Institute policy on water rights

There is a lack of a system regarding water permits and rights especially where water availability is limited. In dry periods, as many permits are issued, the aquifer becomes stressed and thus competition for access between different water users emerges. There are, therefore, competing demands /conflicts on land use affecting farmers. In the absence of operating principles assuring fair access for different users.

Policy monitoring on water rights of privately-owned boreholes regarding irrigation and farming are poor and lacking. This has affected regulation of water use. Water rights have to be closely policed by government if they are leading to over abstraction and shortages along the water chain. Data from private farms is not collected.

To what extent can Uganda’s groundwater resources be exploited without unduly compromising the principle of sustainable development? Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs according to The World Commission on Environment and Development.

The impacts of groundwater depletion are many and varied. The first and most direct impact is the loss of base flow. The loss of base flow can trigger a chain reaction of negative impacts to various components of the landscape.

Direct, or primary, impacts to the landscape can be expressed in terms of: increased magnitude and frequency of floods, loss of wetland and riparian vegetation, loss of phreatophytes and aquatic-terrestrial transition zones, changes in channel morphology accelerated erosion and gully development, increased severity and frequency of droughts, and loss of wildlife habitat and reduction in biodiversity.

Other impacts related to groundwater depletion include: Drying up of wells, increased cost of pumping and well infrastructure, land subsidence (Galloway et al, 2001), salt-water intrusion, and changes in surface albedo and related climate change.

Excessive pumping can lead to groundwater depletion, wherein groundwater is extracted from an aquifer at a rate faster than it can be replenished.
Depletion can have significant effects on surface and unsaturated subsurface waters, and on the terrestrial, riparian, and other ecosystems which depend on these waters.

There have been changes, trends and threats that are negatively affecting water resources along the Nile. These include population growth and urbanisation.
This has led to increasing water demands, increased degradation of the environment, high levels of natural climate variability, and the effects of man-made climate change.

In arid and semi-arid areas farmers and communities only have a limited number of water provision points this has put more pressure and increased the number of wells and boreholes being drilled where they can access groundwater which is needed for multiple purposes especially agriculture, not just drinking water provision. This will put undue pressure on aquifers and catchments. A system is needed.