SRwanda recently published its “Vision 2050” which sets out the national long-term development strategy, stating new objectives for urbanization, energy production, irrigation and water resources development. The Rwanda Green Fund (FONERWA) in collaboration with the Rwanda Water Resources Board (RWB) with financial support from the World Bank undertakes the consultancy “Integrated Strategic Water Resources Planning and Management for Rwanda”. FutureWater together with the local partner ENTREM Ltd. undertakes this projects, supporting the development of integrated strategic water resources plans and management guidelines in order to meet the targets set out the long-term policies.
The “Integrated Strategic Water Resources Planning and Management for Rwanda” consultancy project will assess and evaluate the availability and vulnerability of the country’s water resources up to around 2050 taking climate change into consideration.
Based on this, prioritization of investment options in grey and green infrastructure will take place, in order to formulate water resources investment plans. A revised water resources policy will be prepared that is in line with water security targets and SDG 6.
In more detail, the hydrological modelling assessment will result in update water accounts per sub-catchment up to 2050. Field work for assessing groundwater resources in key areas across the country is also performed. A detailed water allocation assessment will be performed using a water resources system model (WEAP), addressing water needs for the various users up to 2050. Water allocation plans will be developed from this modelling work, incorporating stakeholder inputs.
Then, a scenario analysis is performed to evaluate the potential of additional storage in the landscape: grey (reservoirs) and green (through Nature-based Solutions). This analysis will be complemented by field work and a pre-feasibility analysis will be performed on the prioritized options. A SWOT analysis will then lead to a number of possible flagship projects which of which a concept note is prepared.
Support to the revised national policy for water resources management will also be provided by defining new policy statements and actions informed by the results from the previous tasks and developing a new water resources policy that will guide the country towards achieving the NST1 and Vision 2050 targets.
