Uganda, DRC join forces to restore River Nyagak catchment area

Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Ms Ruth Nankabirwa appears before Parliament's committee on Natural Resources on August 23, 2022. PHOTO | PARLIAMENT PRESS

What you need to know:

  • Dr Akankwasa said the Water ministry has carried out water volume assessment and found that Nyagak has enough water to power 3.5 megawatts on Nyagak One and 6.5 megawatts on Nyagak Two projects. 

Uganda environment management officials have joined hands with their counterparts in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to protect the catchment areas of River Nyagak so as to generate enough water for downstream power generation in Uganda. 

River Nyagak has its source stretching across the borders and flows to Uganda where Nyagak One and Two hydropower plants are being constructed to generate about 10 megawatts of power.

While appearing before Parliament’s Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, which is investigating the constant power crisis in West Nile, National Environment Management Authority (Nema) executive director Dr Barirega Akankwasa, said while the current water levels are sufficient to generate the required power, efforts are being made between two countries to ensure water catchment areas are protected across the borders to ensure so as to ensure constant flow of the river.

“We have assessed the water catchment management, it is a serious issue to ensure the water catchment management across the borders is harmonised. Good enough, the East African Community (EAC) is currently discussing the EAC water resource management policy, so we have an opportunity to harmonise management of catchment areas when we are discussing this policy across the region. As we do tree planting and river bank management and protection here, the same has to be taking place across the borders because whatever happens that side affects the flow of the river this side,” Dr Akankwasa told the committee on Monday.

Dr Akankwasa said the Water ministry has carried out water volume assessment and found that Nyagak has enough water to power 3.5 megawatts on Nyagak One and 6.5 megawatts on Nyagak Two projects. 

He said when West Nile Rural Electrification Company applied for abstraction of water for power generation, the authority assessed the application and allowed the company to abstract upto to 6.8 cubic metres per second for power generation. He said this is sufficient to generate the 3.5 megawatts.

Asked if the current power fluctuation in the region has nothing to do with water fluctuations, Dr Akankwasa said the water levels are sufficient to generate power.

However, Energy minister Ruth Nankabirwa disagreed with the Nema boss. 

She said the water fluctuations affect power generation because in situations where water levels drop, not all turbines can run.

Put to task to explain her variation, Ms Nankabirwa told the committee that her explanation is based on the details provided by her technical team on the ground.

The committee tasked the ministry officials to ensure the region is connected to the national grid by March next year.