Kampala — THE ministry of water and environment has embarked on a nation-wide programme of collecting data on water sources before updating the national water atlas.

The exercise, which was last carried out about 10 years ago, is designed to help the Government commit more resources to the water sector so as to provide safe water to the population.

Over 30 health workers from Hoima, Bulisa and Kiboga districts were trained in how to collect data at the Millennium Hotel in Hoima town on Thursday. Loy Asiimwe, a community development specialist in the ministry of water and environment, said updating of the water atlas would help to attract more funding from the Government and donors.

She explained that during the exercise, functional and non-functional water sources will be identified and worked upon so as to ensure that people continue accessing water.

Asiimwe said the exercise, which also aims at finding out the number of water sources and improving on those in poor conditions, would help Government to continue providing water to the people and bring development to the ground.

Christine Nabacwa, a focal point officer, said the exercise would also help the Government in its efforts to increase safe water coverage in the country.

"This is going to help us know the water-stressed areas and plan accordingly," she said.

Nabacwa said several water sources had dried up due to the low water table as a result poor management of the catchment areas.

She also attributed the problem to poor land management practices among farmers who practise agriculture on hilly areas.

Nabacwa urged the people to stop the indiscriminate cutting of trees to mitigate the impact of the looming climate change.

"People should take on tree planting because that is the only way through which we can prevent climate change. Otherwise we wont have water in the deforestated areas in future," she said.