If widely practiced, rainwater collection is one of the easiest ways would-be flood waters can be trapped

Kampala has for decades suffered at the hands of floods partly due to poor planning, poor drainage systems and abuse of the environment.

The increasing population of the city has seen several wetlands and waterways degraded to provide room for settlement. This has made such places prone to floods.

But as the government and local authorities are still tussling it out with floods in the city, areas that used not to experience floods like Northern and Eastern Uganda have also got on board due to torrential rains which are currently being experienced in the country.

Experts attribute these torrential rains to changes in the Northern and Eastern parts of Africa. It has been scientifically proven that these oceans are now cooler than normal and that Uganda would continue experiencing floods up to November this year when the oceans normalise.

Several people's future hangs in a balance as the government struggles to get an immediate solution to these floods.

However, environmentalists believe that harvesting rainwater could partly help in containing these floods especially in urban areas like Kampala. Although the government through the Ministry of Water is promoting water harvesting, its impact has not been felt because it is being implemented by few institutions like UPE schools. It would have more impact if implemented nation wide.

Rainwater harvesting is the process by which rainwater from the roofs of buildings is captured. This water can be used for domestic needs, irrigation, or both. A senior lecturer in the Department of Community Forestry and Extension, Faculty of Forestry and Nature Conservation, Makerere University, Mr Moses Mukadasi Buyinza says if water from the roofs is collected, little water would end up in the channels or people's compounds.

"The population of Kampala is about three million people and if each household installs a water tank to collect rainwater, the little water left to flow into the channels and other places will not be able to flood the area," Buyinza says.

A way to save

Supposing each household draws 5,000 litres of rainwater, millions of litres of water would not find their way into people's compounds or houses.

This would also save these families from spending on water. The average cost of a 20-litre jerrycan of water in most urban areas is Shs50. The cost soars to between Shs500 and Shs800 when water becomes scarce due to different factors.

If a family has in stock about 5,000 litres of rainwater, it would be able to save about Shs12,500. This money will be spent on other necessities like food, sugar and children's school requirements. Buyinza says that at the moment, rainwater is not well managed and unfortunately, it does not flow into the channels and waterways since most of them have been blocked.

An easy way to harvest rainwater is by connecting a simple rainwater diverter or pipe connected to a tank or any other water storage vessel.

He says even the greenbelts that are meant to hold water during the rainy season and release it during the dry season have been converted into residential and commercial areas making the country vulnerable to floods.

A greenbelt is a strip of planned or protected open space, consisting of recreational parks, farm land or uncultivated land, often used to define and limit the boundaries of a community and prevent urban sprawls.

Wetlands and greenbelts rejuvenate the environment system to absorb water during the rainy season and release it during dry seasons but unfortunately, most of these areas have been destroyed.

Buyinza cites areas near Garden City, Centenary Park, Kyambogo and some places in Industrial Area as some of the green belts that have been tampered with. Places that are designated wetlands like Bwaise have also been encroached on.

Bwaise is a flood plain, draining the surrounding hills of Makerere, Mulago and Kawempe. But with rapid urbanisation going on in Kampala, this plain has been heavily inhabited. Although the leadership of Kawempe Division claims that the construction of the Northern Bypass is the major factor contributing to frequent floods in the division, the Ministry of Works and Transport says Kawempe has for decades suffered floods even before the government thought of constructing the bypass.

The Northern Bypass is a 21-kilometre road stretching from Busega on Masaka road to Nambole on Jinja road. It is aimed at decongesting the city centre. The spokesperson of the Ministry of Works and Transport, Ms Susan Kataike says if it is true that the bypass is contributing to these floods, then its contribution must be very minimal.

Ms Kataike also believes that harvesting rainwater is a good idea saying it would protect the roads from being damaged by floods.

The Executive Director of National Environment Management Authority (Nema), Dr Aryamanya Mugisha admits that water harvesting could help in containing floods.

He says whenever it rains, domestic water builds up and ends up in blocked channels leading to flooding of some areas.

He says that apart from controlling floods, harvesting rainwater could also help to check soil erosion and enable agricultural land to retain nutrients needed in the growth and development of the crops. Soil erosion is commonly experienced in areas with steep slopes, where trees have been cut down and in dry areas, which are always characterised by inadequate vegetation cover.

Enforcing legislation

Like Buyinza, Aryamanya says that in areas like Kampala, floods occur because some people have tampered with flood plains, waterways and channels by constructing buildings in such areas.

He says that Nema has already instructed authorities to ensure that wetlands critical to the survival of the people are left intact, adding that for the case of Kampala, people who settled in vital wetlands would be evicted. Those who settled in the wetlands before the enactment of the 1995 National Environment Act would be compensated but those who settled there after the law was passed would not be compensated.

The National Environment Act was enacted to provide for sustainable management of the environment and to establish an Authority (Nema) as a co-ordinating, monitoring and supervisory body.

It empowers Nema in consultation with the Directorate of Water Development (lead agency), to set water quality standards, establish standards for discharge of effluent into water, set limits on the use of lakes and rivers, establish regulation for environmental impact assessments, manage riverbanks and lakeshores, restrict use of wetlands, and manage wetlands.

"We have written to them and given them a restoration order and those who will not respect the order will face the law," Aryamanya says.

The spokesperson of Kampala City Council, Mr Simon Muhumuza says the city will continue to flood until the dwellers become disciplined.

He says environmental degradation, poor planning, and illegal activities going on in the city like constructing buildings on top of channel and continuous disposal of garbage in the drainages were contributing to city floods.

When asked why KCC has approved building plans of houses constructed in wetlands, Muhumuza said the council cannot refuse to approve someone's plan when they have a land title for fear of being sued.

He also says that in most cases, developers don't go by the approved plans but instead put up structures with plans which are different from those approved by KCC.

He said the council lacks enough building inspectors needed to ensure that constructors implement what is approved by KCC. At the moment, KCC has about 10 inspectors. He says this number is too small to be able to inspect all constructions going on in the city and its suburbs. On the issue of wetlands, Muhumuza advises Nema to demarcate wetlands including greenbelts so that people are able to protect them.

And on water harvesting, Muhumuza says it alone cannot solve the problem of the floods but he advises people to plant trees and grass in their compounds to trap rainwater, explaining that those with compounds made out of concrete were fuelling the floods since such compounds cannot absorb running water.