The UN Millennium Development Goal (MDG) No 7c targets reducing by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015.
It focuses on improved water sources and sanitation facilities. Whether Uganda is closing in on this target remains to be seen, but there are reports suggesting that Uganda has already invested in water infrastructure that now serves about 50 per cent of the population.
According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics report (2002), the government had constructed several kilometres of piped-water: (4,058 taps), boreholes (17,915), gravitation flow systems (134), shallow wells (4,734) and protected springs (19,029) that only serves 50 per cent of the population.
The report further acknowledges that despite this significant investment in water, a large proportion of the population still has no access to safe, clean water. Water shortage remains a common problem in Kampala and the sight of sewage oozing on streets is common too.
It is therefore vital to ascertain the reality on the ground. It is one thing to install water infrastructure and it is another to have the infrastructure functioning well to serve the intended community.
Uganda is endowed with plenty of freshwater that can be obtained from open water bodies (lakes, rivers, streams, springs etc.) and underground aquifers.
The water bodies cover 18.2 per cent of the total land area --241,038 sq km of the country. Uganda receives an average 1375mm of bimodal rainfall annually.
Even semi-arid areas receive an average annual precipitation of about 300mm rainfall. These water systems provide a per capita of 3,600 cubic metres water availability.
In fact, some areas of the country have registered flood conditions that have affected farms, human settlements, peoples’ livelihoods and water and road infrastructure.But despite this apparent abundance, many people still go without sufficient, clean and safe water.
Due to the apparent abundance, water is often taken for granted; that it will always be available, which is not the case. With the changing climate, rainfall is increasingly becoming unpredictable and unreliable; open-water and underground aquifers are continuously declining in volume, thus making water availability a significant challenge in the country. It is, therefore, no longer acceptable to take water abundance for granted.
The paradox is that Ugandans have been accustomed to obtaining water through piped, tap, boreholes, wells and protected spring systems that they do not seem to bother about rainwater.
They allow rainwater to run off after a major torrent and the next hour or day they purchase water at exorbitant prices or travel long distances to fetch clean water. People also buy bottled drinking water at costs ranging from Shs380 to Shs1,000 for 500ml and 1000ml bottles.
In addition, we are so dependent on rain-fed agriculture that we do not bother to harvest and store rainwater for human and animal consumption and to produce crops during the dry seasons.
This calls for a paradigm shift in the way people access and manage water. It does not seem logical or justifiable to watch rainwater flow away untapped and, within a short period complain for lack of water or, buy water exorbitantly.
We can no longer continue to rely on rain-fed agriculture and complain for declining food stocks during traditional rainfall and dry seasons, because it never rained.
Why should we remain entrapped in a culture of buying water at increasingly high prices? Should we continue blaming government for poverty after we have spent our meagre incomes on a product that we could actually have for little or “no cost at all”?
One may argue that this may take away money from the National Water and Sewerage Corporation and water bottling businesses, but rather than compete, this is intended to reinforce efforts to ensure water accessibility and quality assurance for all Ugandans, regardless of social setting.
Put in another way, this is not to negate the need for continued investment in the water sector by government and the private sector, but rather to contribute to household savings and promote the use of the saving for other economic activities.
Communities should inculcate the practice of rainwater harvesting as a means of reducing water costs and supporting irrigation-based and “off-rainfall-season” crop production. Rainwater harvesting systems could range from a few thousand shillings -based on buckets/ jerricans or water tanks that cost Shs1.0-5.0 million and 30million irrigation tanks/ reservoirs. These costs incurred in construction of rainwater harvesting infrastructure can be off-set over time, thus minimising expenditure on water.
Government should invest in rainwater harvesting systems. A policy requiring all buildings to have rainwater harvesting systems should be put in place. In this way, government would in significantly contribute to household poverty reduction, the MDG on water and climate change adaptation.
There is need to promote water use efficiency, equitable allocation of water following a development path that minimises social, economic and political risks and one that supports economic frameworks that promote water-resilient behaviours by villages, towns, cities, industries, farms and pastoral families.
There are already established grassroots organisations like Water Governance Institute that can work with government to create awareness and guide people to implant the rainwater harvest policy.
