 Chapter one  INTODUCTION

WHAT CAN YOU SAY

ABOUT WATER ?
WATER – SOME FACTS
 odorless, colorless, and tasteless substance
present in three physical states and in bulk quantities on the earth
A universal solvent (capable of dissolving almost everything on Earth)
 A “Single” Resource – has no substitute
Every organism, individual, and ecosystem on the planet depends on water for
survival
is an inextricable part of, our society, culture and history
Water has a destructive aspect in the form of floods (also water borne diseases)
 It is a fundamental resource (social, economic & environmental value)
 Water for municipal uses (cooking, sanitation ,firefighting, etc)
Water for irrigation
water for industrial uses (process, cooling, steam generation)
Water for the generation of hydroelectric power
 Water for navigation, etc
Hence, Nowadays becoming more and more an economic asset
 What is Water Resource?

“Water available, or capable of being made available, for use in sufficient

quantity and quality at a location and over a period of time appropriate for
an identifiable demand" (International Glossary on Hydrology, UNESCO/WMO, 1992):

“An ecosystem, which includes the physical or structural aquatic

habitates (both in stream and Riparian), the water, the aquatic biota, and
the physical, chemical and ecological processes that link habitates, water
& biota”

Water Resources Development (WRD)?

“The physical activities to improve the beneficial use of water for water
supply, irrigation, flood alleviation, energy production, navigation, water
based recreation & Fisheries”
.
Water Resource Planning (WRP):

“Planning of the development and allocation of scarce resources

(sectoral & inter-sectoral) matching water availability & demand,
taking into account the national objectives & constraints and the
interests of stakeholders”

Water Resources Management (WRM):

“the whole set of technical, institutional, managerial, legal &

operational activities required to plan, develop, operate and manage
water resources”

Water Resources management is the practices of planning,

developing, distribution and optimum utilizing of water resources
under defined water police and regulations
 Why Plan, Why Manage Water Resources ?
General

Reducing the frequency and/or severity of the adverse consequences

of droughts, floods and excessive pollution
Identification and evaluation of alternative measures that may
increase the available water supplies or hydropower, improve
recreation and/or navigation, and enhance the quality of water and
aquatic ecosystems
Issues That The planning and management Address
a) Too Little Water cases (Issues involving inadequate supplies to meet
demands that can result in conflicts)
 Measures to reduce the demand for water in times of supply scarcity
should be identified and agreed upon
 Management responses may include increased groundwater
abstractions to supplement low surface-water flows and storage
volumes
 b) Too Much Water
Damage due to flooding is a direct result of floodplain development
 Management responses can include
 Flood protection works
restrictions placed on floodplain development
recognizing the economic as well as environmental and ecological
benefits of floodplains

c) Polluted Water
discharges of wastewater by industry and households can have
considerable detrimental effects on water quality
Issues regarding the environment and water quality include:

 upstream versus downstream conflicts on meeting water quality standards

 threats from aquatic nuisance species
 threats from the chemical, physical and biological water quality of the
watershed’s aquatic resources
 quality standards for recycled water
 non-point source pollution discharges, including sediment from erosion
 inadequate groundwater protection compacts and concerned institutions
d) Degradation of Aquatic and Riparian Ecosystems

 Habitat loss due to river training and reclamation of floodplains and

wetlands for urban and industrial development, poor water quality

Environmental and ecological effectiveness as well as economic

efficiency should be a guiding principle in evaluating alternative solutions

to problems caused by aquatic nuisance organisms

Other Planning and Management Issues

 Navigation

 River Bank Erosion

Reservoir Related Issues

 Sustainable development
Defn: Development which meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs.

Scheme of sustainable development: at the confluence of three constituent parts .

