Water Resources Management in Ethiopia: Implications for the Nile ...

Specific issues that need to be addressed in increasing the viability and efficiency of irrigation farming in Africa include greater participation of local communities in management decisions, reducing water waste due to overwatering, institutional strengthening, and the control of water-related diseases (Rached, Rathgeber, & Brooks, 1996). Crop irrigation uses more than 90% of all renewable water resources in Egypt, 56% in Sudan and 5% or less in the more humid Sub-Saharan African countries, including all upper Nile riparians (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2009). Irrigation is characterized by low water use efficiency (in regard to crop transpiration), with about 70% of all water lost to evaporation, surface runoff and deep percolation (Falkenmark & Rockström, 2006). Reuse of irrigation drainage and treated wastewater, widely practiced in Egypt and the Middle East, and greater water use efficiency are two particularly promising areas in irrigation water conservation (Bahri, 2008; Shahin, 2007). In the more humid, cooler highlands of the Nile Basin, where rain-fed agriculture produces nearly all food crops, and forests and woodlands the bulk of the energy, additional challenges in water productivity and conservation must be dealt with. They include the integration of soil and water management focused on soil fertility, soil tillage for improved rainfall infiltration to reduce soil erosion and excess water runoff on steep slopes, and supplementary irrigation through water harvesting to meet dry season water needs (Rockström, et al., 2009; Pender, et al., 2006). Comprehensive examination of water needs and water management at the national level also needs to address the growing problem of water contamination from industrial, urban, and agricultural sources, and all water plans need to consider adaptive responses to climate change, which is increasingly challenging existing water resources management practices and expectations of transboundary water transfer (Draper & Kundell, 2007). The urgency to maintain the integrity of ecosystems cannot be overemphasized, considering their crucial role in ameliorating the impact of climate change and the fact that 60% of the world's ecosystems have been impacted by manmade activities to the point where they no longer provide some or all of their life enhancing services (Toepfer, 2005). “Water security,” defined by Grey and Sadoff (2007, p. 545) as