WWF - For a living planet

Great Ruaha, Tanzania

The Great Ruaha River rises in Tanzania’s Kipengere mountains and flows through the Usangu plains, a critically important region in Tanzania for irrigated agriculture (mostly rice). It flows along the eastern boundary of the Ruaha National Park, Tanzania’s second largest National Park after the Serengeti, and home to a rich variety of wildlife including greater and lesser kudu, giraffe, zebra, elephant, hippo, African wild dog, cheetah, leopard and lion and over 400 bird species.

Over six million people live in the river’s catchment area. They depend on the river for drinking water, food (fish and irrigated agriculture) and livelihoods. About 90% of the population living in the basin consider farming to be their main source of income, growing crops such as rice maize, beans, vegetables, groundnuts, fruits, millet and potatoes. Despite this productivity, many of the people living in the catchment are economically poor.

Threats

Growth in the human population, largely through migration to the area, has led to increased pressures on natural resources - land and water - from agriculture, livestock keeping, deforestation, fishing and other economic activities.

The Great Ruaha River used to flow throughout the year, but since the mid 1990s it has become seasonal, with the amount of water in the river declining increasingly during the dry season leading to low flows or complete drying. The drying of the river has had major impacts on biodiversity and people's lives and livelihoods within the Great Ruaha catchment.

Solutions

In 2006, a large section of the river flowed throughout the year for the first time in five years. Measurements taken below the main rice irrigation area in the upper catchment indicated that a minimum of one cumec (one cubic metre per second) was maintained in the river at the peak of dry season, despite a drought. Preliminary analysis suggests that further improvements in river flows were achieved in 2007.

This success is a result of collaborative efforts between WWF and our partners at local, district and national levels to improve management of water and natural resources in the Great Ruaha River catchment. We focus on a variety of measures, including:

• Involving and empowering communities and districts in equitable water resource management through the establishment of water user associations, as well as a committee that represents the entire catchment.
• Reducing water withdrawals for irrigation, especially in the dry season.
• Controlling the construction of illegal water abstraction infrastructures in the catchment.
• Training farmers in more efficient water use in rice production.
• Supporting the development of alternative livelihoods, away from agriculture, while reducing impacts on water and natural resources (e.g. beekeeping, batik dying, soap making).
• Developing alternative water sources.