KIGALI, May 19 (IPS) – After severe floods and landslides hit large parts of Rwanda earlier this month, experts are convinced that investment in mapping erosion risk areas can go a long way to keeping the death toll down.
Many villagers living along major rivers in western Rwanda have been among the victims of river erosion and flooding every year.
Felicita Mukamusoni, a survivor of river erosion in Nyundo, a mountainous village from western Rwanda, told IPS that “parts of this village have been eroded to such an extent that we cannot even imagine.”
“I raised cows and goats. My beautiful house was destroyed. The river has taken everything,” she said.
Latest government estimates indicate that at least 135 people died, with one still missing, after the latest floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains hit western, northern and southern provinces earlier this month.
In a recent assessment, experts found that land in high-risk areas is primarily used for agriculture, and 61 percent was for seasonal crops. It said seasonal farming exposes the land to splash erosion and further loosening because the land is not permanently covered.
The 2022 State of Soil Erosion Control in Rwanda report indicates that erosion control techniques in high-risk areas in Rwanda are still very low.
Erosion control mapping shows that of the 30 districts in Rwanda, land at high risk of erosion is about 1,080,168 hectares (45 percent of the total provincial land, which is estimated to be 2,385,830 hectares) of which 71,941 hectares (7 percent of the total risk areas) ) are at extremely high risk.
According to the same report, at least 190,433 hectares of land are considered very high risk (18 percent), 300,805 hectares are at high risk (28 percent) and 516,999 hectares (48 percent) are at moderate risk.
Dr. Charles Karangwa, a climate expert based in Kigali, told IPS that it is unfortunate that new disasters happened again despite many investments in the past.
“Rwanda needs to explore other complementary solutions such as water management infrastructure, water harvesting, and where possible, relocating those living in high risk areas to allow nature to regenerate will help stabilize the situation both in the long and medium term,” he said .
Apart from being highly populated, Karangwa pointed out that there is quite a correlation with geographic vulnerability due to the risk of soil erosion, which is exacerbated by high population, and this increased pressure on land.
The head of the flood management and water storage development division at the Rwanda Water Resources Board (RWB), Davis Bugingo, told IPS that among the solutions to deal with recurring disasters in western Rwanda is the establishment of flood control infrastructures to regulate water flow and reduce flood risks.
These include the construction of the adjacent Sebeya Retention Dam, and rehabilitation works for the Gisunyu Ravine which are expected to significantly contribute to reducing the effects of flooding in the region.
While accurate and up-to-date data on river flows, topography and flood vulnerability remain critical to effective flood management, Bugingo observed that limited data availability and quality can pose challenges in accurate flood forecasting, risk assessment and planning.
In addition to land use, which contributed to increased flood risks, experts observed that construction in flood-prone areas, encroachment on riverbanks and inadequate zoning regulations had exacerbated the effects of flooding and hindered effective flood management efforts in western Rwanda.
Most recently, RWB has developed a dedicated application to gather more information to inform future analyses, relocating people living in at-risk areas, and fine-tuning tools used to design flood control infrastructure.
The above tools provide information about flood exposure and risk areas that can be visualized in 3D and share the information with the public or other organizations. However, experts are convinced that despite these innovative solutions, limited financial resources may hinder the implementation of these large-scale infrastructure projects, such as dams, flood control structures, ravine reclamation and drainage systems.
Rwanda is one of Africa’s most densely populated countries, with large concentrations in the central regions and along the shores of Lake Kivu in the west. The total area of this East African country is 26,338 km2, with a population of 13,246,394.
Bugingo points out that inadequate land use still contributes to increased flood risks.
“Construction in flood-prone areas, riparian encroachment and inadequate zoning regulations continue to exacerbate the effects of flooding and impede effective flood management efforts,” he said.
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© Inter Press Service (2023) — All rights reservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
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