Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) Water Resources Management Ephrem Getahun October 21, 2013 Tunis
the Nile The Longest River in the World It drains an area of 3.1 million square km Source of livelihood for millions of its inhabitants Two major tributaries: Blue Nile and White Nile The Nile Basin is a water scarce region; River flow is generated in < 1/3 part of the basin High variability of climate in the Nile Basin Blue Nile White Nile 2
the Nile The Nile Basin is shared by 11 countries All except Eritrea are members of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) DR Congo Rwanda Uganda * Kenya Sudan South Sudan Egypt Eritrea Ethiopia Burundi Tanzania 3
The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) Established on February 22 nd 1999, the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) is an inter-governmental partnership for cooperative management of the Nile Basin. The NBI is not the first time that Nile Riparian countries have come together to manage the Nile. There were previous instances of cooperation right from the mid 1960s. NBI is the first effort that brought together all the riparians, and discussed cooperative management
The main organs of the NBI The Nile Council of Ministers (Nile-COM) is the governing body and the supreme policy and decision making body of the NBI. The Nile Technical Advisory Committee (Nile-TAC) comprises of technical representatives from the member states (two from each country) and is charged with oversight of the NBI on behalf of the Nile-COM. The Nile-TAC provides technical support and advice to the Nile Council of Ministers on matters related to the management and development of the Nile waters.
Main organs The NBI Secretariat (Nile-SEC): is the full-time professional body that assists Nile-COM and Nile- TAC in their respective functions and monitors, supervises and coordinates basin-wide activities of the NBI Subsidiary Action Programs (SAPs) are responsible for preparing and implementing investment programs at sub-basin levels and have secretariat functions at two locations (ENTRO and NELSAP-CU) Country focal point offices Each NBI country has a national focal point office responsible for liaison between the country and the NBI organs, and for coordinating country level activities.
NBI Core Functions Facilitating Cooperation The NBI promotes and nurtures cooperation among the NB Countries. NBI convenes the Nile-COM/TAC meetings and other functions, and provides a platform where its member countries can negotiate issues of sustainable water management and development. Water Resource Management The NBI provides its member countries with analytic tools and a shared knowledge base/information system that is capable of monitoring and ensuring sustainable management of the basin s water resources. Water Resource Development The NBI assists its member countries to identify development opportunities, prepare projects and seek investments. Development programs focus on the 3 priority areas of: 1) power trade and generation, 2) agriculture, and 3) river basin and watershed management.
1. Facilitating Cooperation (basin-wide) Lead Centre: NBI Secretariat Program Objective: To facilitate, support and nurture cooperation amongst the Nile Basin countries so as to promote timely and efficient joint actions for securing benefit from the common Nile Basin water resources. Program Description: Providing and operating a unique platform for inter-country dialogue and negotiation on issues of sustainable water management and development. Facilitating regional liaison among water-related interests and provision of strategic information.
2. Water Resource Management (basin-wide) Lead Centre : NBI Secretariat Program Objective: To assess, manage and safeguard the water resource base that supports the peoples of the Nile Basin through applying the principles of knowledge-based IWRM to water development planning and assessment. Program Description: Monitoring and assessing the water and related natural resources of the Nile Basin, providing its member countries with a shared knowledge base and an interactive information system. Maintaining and operating analytical and scenario evaluation systems that support sustainable management of the basin s water resources.
3. Water Resource Development (sub-basin) Lead Centre: SAP Centres (NELSAP-CU and ENTRO) Program Objective: To identify, prepare and facilitate investment in transboundary water development projects and programs whilst avoiding negative impacts on the health of the Nile Basin s resources through applying the principles of IWRM. Program Description: Assisting its member countries to achieve joint water development projects and management programs through supporting the identification of development opportunities, the preparation of projects and facilitation of investment to enable member countries to implement the projects.
The Nile Basin Decision Support System The Nile Basin Decision Support System is a comprehensive analytical framework that offers: Toolkit for storage, processing, interpretation and visualization of data Suite of models for simulating river-lake/reservoir systems Toolset for analyses of water resources problems, evaluate alternative scenarios Suite of tools for generating information needed for decision making Toolsets for collaborative decision making in water resources - DSS software distributed to 9 countries, ENTRO and NELSAP-CU - Nile-Sec provides technical support to users; helpdesk http://nbdss.nilebasin.org/ - Training 11
NB Decision Support System Early applications NELSAP Multisectoral Investment Opportunity Analysis (study) Eastern Nile Joint Multi-purpose Program Working Papers Pilot level applications at national levels
Monitoring Elements of the Hydrologic Cycle - Operational estimates of actual Evapotranspiration for Nile Basin - Rainfall over the entire basin (via satellite estimates) State of the Nile River Basin Report (first report released in 2012; to be published every 3 years) Design of regional river basin monitoring network (to start 2014) 13
State of the Nile Basin Report Target audience: policy makers, parliamentarians, and senior Government officials in the riparian countries; the international Development community; and the general public in the Nile Basin. Purpose.the state of basin report is to support informed decision-making;..it will inform, educate and empower basin communities to exercise better stewardship of the common Nile water and environmental resources. 14
Knowledge Management Enhancing shared understanding on the Nile water resources Nile Information System: http://nileis.nilebasin.org/ Nile-Sec (digital) Library: http://library.nilebasin.org 15
Transboundary Policies and Strategies The Nile Basin Sustainability Framework - Serves as the overarching guide on set of policies and strategies that shall guide NBI s activities - Four Strategic Directions: 1. Water-related socio-economic development 2. Water resources planning and management 3. Environmental and water-related natural resources management 4. Climate change adaptation and mitigation 16
NBI Climate Change Strategy Main Goal: To strengthen basin-wide resilience to climate change and ensure climate compatible water resource management and development NBI Environmental and Social Policy Main Goal: To ensure social and environmental sustainability of NBI program outcomes NBI Wetland Management Strategy Main Goal: To foster the sustainable management and utilization of the Nile Basin s wetlands
Key achievements of NBI Brings all riparians together and provide the forum for dialogue Through technical cooperation, generated wealth of knowledge on the Nile Basin water resources system Developed knowledge and analytic systems for sciencebased cooperative development and management of the Nile Basin water resources Improved mutual understanding among riparian states and non-governmental stakeholders of the fragility, sensitivity, hydro-politics, of the Nile Mobilized major international support Succeeded to bring the cooperation agenda high in all riparian countries 18
NBI s Involvement in TIGER-Net NBI signed and MoU with specific products requests Water Quality Assessment at Lake Victoria Monitoring of long-term, seasonal and near real time variation of flood extents using satellite based radar data Long-term and seasonal variation of wetland areas Medium resolution erosion potential indicator maps Benefited through the participation in workshops and trainings on WOIS and various other products General requirements fulfilled with comments provided to enhance the system and products Expect the sustainability of the system to be ensured through as the technology evolves and new requirements emerge 19