking, cooking, bathing) are
relatively small compared with other uses. And in developed countries the water fit to drink is mostly
used to flush toilets, water lawns, and wash dishes, clothes and cars.
The real problem of drinking water and sanitation in developing countries is that too many people
lack access to safe and affordable water supplies and sanitation. The World Health Report 1999
(WHO, 1999) estimates that water-related diseases caused 3.4 million deaths in 1998, more than half
of them children. Other estimates are even higher, particularly for diarrhea. This shows that more
people have gained access to safe drinking water since 1998 than ever before. However, it also shows
that fewer people have adequate sanitation than safe, water and the global provision of sanitation is
not keeping up with population growth.
Inadequate collection, treatment, and disposal of household and industrial wastewater is not just a
health hazard for humans, it also pollutes aquatic ecosystems-sometimes with disastrous results. Large
numbers of women and men have got better sanitation in the 1990s to overcome this problem. New
designs and low cost technologies have significantly expanded the options to peri-urban and rural
communities.
In addition to the three big water users-agriculture, industry, and municipalities-water resources
provide a range of other services, such as navigation or recreation and tourism. Water transport is
experiencing substantial growth on a global scale, even as its importance has diminished in Europe
and North America. Population growth and the opening of economies to the world market are leading
to increasing inland navigation in Brazil, China, Venezuela and Russia will probably be a leader in
this expansion.
1.4
Water Resources Planning
Water resources projects are usually classified on the basis of their objectives (Arora 2007, Soni and
Duggal, 2007). They can be either a single purpose project or a multipurpose project. A single
purpose project is designed and operated to serve only one basic purpose. A multipurpose project is
designed and operated to serve more than one purpose. Many of the major more recent water
resources projects are multipurpose for instance, the Three Gorges Project, the High Aswan Dam and
the Lesotho Highlands Project.
The planning of a water resources project involves systematic consideration of the original statement
of purpose, evaluation of alternatives and the selection of the preferred alternative. The planning of a
single purpose project is easier than for a multipurpose one, furthermore, the planning of a river basin
consisting of a number of projects is even more challenging, because what is done at one site, affects
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The planning of a water resources project generally consists of the following: i) Statement of
Objectives ii) Data Collection, iii) Future Projections, iv) Project Formulation v) Project Evaluation,
vi) Environmental Considerations
i) Statement of Objectives
The objectives should be based on the need of the region and they vary depending on the agency
planning the project. The needs and rights of adjoining states should be considered since most of the
large projects are shared by two or more states.

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ii) Collection of Data

For realistic and accurate planning, it is essential that the data is reliable. A thorough survey is
conducted to collect the data. Current data is collected at the start of the planning period. Hydrological
data, however, is historical in nature, the greater the period of record, the more reliable the data should
be. The data can be divided into two categories; general and specific data.
a. General data
This includes physical, hydrological, geological, cartographic, ecological, demographic, economic,
legal, data on existing projects, data on public opinion.
Physical: location, size, physiography, climate history, population
Hydrolological: Precipitation, evaporation, transpiration, streamflow, sediment, water quality
Geological: rock and soil type, groundwater, seepage, minerals, erosion
Cartographic: topographic and other maps
Ecological: type of vegetation, fish and wildlife
Demographic: population statistics in various locations and institutions
Economic: various industries, means of transportation, market, tourism, recreation, land taxes
Legal: Water rights, population control, land zoning, land ownership, administrative patterns
Data on existing projects: types and locations of existing projects.
Data on public opinion: Opinions of different stakeholders.
b. Specific data
This includes data for agriculture, municipal water supply, hydropower, flood control, navigation,
recreation, pollution control, fish and wild life data.
Agriculture: land classification cropwater requirements, climatic data, types of crops, per capita
demand for animals.
Water supply: per capita demand, industrial requirements, quality of water.
Hydropower: average power demand, peaking requirements, alternative sources of energy.
Flood control: record of past floods, extent of damage caused, stormwater drainage requirements
Navigation: water traffic patterns, alternative means of transport
Recreation: existing facilities, natural attractions, scenic beauty and wildlife
Pollution control: existing waste discharge methods, location, time and character of waste, water
pollution regulations, quality standards.
Fish and wildlife: Type of fish and wildlife, their migratory habits, protection requirements
iii) Future Projections
All water-resources development projects are usually planned to meet not only the present needs but
also future needs depending on the life of the project. The projections should not be made as a simple
extrapolation of the past growth rate. Social, economic and technological developments of the region
may cause significant changes in trends, and therefore, future growth may be different from past
growth.
Projections should include the study of future population growth, land use water requirements for
various uses, likely changes in patterns among others.
iv) Project Formulation
Actual formulation of the project is commenced after the basic data has been collected and the
projections have been made. A list of various alternatives is made and all these alternatives are
properly evaluated. The alternatives which have restrains and boundary conditions are evaluated first.
As the evaluation of alternatives is carried out, all the alternative uses for water should be considered.
Various possibilities of control and delivery of water should be explored. The land-use plans influence
the water requirements and may act as a guide for the selection of the project units, which have some
utility.
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Preliminary estimates of the possible project units are made. The detailed cost estimates are not
required at this stage, because many units may prove to be uneconomical and impracticable for
adoption and may be discarded.
v) Project Evaluation
This is carried out to select the alternative, which is economically most suitable of the various
alternatives listed. It should meet the laid down economic criteria such as the minimum expected
benefit-cost ratio. The best alternative may consist of a unit or a combination of units, which are
economically most efficient. For the economic evaluation, data on benefits and costs are collected.
Each alternative should be specified in detail so that costs can be accurately estimated. For selecting
the most efficient unit, the first step is to find out whether, the individual units are physically and
economically independent or not.
a.
b.