The sustainability of water is critical to local, regional, national, and

global security
 sustainable water resources development implies that the
conventional economic imperative to maximize production is
accountable to an ecological imperative to protect the ecosphere, and
a social equity imperative to minimize human suffering
Water Resources Managers: required knowledge

Hydro-ecology
Infrastructures of water management: structures and
systems, water uses and users
Planning and decision making
Organizational theories
System analysis and decision support systems
Water and environmental law
Financial Management
Principle of water resources managements

„Anyone who solves the problem of water deserves not one Nobel
Prize but two –one for science and the other for peace“ [John F.
Kennedy]
 1.2 Water Availability & Use
Water Availability
most distributed substance on our planet
Some definition...

Total water is the amount of all forms of water some of

which are not accessible at all

 Renewable water is the amount that is being renewed

either annually or along longer durations

Available water is the amount that humans can access

and use for their consumption
Global Water Resources
Water availability throughout Earth is driven by the hydrologic cycle

The hydrologic cycle

 Water volumes transfer across the globe

Atmospheric processes make water distribution spread overall the globe enhancing
either equilibrium or non equilibrium local mass exchanges. These disparities are
fundamental to maintain active the hydrologic cycle
 The river runoff, actually representing the renewable water
resources, is the most important component of hydrological
cycle

 In the process of turnover the river runoff is not only

recharged quantitatively, but its quality is also restored. If it
were so that man could suddenly stop to contaminate rivers,
then with time water could return its natural purity

Estimation of the water availability and deficit of water

resources of a nation or region is made by the value
of river runoff .
Renewable water Resources and water availability by continents
 1.3 Water Resources of Ethiopia
Characterized by
Spatial variation( mean annual specific runoff varies from
zero to 35 l/s per km2and 83% of the surface water potential is
generated in the four basins located on the western portion of the
country )

Temporal variation (Minimum flows occur in the period

from December to March)

Altitude (Apart from the big rivers and their major

tributaries, there is hardly any perennial flow in areas
below 1500m. In general, perennial streams and springs
exist only in the vicinity of mountains with an annual
rainfall of more than 1000mm.)
annual renewable fresh water resources amount
to some 122 BCM/yr (only 3% remains in the
country)

annually rechargeable ground water resource potential

estimated as 2.6 BCM
 Country divided into twelve river basins
11 fresh and 9 saline lakes
4 crater lakes and over 12 major swamps or wetlands
 Important Physical Characteristics of the Ethiopian Basins
No Basin Name typ Source Area Direction Terminal
. e (km 2 ) of Flow

1 Wabishebelle R Bale Highland 202220 East Indian Ocean

2 Abbay R West, Southwest 199912 West Mediterranean Sea

HL ( Nile )
3 Genale Dawa R Bale Highland 172259 East Indian Ocean

4 Awash R Central Highland 110000 North-east Terminal Lakes

(Internal)
5 Tekeze R North Wollo 82350 West Mediterranean Sea
Highland ( Nile )
6 Denakil D North Wollo 64380 NF Internal
Highland
7 Ogaden D No flow 77120 NF Internal

8 Omo-Ghibe R Central, Western 79000 South Rudolph Lake Internal)

HL
9 Baro-Akobo R Western 75912 West Mediterranean Sea
Highland ( Nile )
10 Rift Valley L Arsi and Central 52000 South Chew Bahir
Lakes HL
11 Mereb R Adigirat HL 5900 West Swamp in Sudan
( Nile )
12 Aysha D No flow 2223 NF Internal
Source: Respective Basin Master Plan Studies :HL-Highland     D-Dry     R-River     L- Lake     NF-No flow
Basic hydrological data of lakes and reservoirs of Ethiopia.
 Status of resource development
The present actual consumption less than 5%

For Agricultural Use (Irrigation)

Potential area that can be irrigated 3.7 Million ha
Less than 300,000 hectares of the irrigation potential developed
( some 5 – 8 percent of the developable potential)
 by year 2010 at an additional 493,000 hectares
(large and medium-scale irrigation growth)

For Hydropower Generation

 Potential that can be developed estimated as 30,000MW
 Currently developed ICS amounts to 769 MW &SCS to 23 MW
 total 791 MW (2-3% percent of the potential)
 capacity is to be increased to about 2,218 MW during in (2009/10).

