Awash River Basin: putting it all together
My previous four posts have examined the various ways the Awash basin can increase its availability and access to freshwater resources in a sustainable and equitable manner. Achieving this would increase the basin's resilience to the impact of climate change on its freshwater resources. So, drawing everything together, what have I found?
1. There must be a balance of hard and soft water options to help ensure freshwater security.
Hard options, specifically large-scale dams and irrigation schemes, are a top-down and centralised approach to water resource management. Instead of ensuring equitable access to water resource, hard options have the ability to hinder water access to downstream users, especially amongst the poor and less powerful. Intensification of such hard options would equate to decreased water availability in the basin.
However, these hard options cannot be simply decommissioned, but they can be governed in a more equitable and decentralised approach (i.e. implementation of soft options) that would help achieve greater access to freshwater resources. Institutional development that enhances the basin's freshwater capacity would help achieve this. This requires investments in social, technical and financial capital, ultimately requiring massive amounts of political will. However, if the state is serious about wanting to achieve freshwater security, it may be willing to do so...
2. Groundwater reserves can supplement surface water reserves and offer a way for the basin to increase its freshwater security.
Changing only the management of water resources in the basin would enhance equitable use between users, but it fundamentally would not increase water availability in absolute terms. Therefore, the management of such resources can only go so far in ensuring freshwater security in the Awash basin. Greater use of groundwater, however, does offer a way to increase the amount of water available in the basin. If managed in a sustainable (both in terms of quality and quantity) and equitable manner, groundwater offers a way for the basin to achieve freshwater security. This can be maximised when groundwater use is coupled with greater water efficiency schemes.
Importantly, what does this mean for climate change? Is there any evidence of this happening within the basin?
If the basin was able to achieve a greater access to freshwater, the potential impact from climate change on freshwater security would be minimised, since climate change tends to exacerbate current freshwater insecurities. When water is stored and distributed effectively, extreme events (such as drought) would have less of a detrimental impact on freshwater availability since the basin's vulnerability has decreased.
It is therefore imperative that the Awash basin achieves freshwater security. More importantly, the basin must factor in future climatic changes; it cannot ad hoc deal with climate change. Of course... this is much easier said than done. Ethiopia still faces several development challenges with funding and investment in such innovations being tight. This, coupled with its current severe drought (Figure 1), results in difficultly planning for future challenges when present challenges are so overwhelming.
BUT this is indeed happening! In the Awash basin, I found several recent reports and recommendations for greater management of freshwater resources, in addition to the implementation of such management practices with help from the Dutch Water Authorities.
I wish the basin the best of luck.
1. There must be a balance of hard and soft water options to help ensure freshwater security.
Hard options, specifically large-scale dams and irrigation schemes, are a top-down and centralised approach to water resource management. Instead of ensuring equitable access to water resource, hard options have the ability to hinder water access to downstream users, especially amongst the poor and less powerful. Intensification of such hard options would equate to decreased water availability in the basin.
However, these hard options cannot be simply decommissioned, but they can be governed in a more equitable and decentralised approach (i.e. implementation of soft options) that would help achieve greater access to freshwater resources. Institutional development that enhances the basin's freshwater capacity would help achieve this. This requires investments in social, technical and financial capital, ultimately requiring massive amounts of political will. However, if the state is serious about wanting to achieve freshwater security, it may be willing to do so...
2. Groundwater reserves can supplement surface water reserves and offer a way for the basin to increase its freshwater security.
Changing only the management of water resources in the basin would enhance equitable use between users, but it fundamentally would not increase water availability in absolute terms. Therefore, the management of such resources can only go so far in ensuring freshwater security in the Awash basin. Greater use of groundwater, however, does offer a way to increase the amount of water available in the basin. If managed in a sustainable (both in terms of quality and quantity) and equitable manner, groundwater offers a way for the basin to achieve freshwater security. This can be maximised when groundwater use is coupled with greater water efficiency schemes.
Importantly, what does this mean for climate change? Is there any evidence of this happening within the basin?
If the basin was able to achieve a greater access to freshwater, the potential impact from climate change on freshwater security would be minimised, since climate change tends to exacerbate current freshwater insecurities. When water is stored and distributed effectively, extreme events (such as drought) would have less of a detrimental impact on freshwater availability since the basin's vulnerability has decreased.
It is therefore imperative that the Awash basin achieves freshwater security. More importantly, the basin must factor in future climatic changes; it cannot ad hoc deal with climate change. Of course... this is much easier said than done. Ethiopia still faces several development challenges with funding and investment in such innovations being tight. This, coupled with its current severe drought (Figure 1), results in difficultly planning for future challenges when present challenges are so overwhelming.
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| Figure 1: Areas most affected by the current drought in East Africa (UNICEF, 2017) |
BUT this is indeed happening! In the Awash basin, I found several recent reports and recommendations for greater management of freshwater resources, in addition to the implementation of such management practices with help from the Dutch Water Authorities.
I wish the basin the best of luck.
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