A physically independent unit has no other unit either upstream or downstream, which would
affect the inflow to the unit or which would be affected by the outflow from the unit.
An economically independent unit is one in which there is no economic inter-connection with
any other unit.

After the selection of the preferred alternative, detailed designs are made including environmental
considerations. Once these are completed implementation can begin. A more detailed process is given
in Section 9.1.
1.5
Environmental Effects
Freshwater ecosystems have been declining in some parts of the world for hundreds of yearsthreatening the economic, social, and environmental security of human society and terrestrial
ecosystems.
1.5.1 Ecosystems and Biodiversity
Freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems are integral parts of the water cycle. Their protection requires
careful management of the entire ecosystem. For freshwater ecosystems, this implies integrated
planning and management of all land and water use activities in the basin, from headwater forests to
coastal deltas.
Freshwater biodiversity is high relative to the limited portion of the earths surface covered by
freshwater. Freshwater fish, for example make up 40% of all fish, and freshwater mollusks make up
20% of all mollusks. Worldwide, the number of freshwater species is estimated to be between 9,000
and 25,000.
1.5.2 Surface and Groundwater Quality
Rapidly growing cities, burgeoning industries, and rapidly rising use of chemicals in agriculture have
undermined the quality of many rivers, lakes, and aquifers. The industrial revolution turned the
Thames into a sinking, black health hazard as it run through London in the late 19th century. Major
investments in wastewater treatment and cleaner production have gradually restored its recreational
and environmental value.
The impacts of agriculture on water quality are less visible but over time can be harmful because
many of the fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides used to boost agricultural productivity slowly
accumulate in groundwater aquifers and natural ecosystems. Their impact on health may become clear
only decades after their use, but their more immediate impact, through eutrophication, is on
ecosystems. These problems accumulate in fresh and saltwater bodies, such as the Baltic and Black
seas.
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Groundwater, the preferred source of drinking water for most people in the world, is also being
polluted, particularly through industrial activities in urban areas and agricultural chemicals and
fertilizers in rural area. The difficulty and cost of cleaning up groundwater resources, once polluted,
make the accumulation of pollutants in aquifers particularly hazardous.
In Uganda, over the past two decades, the water quality has been steadily deteriorating as a result of
mainly anthropogenic factors.
1.5.3 Floods and Droughts
A key characteristic of water is its extreme events: floods and droughts. Floods sometimes provide
benefits in a natural system, and some ecosystems depend on them. Moreover, some people rely on
floods for irrigation and fertilization. But floods are better known for their devastation of human lives
and infrastructure. Internationally, floods pose one of the most widely distributed natural risks to life;
other natural hazards such as avalanches, landslides, and earthquakes are more regional. Between
1973 and 1997, an average of 66 million people a year suffered flood damage. This makes flooding
the most damaging of all natural disasters.
Water scarcity is increasingly being perceived as the limiting factor for both agriculture and industry
in many developing countries; as the most probable source of conflict between countries over a
renewable natural resource; and a source of increasing competition between rural agricultural areas
and the urban industrial sector. Managing water scarcity by definition entails dealing with scarcity
with intention of overcoming it, either by supply-side increases or demand-side regulation. Compared
to other Nile Basin countries, Uganda is one of the least water stressed countries due to its good social
adaptive capacity which limits the social water stress.
1.5.4 Climate Change in Africa
Climate change is real and happening now. The average global surface temperature has warmed 0.8C
in the past century and 0.6C in the past three decades, and human activities have been blamed as the
cause of these changes (IPCC, 2001). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has
projected that if greenhouse gas emissions, the leading cause of climate change, continue to rise, the
mean global temperatures will increase 1.4 5.8C by the end of the 21st Century (IPCC, 2001).
Changes in climate change such as rises in temperature and changes in precipitation amounts and
patterns have affected many of our natural resources, ecosystems, biodiversity and people. Some of
the clear effects of climate change are:
Rises in sea level which poses a potential risk of flooding coastal areas
Reduction in availability of water
Melting of ice glaciers
More intense and extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall and prolonged droughts
Reduction of river flows and lake levels
Increase in disease incidences as a result of rises in temperature