Water supply and sanitation

 water supply coverage estimated to be 34 percent
(Most concentrated in urban areas)
 unserved population to reduce to 15.5 percent by 2009/10
Irrigation and hydropower potential of river basins
Constraints of Water Resources Development in Ethiopia
 Shortage of skilled manpower, frequent turnover

 frequent structural changes particularly at lower a

administrative hierarchy

 Poor project management, and monitoring and

evaluation

Lack of Funds (poor external financial assistance, some

influence due to transboundary nature of rivers )

 Inadequate researches and data availability

Principal water users and the tendencies of their development
Principal areas of water use are:
Municipal Water use
Industrial water use
Agricultural water use
Hydropower generation
The state of water use in the world
Water withdrawal and consumption trends
 Points to notice regarding the water use trends

Water consumption is increasing in all sectors

Increased consumption led to increased water

withdrawal

the amount of available water today is more or less

the same as when Mesopotamian civilization

 Irrigation is by far the largest source of water use

 1.4 Water scarcity
Water Availability Index (WAI)- used as a measure to
evaluate the water Scarcity condition of an area.

WAI= Available renewable water resource/Population

(m3/person/year)
 None: >2000 m3 /person/year
Relative sufficiency:2000-1700 m3 /person/year
Water stress: < 1700 m3 /person/year
– Intermittent, localized shortages of freshwater
 Water scarcity: < 1000 m3 /person/year
– Chronic and widespread freshwater problems
 Absolute scarcity: < 500 m3 /person/year
 Water Stress Index
Percentage of water drawn from a source or sources divided
By the estimated total available water from those sources

WSI = Water withdrawn x100%

Water Potentially Available

WSI & Water Shortages

Water Stress (%) Water Shortage

<10 Low
10-20 Moderate
20-40 Medium
40-60 High
>60 Catastrophic
 1.5 Water scarcity and the risk for international conflict
An international water body (basin, lake, reservoir or river) spans over the territories
shared by two or more independent States
Some International basins and basin countries Why Is Their Study
i) The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers Important?
Countries that share
the same water
body may have
different levels of
access and this
could be a source of
conflicts

States that cross or

that share entirely
or partially a water
course are called
Riparian States
 characterized by two large rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates
Tigris river flows south from the mountains of southeastern Turkey
through Iraq.

Euphrates River
Originating in eastern highlands of Turkey, flows through Syria and Iraq
and finaly drains to the Persian Gulf.
It is the longest river in Southwestern Asia with 2,700 km, and its actual
annual volume is 35.9 billion cubic meters (bcm).
Hydrography of the Basin
Turkey contributes 98 per cent of the water potentially carried by the
Euphrates River
Turkey contributes around 51.8 per cent of the Tigris' flow, with Iraq
contributing 49.2 % and Syria contributing nothing at all
use of water and conflicts
GAP Project: When completed, GAP will consist of 22 dams – including
the Keban Dam – and 19 power plants and provide irrigation water to
1,700,000 hectares
ii) The Jordan River Basin
Hydrography of the Jordan River Basin

 originates on the border of three countries, Israel, Lebanon, and

Syria, in a mountainous region.
 Main tributaries -the Hasbani River, the Dan River, the Banais
River & the Yarmuk River
 has a salinity problem throughout most of its flow
 made up of waters from four countries and therefore with four
riparians
Water Conflicts
Israel’s National Water Carrier (1953)& diverting 320 mcm/yr from the Jordan
Arab Summit of 1964 & the 1967 Six Day Arab-Israeli War
iii) The Yellow River  most challenging in the world from
the point of view of water and
sediment management
 the second-longest river in China after the Yangtze and the sixth-
longest in the world at the estimated length of 5,464 kilometers

 flows through nine provinces of China and empties into the Bohai
Sea

 frequent devastating floods and course changes produced by the

continual elevation of the river bed
iv) The Nile Basin
 Elevation: 344 – 4,261 masl
 Precipitation: 300 – 2,200 mm
 The river Nile is the longest river in the world shared by 10
countries in the Nile Basin: Burundi, Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia,
Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
 Area: about 3.0 million square km.
 Length: more than 6000 km.
 10 Riparian States with 250 million people & 5 States are among
the Ten Poorest in World.
 Nile basin: areas and rainfall by country (FAO)

