UGANDA
CHALLENGES OF GROUNDWATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN URBAN
AREAS OF UGANDA
Callist Tindimugaya
1Statement
Key Conclusions & Recommendations
• Uganda's freshwater is a key strategic resource, which is vital for sustaining life, promoting development and maintaining the environment. The water resources are however variable seasonally and spatially due to uneven temporal and spatial distribution of rainfall.
• Because of the uneven temporal and spatial distribution, combined with the high costs of treatment, surface water resources of the country, which cover 15% of the land area, are only used to meet a small percentage of the water demand for the 24 million Ugandans.
• There is heavy reliance on groundwater in many areas of the country for domestic water supply due to its wide distribution and general good quality.
•Groundwater development in Uganda started in the 1930s, for domestic rural water supply through deep boreholes and springs. There are ~ 20,000 deep boreholes, 3000 shallow wells and 12,000 protected springs in the country.
•Since early 1990s there has been an increase in groundwater development for urban water supply due to the need to have water supply systems that can easily be operated and managed by the users. Under the urban water supply investment plan, it is planned to supply piped water to over 250 urban areas and towns and over 80 of these are already in operation based on groundwater from deep boreholes. Over 30 urban water supply systems are currently under construction and many more planned for construction in the next few years.
Aquifer / Country Setting & Characteristics – Groundwater Users and Uses
Governance Perspective & Management Relationships
Groundwater availability and quality
•Groundwater occurrence in Uganda is greatly influenced by the varied geological conditions.
•Hydrogeological conditions are typical of Precambrian basement terrain and aquifers occur in the weathered overburden and in the fractured bedrock, forming one aquifer system.
•In-situ weathering is the primary process in overburden development and is usually most intense in fractured rocks.
In fractured rocks where the aquifer is close to the surface and the water table is shallow, the use of onsite sanitation has resulted in a high risk of contamination of nearby groundwater sources by bacteria.
In some urban areas, heavy groundwater abstraction has resulted in lowering of groundwater levels and competitive pumping between water sources, ultimately resulting in increase in the cost of operation of water supply systems. The main concern of the urban water supply authorities therefore is the decreasing availability and deterioration of quality of groundwater which may lead to rising water production costs, customer complaints regarding water quality and public health risks.
Gaps & Innovations Lessons Learned Planned Implementing Actions Groundwater regulation
The groundwater management issues that threaten the sustainability of groundwater based urban water supplies in Uganda include inadequately controlled
groundwater abstraction and excessive contamination load to groundwater.
Studies aimed at assessment and monitoring of groundwater resources for sustainable town water
supplies were initiated in mid 1990 in Wobulenzi, Kisoro and Rukungiri towns.
1
Directorate of Water Development, Ministry of Water, Lands and Environment
Acknowledgements: Danish International Development Agency, International Atomic Energy Agency, Government of Uganda, World Meteorological Organization
Control of groundwater abstraction and pollution in urban areas require carrying out studies to resolve key practical questions namely:
1. What area around wells and springs must be restricted from competitive abstraction by other wells under different pumping conditions so that either over development of the resource or undesirable reduction in the pumping water level does not occur?
2. What area around groundwater sources must be protected from sources of contamination?
3. How sustainable are groundwater based water supply systems for provision of safe clean and adequate drinking water?
4. What is the relative importance of the regolith and fractured aquifers in the sustainability of groundwater resources development?
Experience in Uganda so far indicates that presence of an adequate regulatory framework backed by adequate hydrogeological knowledge of an area
does not, on its own guarantee adequate management and protection of groundwater
resources.
There is a need for involvement of the responsible urban water and municipal authorities, water users and other stakeholders in the management and governance of groundwater resources because they
have the ability to implement the recommendations and where necessary make relevant by laws that can
be locally implemented.
• The key challenge is to undertake assessment studies in other various geological environments in order to develop guidelines that are representative of the whole country.
• There is need to develop procedures for determination of groundwater protections zones around boreholes in fractured rocks and to prepare and implement guidelines for groundwater resources protection.
• There is need to develop an institutional framework for groundwater resources management in the urban areas and to improve awareness raising on water resources management to ensure that the water users appreciate the benefits of groundwater protection and actively participate in the implementation of the recommended interventions.
Groundwater availability and quality Groundwater regulation
Groundwater must be protected in terms of quality and quantity in order to avoid reduction in available groundwater resources, escalating water supply costs and potential impacts on human health. There is a need to improve management of groundwater resources in urban areas in order to mitigate Hydrogeological studies be carried out in various geological conditions to resolve key practical groundwater the actual and potential problems caused by overexploitation and inadequate control of pollution of groundwater resources. It is therefore recommended that:
• Management questions,
• Guidelines for protection of groundwater resources be prepared and implemented with the involvement of the urban water authorities and the users,
• Institutional framework for groundwater resources management in the urban areas be developed and be reinforced by an adequate awareness raising programme on water resources management.
Conceptual model of the weathered – fractured aquifer system
Major aquifer Minor-major aquifer Impermeable Minor local aquifer Impermeable
Scale, meters Area of high recharge identified as potential groundwater protection zones
Hydrogeological Map of the Wobulenzi Catchment
Groundwater protection zone in Kisoro town Groundwater is the preferred source for piped water supplies
in urban areas due to the relatively low cost of its development and the good quality of the water. Groundwater development for urban water supply is however only possible where the geological formation possesses moderately high permeability and or high storage volumes and major flow systems. The use of groundwater is thus restricted to relatively few high yielding boreholes which are operated by urban water authorities.
• Regulation of groundwater use in Uganda was initiated in late 1990s and is done through issuance of groundwater abstraction permits. Some of the conditions attached to an abstraction permit include recording pumping discharges in the pumping borehole and monitoring groundwater levels in a monitoring well close to a pumping well. However, there are a number of groundwater abstractors in many towns who have not yet applied for permits and thus their abstractions are not regulated.
• Groundwater pollution especially from onsite sanitation is not regulated.
DISCLAIMER: Poster draft prepared by IWRM.org on behalf of the author(s). Any inconsistencies between author(s) input materials and the poster is unintentional.