Climate change is expected to significantly alter African biodiversity as species struggle to adapt
to changing conditions
In general, any watershed for which a hydrological model has been developed can be assessed for
climate change impacts through scenario simulations. Global circulation models (GCMs) are
generally used to simulate the present climate and future climate scenarios with forcing by green
house gases (Dibike et al. 2004).
In sub-Saharan Africa, rainfed agriculture accounts for 70% of the employment and is especially
vulnerable to climate change impacts on hydrology. Global warming is predicted to cause more
frequent and severe droughts that will destroy crops on marginal agricultural land and place additional
stress on limited freshwater resources and its infrastructure. Drought prone areas are likely to increase
in extent. Heavy precipitation events which are likely to increase in frequency will increase flood
risks, leading to water pollution and therefore increased health risks. Consequently access to clean
water remains one of our greater challenges for sustainable development (Gwage and Kabasa, 2008;
Ogallo, 2008).
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Future impacts are projected to worsen as the temperature continues to rise and as precipitation
becomes more unpredictable. African countries are projected by the IPCC to be most vulnerable to the
effects of climate change. This is because they lack economic development and institutional capacities
to deal with these effects (IPCC, 2001). The negative impacts associated with climate change are also
compounded by many factors, including widespread poverty, human diseases, and high population
density, which is estimated to double the demand for food, water, and livestock forage within the next
30 years (Davidson et al. 2003).
1.5.5 Climate Change Adaptation
According to (Janneh, 2007) Africa contributes only 3.8% of total greenhouse gas emission; these
countries are among the most vulnerable to climate change in the world, because:
i. The geographical location of many countries is characterised by already warmer climate,
marginal areas that are more exposed to rainfall variability, poor soils and flood plains.
ii. The economies of most African countries rely heavily on climate sensitive sectors such as rainfed agriculture, fisheries, natural resources and tourism.
iii. The continent is plagued by inadequate ability to respond to direct and indirect effects of
climate change, because of widespread poverty, poor economic and social infrastructure,
conflicts and limited human institutional and financial capacities.
Based on the Fourth Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007) and the
Stern Review of the Economics of Climate Change (2006), suggested are the current and projected
impacts on Africas development:
- Increased water stress and water related conflicts: water levels have decreased seriously in major
lakes like Lake Victoria, Rift Valley lakes and Lake Chad (which lost over 90% of its waters
between 1973 and 2002) and rivers.
- Constrained agricultural production and increasing food insecurity: climate change is expected
to severely compromise agricultural production and food security. For instance climate change
modelling results of the IPCC indicate that warming of by another 0.4% of current
temperatures,would result in a shortening of the crop growing period by more than 20% and a
reduction in yields of up to 50% in many African countries. More frequent droughts, floods and
extreme weather conditions would exacerbate the constraints on crop and livestock production
systems.
- Increased energy constraints: Both the reduction in water to major dams and worsening depletion
of biomass energy resources resulting from climate change could seriously compound the current
energy access and availability, which would further impede industrial development.
Other areas of projected impact of climate change are: rising area level, degrading livelihoods and
environment in coastal areas, loss of biodiversity, forests and other habitat, expanding range and
prevalence of vector bone diseases and increased risks of conflict related to population migrations.
Adaptation challenges include institutional, knowledge, technological and financing.
i. Institutional includes the human and technical capacity and legal and regulatory frameworks.
ii. Knowledge includes the lack of reliable climate data and forecasts and limited awareness on
best practices among stakeholders, the private sector and farmer.
iii. Technological refers to poor access to clean and efficient technologies and inadequate
investments in agricultural, water and energy innovation transfer and deployment.
iv. Financing refers to the limited availability of domestic financing and support from
Development Partners.
1.6
The Future Challenges
The Water Vision for the 21st Century is an expression of a desirable future, based on an exploration
of water futures (Raskin et al. 1997). Given the wide range of uncertainties affecting the water
futures, there is also a wide range in possible uses and stress. Real solutions to water problems require
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an integrated approach to water resource management. Crucial issues that may provide levers for very
different futures include:
i.
ii.

iii.
iv.

v.

vi.

vii.
viii.

