Why River Enyau must be protected
Residents wash cars in River enyau at Ediofe in Arua City. Photo/Clement Aluma
What you need to know:
- Restoring catchment areas is important to increase water security and quality, mitigate floods and droughts, and support biodiversity. River Enyau, which has been heavily degraded, is now benefiting from restoration exercises aimed at reducing vulnerability of the communities living around it, as Clement Aluma reports.
River Enyau, one of the longest rivers in West Nile, empties into the White Nile. The river encompasses the whole of Rose Mary Drateru’s life. The generations that lived before her cultivated crops on the riverbanks and used its water for domestic production.
“We are still using the river for the same purposes today. Unfortunately, people have encroached on it, and in the long dry seasons, it dries up,” the 36-year-old says.
The reasons why the community invaded the river are multifaceted, ranging from economic hardship to historical ties. Yet, the impacts are undeniably dire, with both environmental and social consequences.
What Drateru and her ilk have been doing inside the river may, however, not be sustainable for its conservation and sustainability, as the water volume has been decreasing over the years due to the impacts of climate variations.
Locals sand mining and washing clothes in River Enyau. Wetland coverage has declined alarmingly, from 15.6 percent in 1994 to 8.9 percent in 2021. The threat is existential; if the current trend continues, Uganda risks losing all its wetlands by 2040.
River Enyau has its source at the border of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at the Vurra Customs border post and stretches through Arua district, Arua City, Terego district, before emptying into the River Nile.
This river is crucial to the livelihoods of residents of Arua City and other districts through which it flows. It is the lifeblood of the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) which uses it as a source to supply water to over 50,000 people within the city.
“The river is the main source of water that supplies Arua City, Arua, and Terego districts. During the dry season, when water levels decrease, we rely on boreholes. The dry season from January to April this year was the worst. It hit us badly and we were rationing water,” says Jessica Ondoru, the area manager for NWSC in Arua.
In Vurra sub-county, residents had blocked the river and diverted it to their vegetable gardens, affecting the normal flow. Over the years, various stakeholders have partaken in efforts to protect River Enyau’s banks from encroachers, yet every year, in the dry season from November to March, the water levels go down, causing water scarcity in the city.
A resident shows the source of River Anyau at Orivu village near border with Democratic Republic of Congo in Arua District. PHOTO/ CLEMENT ALUMA
Restoration efforts
Manson Obichabo, a resident of Ewanyapa Cell, Pokea Ward, Ayivu West Division in Arua City, has a banana farm on the riverbank.
“I only plant crops that are environmentally friendly to protect the river. Perennial crops such as bananas do not take up a lot of water,” he says.
Human activities such as the construction of houses too close to the river, washing cars inside the river, silting, and planting eucalyptus trees along the riverbank, have been major challenges affecting its protection.
In 2021, the Wetlands Management Department of the Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE) secured a project, Reducing the Climate Change Vulnerability of Local Communities in Uganda through Ecosystem-Based Adaptation in Wetland and Forest Ecosystems, to be implemented in the catchment areas of River Sironko, River Enyau, River Rwizi-Nakivale, and River Rwambu-Mpanga.
The main goal of the project, financed with support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and technical support from United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), is to reduce the vulnerability of communities living around wetlands and forests to climate change.
MWE partnered with Rural Initiative for Community Empowerment (RICE West Nile), an indigenous non-governmental organisation, to train communities on alternative sources of livelihood to avert interference with the source of the river.
Pax Sakari, the executive director of RICE, says an alternative must be found, first for the residents using the riverbank as a source of their livelihood.
“The restoration of degraded hilltops and local forest reserves in Arua district has already been done. We have also carried out the restoration of degraded ecosystems around the River Enyau and sensitised the people who depend on it,” he says.
Uganda has made significant strides in protecting wetland. In 2023, all wetlands were officially gazetted under The National Environment (Declaration of Wetlands) Notice 2023, which was launched on World Wetlands Day 2024. Under Section 55 of the National Environment Act 2019, encroachment on wetlands is illegal, carrying severe penalties.
However, enforcement remains a challenge. Wetland coverage has declined alarmingly, from 15.6 percent in 1994 to 8.9 percent in 2021. The threat is existential; if the current trend continues, Uganda risks losing all its wetlands by 2040.
In 2022, MWE started restoring the catchment areas of the river. The intervention followed a report by Segamu 14 Consults Limited, a consultancy firm that indicated that over 50 hectares of wetland in the catchment area had been degraded.
The degraded areas are in Ayivu sub-counties in Arua district; Omugo, Uriama, and Odupi sub-counties in Maracha district, and Katrini sub-county in Terego district.
The five-year project, Integrated Water Management and Development Project (IWMDP), which is being implemented in partnership with the affected local governments is funded by the World Bank.
At the time the project was launched, Eng Annette Nantongo, a senior water officer at MWE, said there was a need to improve the sustainable provision of safe water and sanitation services to the host communities and refugee population who depend on the water source.
Planting eucalyptus trees too close to the River has also affected the water volume. PHOTO/CLEMENT ALUMA
More plans
Currently, Arua City is evicting people occupying areas near the riverbank. A verification exercise aimed at compensating people with land titles along the protected zones is also being carried out.
“Those people have to know that the wetland is not only for their use. It is a public good for everyone in Uganda, particularly in the West Nile because most of the running water in our homes comes from River Enyau,” Mary Dawaru, Arua City’s senior environment officer says.
She adds that if the community continues to degrade the water source, the population will be denied clean and safe water in their homes.
John Engamvile, Terego district’s environment officer, says the district local government has issued a 21-day ultimatum for locals involved in river sand mining to stop the practice.
“We are currently conducting sensitisation in hotspot areas and making follow-ups to see whether people are respecting the information we have given them. The main enemy of the riverbank is sand mining, which is mainly carried out in Cilio and Onungari in Omugo sub-county,” he says.
Wetlands play a critical role in maintaining ecological balance, supporting agriculture, and mitigating climate change.
Building too close to River Enyau in Arua city has also affected the water volume. PHOTO/CLEMENT ALUMA
UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
The United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration began on World Environment Day, 5 June 2021, and will run to 2030. The strategy is to build more political will for restoration through ‘New Power’ by focusing on enhancing and supporting existing restoration commitments and implementation of Rio Conventions and the Sustainable Development Goals.
The vision of Ecosystem Restoration is a world where – for the health and well-being of all life on earth and that of future generations – the relationship between humans and nature has been restored, where the area of healthy ecosystems is increasing and where ecosystem loss, fragmentation and degradation has been ended.
Between now and 2030, the restoration of 350 million hectares of degraded terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems could generate US$9 trillion in ecosystem services.
Restoration could also remove 13 to 26 gigatons of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
The economic benefits of such interventions exceed nine times the cost of investment, whereas inaction is at least three times more costly than ecosystem restoration. Source: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
General Manager Editorial Daniel Kalinaki, Ag. Managing Editor Allan Chekwech,
Editor, Sustainability Hub Gillian Nantume, Features Editor Caesar Karuhanga Abangirah,
Contributor Clement Aluma
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