The Njombe Regional
Commissioner Dr. Rehema Nchimbi has appeal to multi-stakeholders of water to
come out in great numbers for ongoing registration exercise of the voters in
the permanent voters register so that they can elect political leaders who will
protect the water resource during the forthcoming general election.
RC said that
since this year is the year of general election in which you are going to elect
president, members of parliament (MPs) and ward councilors Biometric Voter
Registration System (BVR), make sure you choose the right candidates who going
to manage the water resources properly.
Registration started on Monday in 87 stations
of 11 wards in Makambako town and will last for seven days.
She said sustainable
integrated water resources management and sustainable development, is one of
which is public participation in the development of policies, plans and
processes.
The workshop
is jointly coordinated Rufiji Basin Water Board and WWF’s Ruaha Water
Programme (WWF- RWP), with support from WWF-UK through
the UK Department for International Development (DFID).
According to
the WWF-TZ Freshwater and Climate Change Coordinator, Keven Robert, the Great
Ruaha River is drying up and the reduced flows in the river have been recorded
since the early 1990s when complete drying of sections of the river was first
observed.
He said the river is now drying up completely for long periods – up to 6 months – in the dry
seasons, causing among other things, water shortages for downstream villages,
death of animals in the Ruaha National Park, increased conflict between
different water users (e.g. crop farmers, pastoralists, fishermen/women), and
water shortages at Mtera and Kidatu dams leading to serious national power cuts,”
she emphasized.
The Great
Ruaha River Catchment, 84,000 km2, contains 12 sub-catchments, the Usangu
Wetlands, plus the downstream section to the Mtera and Kidatu dams. The
programme has selected the two upstream sub-catchments of Ndembera and Mbarali,
the Usangu Wetlands, and the downstream sub-catchment to the Mtera Dam, for
this pilot.
Furthermore,
Rufiji Basin Water Officer, Idris Msuya said WWF-RWP in collaboration with RBWO
have been working jointly in implementing sustainable water access use and
management (SWAUM) which aimed at restoring the flow of Great Ruaha River.
Msuya said SWAUM use multi stakeholders’ action and learning process which enables stakeholders
to discuss, share, learning and reach collective decisions on the issues of
water resources use and management in the catchment.
He said the meeting
was meant to exploring, planning and prepare implementation strategy for water resources,
use and management in Mbarali River.
SWAUM’s goal
is to operate the principles set out in the Water Resources Management Act,
2009, deemed fundamental to the realization of the National Water Policy (2002)
and Integrated Water Resources Management.
Ends