Rivers Part One: River Basin Management
The Short-FALLS of
African Rivers
Rivers are perhaps the clearest way of linking water and development.
Rivers offer a source of water for irrigation, fishing grounds as well as a
supply of nutrient-rich silts which are essential for agricultural activities
(Bohannon, 2010). The potential of rivers for development in Africa is demonstrated
in the history books, through the development of "hydraulic civilisations"
(Wittfogel 1957) such as the ancient Egyptians.
Rivers in Africa share the main benefit of rivers everywhere- they take
water from places with a lot of water to places where there is less. However,
one difference with Africa’s rivers unlike others elsewhere, such as the Rhine,
is that many of Africa’s comprise of huge waterfalls and unnavigable rapids.
This not only prevented historic contact between regions and subsequently
stunted the trade of goods (i.e. food), but a less tangible ramification of
this was that it prevented the exchange of information and technology,
evidenced by the absence of an African equivalent to the Lingua Franca
(Marshall, 2016).
The Necessity for
Management
Millions rely on rivers for their survival, such as with Egypt’s entire
population being concentrated in just 8% of the country’s geographic area,
mostly along the river Nile (UNICEF, 2017). Rivers must be managed effectively,
to ensure a sustainable future for populations such as this, which demands an
appreciation for the water resources themselves, the human dimension of rivers
and the spatial and temporal scales of resources and hydrological processes
(Savenjie and Van Der Zaag, 2008).
It was this train of thought in the run-up to the UN Conference on
Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio 1992 that led to the proposal for Integrated
Water Resource Management (IWRM). The groundwork for the eventual establishment
of “The Fresh Water Chapter” (chapter 18) of Agenda 21 at Rio was largely in
response to the Dublin principles, which identified the high degree of
fragmentation in the water sector, and on the international stage (Savenije and
Van der Zaag, 2008). To accommodate the implementation of IWRM principles, the
Global Water Council (GWC) and World Water Council (WWC) were established to
oversee the process (Savenije and Van der Zaag, 2008). This however, was
not an overnight process.
Development of River Basin Management In Nigeria
Nigeria established its River Basin Authorities which were in
1973 in accordance with a number of dam and irrigation projects and appeared to
be a comprehensive framework for integrated reiver basin development (Adams,
1985). The first failure of the RBDAs in Nigeria was in its overlap with other
government agencies for control over a river basin unit, such as electricity
and agriculture. This produced conflict and an overlap in research and
planning, which translates into a waste of resources (Adams, 1985). Fahiran
(1980) suggests that in order to prevent mismanagement, a single informed
entity should make decisions based on a series of trade-offs between the
different users of a river. This would also see a concentration of scarce-skilled
manpower resources which is typical of a developing nation (carter et al.,
cited in; Adams, 1985)
Integrated Water Resources Management thus marks a synthesis of both
natural and human needs of water and advocates the integration of the
respective objectives of both following a rigorous analysis of thorough,
relevant and continually updated data. This in turn requires coordinated
administrative action in a transparent manner.
However, there is much more to consider than this. The inescapable
power-dynamic that exists in all rivers is that upstream users have the capacity
to heavily impact downstream users, but not the other way around introduces an
exciting dynamic (Savenjie and Van der Zaag, 2008). Although countries situated
on transboundary river basins are subject to the principles of the UN
watercourse Convention, which establishes the rights of riparian countries to an
equitable share of river benefits and a concomitant duty not to harm other
users, this is not so certain in reality (Savenjie and Van der Zaag, 2008).
More on this in the next post.
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