It focuses on improved water sources and sanitation facilities. Whether Uganda is closing in on this target remains to be seen, but there are reports suggesting that Uganda has already invested in water infrastructure that now serves about 50 per cent of the population.
According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics report (2002), the government had constructed several kilometres of piped-water: (4,058 taps), boreholes (17,915), gravitation flow systems (134), shallow wells (4,734) and protected springs (19,029) that only serves 50 per cent of the population.
The report further acknowledges that despite this significant investment in water, a large proportion of the population still has no access to safe, clean water. Water shortage remains a common problem in Kampala and the sight of sewage oozing on streets is common too.
It is therefore vital to ascertain the reality on the ground. It is one thing to install water infrastructure and it is another to have the infrastructure functioning well to serve the intended community.
Uganda is endowed with plenty of freshwater that can be obtained from open water bodies (lakes, rivers, streams, springs etc.) and underground aquifers.The water bodies cover 18.2 per cent of the total land area --241,038 sq km of the country. Uganda receives an average 1375mm of bimodal rainfall annually.
Even semi-arid areas receive an average annual precipitation of about 300mm rainfall. These water systems provide a per capita of 3,600 cubic metres water availability.
In fact, some areas of the country have registered flood conditions that have affected farms, human settlements, peoples’ livelihoods and water and road infrastructure.But despite this apparent abundance, many people still go without sufficient, clean and safe water.
Due to the apparent abundance, water is often taken for granted; that it will always be available, which is not the case. With the changing climate, rainfall is increasingly becoming unpredictable and unreliable; open-water and underground aquifers are continuously declining in volume, thus making water availability a significant challenge in the country. It is, therefore, no longer acceptable to take water abundance for granted.
The paradox is that Ugandans have been accustomed to obtaining water through piped, tap, boreholes, wells and protected spring systems that they do not seem to bother about rainwater.
They allow rainwater to run off after a major torrent and the next hour or day they purchase water at exorbitant prices or travel long distances to fetch clean water. People also buy bottled drinking water at costs ranging from Shs380 to Shs1,000 for 500ml and 1000ml bottles.
In addition, we are so dependent on rain-fed agriculture that we do not bother to harvest and store rainwater for human and animal consumption and to produce crops during the dry seasons.
This calls for a paradigm shift in the way people access and manage water. It does not seem logical or justifiable to watch rainwater flow away untapped and, within a short period complain for lack of water or, buy water exorbitantly.
We can no longer continue to rely on rain-fed agriculture and complain for declining food stocks during traditional rainfall and dry seasons, because it never rained.
Why should we remain entrapped in a culture of buying water at increasingly high prices? Should we continue blaming government for poverty after we have spent our meagre incomes on a product that we could actually have for little or “no cost at all”?
One may argue that this may take away money from the National Water and Sewerage Corporation and water bottling businesses, but rather than compete, this is intended to reinforce efforts to ensure water accessibility and quality assurance for all Ugandans, regardless of social setting.
Put in another way, this is not to negate the need for continued investment in the water sector by government and the private sector, but rather to contribute to household savings and promote the use of the saving for other economic activities.
Communities should inculcate the practice of rainwater harvesting as a means of reducing water costs and supporting irrigation-based and “off-rainfall-season” crop production. Rainwater harvesting systems could range from a few thousand shillings -based on buckets/ jerricans or water tanks that cost Shs1.0-5.0 million and 30million irrigation tanks/ reservoirs. These costs incurred in construction of rainwater harvesting infrastructure can be off-set over time, thus minimising expenditure on water.
Government should invest in rainwater harvesting systems. A policy requiring all buildings to have rainwater harvesting systems should be put in place. In this way, government would in significantly contribute to household poverty reduction, the MDG on water and climate change adaptation.
There is need to promote water use efficiency, equitable allocation of water following a development path that minimises social, economic and political risks and one that supports economic frameworks that promote water-resilient behaviours by villages, towns, cities, industries, farms and pastoral families.
There are already established grassroots organisations like Water Governance Institute that can work with government to create awareness and guide people to implant the rainwater harvest policy.
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