Expanding irrigated agriculture; will the rate of expansion of irrigated agriculture continue as
in recent decades?
Increasing water productivity; can there be improvement rates in water use efficiency? How
can technological and institutional innovations be stimulated to improve these rates? Can
water productivity for rain fed agriculture be accelerated?
Developing biotechnology for agriculture; will genetically modified crops gain public
acceptance in Europe and developing countries?
Increasing storage: can the recharge to aquifers used for irrigation be drastically increased to
prevent groundwater crisis-without major environmental impacts? Will there be increasing
or decreasing public opposition to large dams in developing countries?
Reforming water resource management institutions: will governments implement policies to
charge the full cost of water services? Will current trends towards decentralization empower
communities to select their own level of water services?
Valuing ecosystem functions: will wetlands continue to be claimed for agriculture and urban
uses at current rates? Will wetlands receive enough water of good quality to maintain their
biodiversity?
Increasing cooperation in international basins: will countries recognize the need to cooperate
as scarcity in international basins increases?

Supporting innovation: will the public sector increase research funds to foster
innovation on public goods aspects of the water sector-such as ecosystem values and
functions, food crop biotechnology, and water resource institutions?

1.6.1 Projected Water Use and Water Stress In 2025

Because of population growth, between 2000 and 2025 the global average annual per capita
availability of renewable water resources is projected to fall from 6,600 cubic metres to 4,800 cubic
metres. Given the uneven distribution of these resources, however, it is much more informative that
some 3 billion men and women will live in countries-wholly or partly arid or semiarid-that have less
than 1,700 cubic metres per capita, the quantity below which one suffers from water stress. Unlike the
more traditional approach of dealing with water scarcity, which focuses on quantity alone, water
stress denotes reaching the limits of water quantity as well as quality. The distinction between the
renewable resources in a basin and the primary water supply allows distinctions between physical and
economic water scarcity.
Physical water scarcity means that even with the highest feasible efficiency and productivity of
water use, countries will not have sufficient water resources to meet their agricultural, domestic,
industrial and environmental needs in 2025. The only options for them are to invest in expensive
desalination plants-or to reduce water used in agriculture, transfer it to other sectors, and import
more food.
Economic water scarcity means that countries have sufficient water resources to meet their needs
but will have to increase water supplies through additional storage, conveyance and regulation
systems by 25% or more to meet their needs. These countries face severe financial and capacity
problems in meeting their water needs.
The effect of high water stress will differ in different countries. In developed countries water is often
treated before it is sent to downstream users, and industry recycles its water supply fairly intensively.
For these and other reasons, developed countries can intensively use their water resources without
major negative consequences.
Most developing countries by contrast, do not treat wastewater, and their industries do not intensively
recycle their water supplies. So, the projected intensive use of water here will lead to the rapid
degradation of water quality for downstream users and to frequent and persistent water emergencies.
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Fig 1.1 Global Freshwater Resources

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Fig 1.2 The Major River Basins in Africa

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Fig 1.3 Freshwater stress and scarcity in Africa, by 2025

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Summary
This chapter gives an overview on hydrology and water resources engineering, and the important aspects
of quantity, quality and water use. The relationships between water and people, industry and food are
also presented. There are diverse threats that water has on nature and people, and in particular, the issues
of water quality of surface water and groundwater, ecosystems and biodiversity and the extreme
occurrences of water such as floods, droughts and climate change are also discussed. Importantly,
integrated planning of water resources and in turn the future of water beyond todays use is further
discussed.

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Questions
1. What are the basic challenges of a water resources engineer?
2. Give three examples of projects of where a water resources engineer has to plan to control excess
water.
What are the parameters he needs to know about?
3. Give three examples of projects where a water resource engineer has to plan to conserve an
amount of water?
What parameters does he need to know?
4. Give three example situations where a water resources engineer needs to conserve the quality of
water.
5. Discuss the main environmental problems related to the use of water and suggest how they can be
overcome.
6. What is meant by i) Blue Water ii) Green Water Iii) Renewable Water?
7. What are the steps in the planning for a water resources project?
8. What is the evidence of climate change in Africa? How can we adapt to this?
9. What are the main challenges for water use in the future?
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