4 Dutch water authorities work together in a unique WaterWorX (WWX) project by integrating IWRM4WASH in the Mindu Dam Catchment Area, Morogoro, Tanzania.
The 4 Dutch water authorities are World Waternet, Rivierenland, Brabantse Delta and Hoogheemraadschap Hollands Noorderkwartier.
What is WaterWorX?
WaterWorX (WWX) is the international programme in which all Dutch drinking water companies have joined forces to contribute to a sustainable drinking water management worldwide. This programme is similar to the Blue Deal programme, in which all Dutch water authorities have combined their efforts to improve access to clean, sufficient and safe water worldwide.
Long-term resilience
By integrating IWRM4WASH in the Mindu Dam Catchment Area, Morogoro, Tanzania, the programme can create a climate-proof system that ensures sustainable water management, improved WASH services, and increased resilience to climate change. This holistic approach not only addresses immediate water and sanitation needs but also builds long-term resilience for the community and the environment.
Improving water supply throughout the year
The Mindu dam provides more than 75% of the water supply in Morogoro. Due to rapid population growth, deforestation in surrounding mountains, and climate change, less water and more sand from the rivers end up in the dam, which has reduced the capacity of the dam. By taking measures in the catchment area in combination with improving the dam, the water supply should improve throughout the year.
Blueprint for entire catchment area
With additional funding from the NWB Fund and the Climate Adaptation Fund, the WWX partnership in Morogoro is able to start a pilot with nature-based solutions at one of the tributary rivers of the Mindu Dam. The idea is that this pilot will be a blueprint for the other 4 rivers to the dam and eventually for the entire catchment area.
Valuable insights for other programmes
The pilot consists of the realisation of a Training and Demonstration Centre at Ngeregere River, where work in progress can be viewed, compared and discussed by stakeholders in the area. The aim is to ensure the effective implementation and success of nature-based solutions. Interventions are, among other things, agroforestry, a tree nursery, farmer training, beekeeping and check dams in the adjacent river. These interventions have been assessed by the joint development of a decision-support tool. The development of this Farmtree tool with key focus on Agroforestry interventions was supported by the NWB Fund. Both the tool and the proposed pilots may provide valuable insights for other Blue Deal and WaterWorX programsmes.
Demonstration, monitoring and working together
As an international Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) team, the team works on the basis of the principles of demonstrating, monitoring and working together:
- Demonstration: seeing is believing. We are going to show in practice how different nature-based solutions can be applied. We show and experience for example the agroforestry systems we developed with the help of the FarmTree tool®.
- Monitoring: to measure is to know. A participatory monitoring framework (PMF) is developed supported and managed by the local community to provide insights into the performance of the different interventions. In this way, the effects can be substantiated to help improve the practice.
- Working together: we are working on a strong network of stakeholders. Our common dream is an ecosystem of passionate people that finds each other.
For more information on this project, please contact Janette Worm via janette.worm@waternet.nl.