Country Total area Area of the As % of As % of Average annual rainfall in

of the country total area total area of the basin area
country within the of basin country (mm)
basin
(km2) (km2) (%) (%) min. max. mean

Burundi 27 834 13 260 0.4 47.6 895 1 570 1 110

Rwanda 26 340 19 876 0.6 75.5 840 1 935 1 105

Tanzania 945 090 84 200 2.7 8.9 625 1 630 1 015

Kenya 580 370 46 229 1.5 8.0 505 1 790 1 260

Zaire 2 344 860 22 143 0.7 0.9 875 1 915 1 245

Uganda 235 880 231 366 7.4 98.1 395 2 060 1 140

Ethiopia 1 100 010 365 117 11.7 33.2 205 2 010 1 125

Eritrea 121 890 24 921 0.8 20.4 240 665 520

Sudan 2 505 810 1 978 506 63.6 79.0 0 1 610 500

Egypt 1 001 450 326 751 10.5 32.6 0 120 15
For Nile 3 112 369 100.0 0 2 060 615
basin
Table: Each country’s dependence on the source of water that is
provided by the Nile River

GNP per Population below Per capita

Population Populatio Per capita water
capita the poverty line water
Country 1995 n 2025 availability 2025
1996 (1US$/day) (PPP) availability
(millions) (millions) (m³)
(US $) (%) 1990 (m³)

Burundi 6.4 13.5 170 655 269

DRC 43.9 104.6 160 359,803 139,309

Egypt 62.9 97.3 1,090 7.6 1,123 630

Ethiopia 55.1 126.9 100 33.8 2,207 842
Kenya 28.3 63.4 320 50.2 636 235
Rwanda 8 15.8 190 45.7 897 306

Sudan 28.1 58.4 4,792 1,993

Tanzania 29.7 62.9 170 16.4 2,924 1,025

Uganda 21.3 48.1 300 50 3,759 1,437

Source: M.Chatteri et al. (2002) Conflict Management of Water Resources. Hampshire,Ashgate

Publishing Ltd. p 146
Nile basin: irrigation potential. water requirements,
water availability and areas under irrigation (FAO)
Country area Irrigation Gross irrigation Actual flows Flows after deduction Area already
within the potential water requirement for irrigation and losses under irrigation
Nile basin
per ha total inflow outflow inflow outflow

(ha) (m3/ha. (km3/yr) (km3/yr) (km3/yr) (km3/yr) (km3/yr) (ha)

year)

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)

Burundi 80 000 13 000 1.04 0.00 1.50 0.00 0.46 0

Rwanda 150 000 12 500 1.88 1.50 7.00 0.46 4.09 2 000
Tanzania 30 000 11 000 0.33 7.00 10.70 4.09 7.46 10 000
Kenya 180 000 8 500 1.53 0.00 8.40 0.00 6.87 6 000
Zaire 10 000 10 000 0.10 0.00 1.50 0.00 1.40 0
Uganda 202 000 8 000 1.62 28.70 37.00 23.83 30.51 9 120
Ethiopia 2 220 000 9 000 19.98 0.00 80.10 0.00 60.12 23 160
Eritrea 150 000 11 000 1.65 0.00 2.20 0.00 0 55 15 124
Sudan 2 750000 14000 38.50 117.10 55.50 90.63 31.13 1 935 200
Egypt 4 420 000 13 000 57.46 55.50 rest to 31.13 minus 3 078 000
see 26.33
Sum of 10 192 000 124.08 5 078 604
countries

Total for Nile < 8 000 000

basin
 Water use/development
Ethiopian – main source of the Nile Water
Egypt & Sudan- main utilizers

