A case study from Addis Ababa
Even though only 20 percent of Ethiopia's population live in urban areas (World Bank, 2017), Addis Ababa (Figure 1) is currently one of the fastest growing cities in East Africa (Arsiso et al., 2017). Addis Ababa has a population of around 3.5 million and has an average annual growth rate of 3 percent (Rooijen et al., 2010).
Effects on the city's water availability
The city's water supply comes from both surface and groundwater supplies, namely Legedadi, Dire and Gefersa reservoirs and Akaki groundwater reserve (Arsiso et al., 2017). These reservoirs are fed by two tributaries of the Awash River and the city's demand for water account for almost half of the river's water supply (Mosello et al., 2015)!
With an increase in city population, demand and competition for these water resources have increased between not only users (to meet basic needs), but also sectors: construction projects and expansion of manufacturing and service sectors have also resulted from this urbanisation and consequently, have intensified water demands (Arsiso et al., 2017).
Significantly, however, this growth has been unplanned and therefore, the city has been ill-prepared for the influx of immigrants. The city has physically expanded, but mainly in the form of informal settlements, which present inadequate housing and urban poverty (Haregewoin, 2007). Lack of water provision is a norm in overcrowded slums; urban planning often does not encompass these informal settlements, or alternatively urban infrastructure cannot keep up with the demand and existing facilities become poorly maintained (Hove et al., 2011): as a result, 50 percent of the population in Addis-Ababa has access to water services less than 12 hours a day and 25 percent of the population has no service at all, with these people mainly being the poorest (Ndaruzaniye, 2011).
Future predictions
Addis Ababa's population would reach seven million by 2039 if the annual growth rate stayed at three percent: this would triple the demand for water within the city and put pressure of the storage volume of the reservoirs (Arsiso et al., 2017). This increase in demand coupled with an expected drier climate and therefore a decreased reservoir volume (projected by the RCP 4.5 and 8.5 climate change scenarios) would lead to substantial shortages of water availability in Addis Ababa, especially during the dry season (Arsiso et al., 2017). Climate change has the ability to further exacerbate the city's inability to meet water demands through limiting the availability of that precious, finite water resource: reaffirming the trends I found previously when researching all of Africa!
These projections though do not show the inequality and power relations within the city that result from increased demand: as mentioned above, it is the poorest that tend to experience cities' shortcomings in water infrastructure since they they tend to live in areas exhibiting no/limited water service and paying for private vendors may economically harm them. As levels of population growth and urbanisation continue to increase, this problem will continue to transpire until the state further invests in water services. This problem of availability and access must be addressed before climate change intensifies the issue!
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| Figure 1: Addis Ababa - Ethiopia's capital city |
Effects on the city's water availability
The city's water supply comes from both surface and groundwater supplies, namely Legedadi, Dire and Gefersa reservoirs and Akaki groundwater reserve (Arsiso et al., 2017). These reservoirs are fed by two tributaries of the Awash River and the city's demand for water account for almost half of the river's water supply (Mosello et al., 2015)!
With an increase in city population, demand and competition for these water resources have increased between not only users (to meet basic needs), but also sectors: construction projects and expansion of manufacturing and service sectors have also resulted from this urbanisation and consequently, have intensified water demands (Arsiso et al., 2017).
Significantly, however, this growth has been unplanned and therefore, the city has been ill-prepared for the influx of immigrants. The city has physically expanded, but mainly in the form of informal settlements, which present inadequate housing and urban poverty (Haregewoin, 2007). Lack of water provision is a norm in overcrowded slums; urban planning often does not encompass these informal settlements, or alternatively urban infrastructure cannot keep up with the demand and existing facilities become poorly maintained (Hove et al., 2011): as a result, 50 percent of the population in Addis-Ababa has access to water services less than 12 hours a day and 25 percent of the population has no service at all, with these people mainly being the poorest (Ndaruzaniye, 2011).
Future predictions
Addis Ababa's population would reach seven million by 2039 if the annual growth rate stayed at three percent: this would triple the demand for water within the city and put pressure of the storage volume of the reservoirs (Arsiso et al., 2017). This increase in demand coupled with an expected drier climate and therefore a decreased reservoir volume (projected by the RCP 4.5 and 8.5 climate change scenarios) would lead to substantial shortages of water availability in Addis Ababa, especially during the dry season (Arsiso et al., 2017). Climate change has the ability to further exacerbate the city's inability to meet water demands through limiting the availability of that precious, finite water resource: reaffirming the trends I found previously when researching all of Africa!
These projections though do not show the inequality and power relations within the city that result from increased demand: as mentioned above, it is the poorest that tend to experience cities' shortcomings in water infrastructure since they they tend to live in areas exhibiting no/limited water service and paying for private vendors may economically harm them. As levels of population growth and urbanisation continue to increase, this problem will continue to transpire until the state further invests in water services. This problem of availability and access must be addressed before climate change intensifies the issue!
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