Aufbau regionaler Kapazitäten in integriertem Wasserresourcenmanagement in Kigezi, West-Uganda

The Kigezi highlands in Western Uganda are a crucial ecoregion and play a vital role in regulating river systems, climate, and hydrological functions. However, these areas are facing severe challenges. Over-exploitation of natural resources due to an exceptionally high population increase, in combination with inadequate management lead to unsustainable practices and ecological disturbances resulting in land and waters resources degradation. Consequently, communities in the Kigezi region are experiencing restricted access to clean water. At the same time, information, data and research on the status of water resources is hardly available. This leads to a lack of awareness in how the environmental integrity of a region is connected to the supply of water in adequate quantity and quality. To address and mitigate these diverse pressures and challenges on water resource systems, a research based integrated approach to water resources management is essential. In the Kigezi region however, only very limited research and teaching approaches in Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) are available. The KI-WATER project aims to enhance the capacity and the awareness in Integrated Water Resources Management at the University level and in the Kigezi communities. The project tackles the present issues by i) improving the knowledge of water resources by measurements and an integrated assessment and evaluation of spatial-temporal environmental, water quality, and water quantity data, ii) building and improving research and teaching capacities in IWRM at the University level, and iii) creating awareness about IWRM by engaging with local stakeholders and organisations to discuss project-related objectives and findings. Data obtained during the project will be made available in an open source online repository and provide a consistent database. Different approaches used in IWRM, including state of the art hydrometric measurement methods, will be developed for current courses at Kabale University. This capacity building exercise will support informed decision making and help to develop management and regulation strategies based on IWRM approaches. New insights and findings will be jointly published in scientific journals but also in none-scientific formats, such as leaflets and fact sheets. This will support and facilitate the communication and discussion with stakeholders and the community. Workshops and the involvement of pupils in schools are aimed to raise awareness of IWRM approaches at different stakeholder levels. The project outputs will support Uganda´s national policies and the realization of several SDGs (i.e. SDG-2, SDG-3, SDG-6, SDG-13).