Nile Basin Challenges

Water as a hot political issue in the Nile region
The 1929 agreement signed between Britain and Egypt states that no project on the Nile
would be undertaken by any basin countries that would impact the volume of water
reaching Egypt.
The 1959 agreement between Egypt and Sudan states that no projects are allowed on
the Nile by any other country without its consent.
The structural lack of research-capacity in the water sector
Lack of trust and partnership
The absence of an operational co-operative framework
Land degradation and Population
Main points to draw from the discussions so far

 Fresh Water Resources are scarce

 Demands are outstripping supplies

Environmental/Ecological issues are serious

Policy and institutional issues are complicated

 Current approach is sectoral and fragmented

Financing is poor and options are expensive

International water bodies may lead in the future to conflicts

So What to do ?
 Cooperation
Correct management
 Planning and Management - Approaches

• Two approaches which lead to an integrated plan and management policy are
1. From the top down or the command and control approach

2. From the bottom up or the grass-roots approach

Top down approach:

• Water resources professionals prepare integrated, multipurpose ‘master’ development
plans with alternative structural and non-structural management options
• Dominance of professionals; Little participation of stakeholders
• One or more institutions have the ability and authority to develop and implement the
plan
• However, nowadays, since public have active participation in planning and
management activities , top-down approaches are becoming less desirable or acceptable
 Planning and Management - Approaches
Bottom up approach:
• Active participation of interested stakeholders – those affected by the management of
the water and land resources
• Plans are being created from the bottom up rather than top down
• Top down approach plans do not take into consideration the concerns of affected local
stakeholders
• Bottom up approach ensures cooperation and commitment from stakeholders
• Common goals and priorities among all stakeholders by taking care of laws and
regulations and by identifying multiple alternatives and performance criteria
• Tradeoffs between conflicting goals or measures of performance
 System Components

• Water resources management involves the interaction of three interdependent

subsystems:
1. Natural river subsystem : Physical, chemical and biological processes takes place

2. Socio-economic subsystem: Human activities related to the use of the natural river
system

3. Administrative and institutional subsystem: Administration, legislation and

regulation, where the decision, planning and management processes take place

• Inadequate attention to one subsystem can reduce the effect of any work done
to improve the performance of the others
 1.6 Integrated Water resources Management (IWRM)
IWRM
A process which promotes the coordinated development and management
of water, land and related resources, in order to maximize the resultant
economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising
the sustainability of vital ecosystems (GWP,2000)
„Sustainable development is a process that meets the needs of the
present without compromising our ability to meet those of the future“
(World Commission on Environment and Development (1986))

The Dublin principles (1992)

1. Water is a single, finite resource
2. Water management and development should include
stakeholders
3. Water is an economic good
4. Women play a central role in management and conservation of
water

The Dublin Principles have served as guide for the global water
dialogue
 Why IWRM?
Globally accepted and makes good sense

Key element in national water policy

Incorporates social and environmental considerations

directly into policy and decision making

Directly involves the stakeholders

Is a tool for optimizing investments under tight financing

climate
 IWRM can be characterized as:

 A process, not a product

 Scale independent - applies at all levels of development

 A tool for self assessment and program evaluation

A tool for policy, planning, and management

A mechanism for evaluating competing demands,

resource allocation, and tradeoffs
 Key elements of IWRM
(Criteria and Elements of IWRM-the 3 pillars)
To be used with Basic right for all people must Life support systems
be recognized
maximum should not be
efficiency undermined for future
generations
Figure 8. The Three pillars of Integrated Water Resources Management

Economic
Economic Environmental
Environmental
Equity
Equity
efficiency
efficiency Sustainability
Sustainability

Management Institutional
Instruments Enabling Framework
Environment
Assessment
Central- Local
Policies
 Allocation Legislation
River Basin
instruments Public - Private

Balance
Balance “water
“water for
for livelihood”
livelihood” and
and “water
“water as
as aa resource”
resource”
Schematic of the IWRM Process