Presentation of Tonya Schuetz, Volta Basin, as part of the "Simposio Internacional: El Desafío del Agua y la Alimentación en el Mundo" organized by National Authority of Water (ANA) in Peru and the Consorcio para el Desarrollo Sostenible de la Ecorregión Andina (CONDESAN). June 3, 2013.

1. Volta Basin
Olufunke Cofie and Philippe Cecchi
CPWF-Volta
3.6.2013, Lima, Peru

2. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
Presentation Outline
• Geographic location
• Challenges and opportunities in the Volta Basin
• Small Reservoirs: what and why?
• Planning for small reservoirs
• Management of small reservoirs for multiple uses
• Conclusions

3. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
CPWF Basins
2
1
Andes – Benefit-sharing mechanisms
Ganges – Floods and salt in the Delta
Limpopo – Small reservoirs, rainwater and livelihoods
Mekong – Dams and livelihoods
Nile – Rainwater management in Ethiopia
Volta – Small reservoirs, rainwater and livelihoods

4. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
Findings for the Volta Basin …
Climate change is making already variable rainfall less reliable. Farmers must
have access to reliable water supplies.
• Rainwater productivity can be increased by in-field water harvesting and soil
fertility improvement
• Integrated strategies are needed for effective innovations
• Need to improve soil water management under rainfed condition; improve
small reservoirs management, tools for water quality management, use of
groundwater
• Small reservoirs, locally maintained
and requiring no recurrent energy
input are a sustainable supply option to
improve water access and increase
water related benefits for local
communities

5. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
Challenges in the Volta Basin …
National specificity in history, governance, exploitation and management of SR,
so difficult to make many generic statements. Large comparison will allow to
capture important generic drivers
Integrated Management of
Rainwater and Small Reservoirs for Multiple Uses
Objective: “Improving rainwater and small reservoir management to contribute
to poverty reduction and improved livelihoods resilience while taking account
of downstream and upstream water users including ecosystem services”

6. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
Source: McCartney & Smakhtin (2010). IWMI Blue paper.
Small Rerservoirs compliment other storage options
Small Reservoirs should be viewed in the continuum of
water storage options

7. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
Small Reservoirs in West Africa …
In West Africa: Small Reservoirs are
structures
• located at the top of the
hydrological network
• store a portion of the flow
(rainy season) for future use
(dry season)
• dikes greater than 15 meters
(m) high or with storage
capacity up to 3 Mm3
Unit cost is about half a million
Euros and often much less.
Small Reservoirs in the Volta

8. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
• Small reservoirs support adaptation to climate variability
• Small but numerous and largely scattered
• Allow targeting a largely scattered rural population
• Represent thousands of kilometers of shoreline
Small Reservoirs … Today
1 reservoir ≈ 2500 rural people with secure water access all year long

9. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
Small Reservoirs … Future
250 million people in 2040 in the Niger and Volta Basins
High population density in the context of other global changes
(climate, markets, ...).
The impact unclear but will necessitate:
- securing water resources available
- increasing storage
- intensification of agriculture

10. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
The multiple uses characteristic of small reservoirs is the main reason for
successful adoption by local communities:
▪ agriculture: off-season crops, vegetable garden
▪ livestock watering, fisheries, fish farming
▪ domestic uses: laundry, dishes, bath,…
▪ groundwater recharge of deep and shallow wells
▪ gender: equity in risks and benefit sharing
▪ different ecological services providing diversification and incomes
Multiple Use is indeed fundamental, in particular for the household
diversification of livelihood activities
Small Reservoirs … Multiple Uses

11. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
Whether allocation of water to distributed storage is a good policy rests on
excess of evaporative losses and collective impact of the reservoirs place an
inequitable burden on downstream users.
Our work demonstrates that …
• Evaporative losses are less than 50% of
what had previously been assumed.
• Collective downstream impact of small
reservoirs is minimal. For instance, in
the Volta Basin, even quadrupling the number of small reservoirs would
result in the consumption of less than 1% of the total available water.
• Efficiency of small reservoirs is linked to coordinated institutional
arrangements for decision making and the ability of local governance to
cope with managerial and organization capacities of several
stakeholders
Small Reservoirs … Lessons

12. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
Small Reservoirs … Toolkit
Tools for improved participatory decision making in planning and maintenance
and stakeholders’ understanding of Small Reservoirs have been developed
• Storage and Hydrology
• Ecosystems, Water Quality & Human Health
• Water Allocation and Economics
• How science based information can be
presented most effectively?
• How to make sure the opinions and ideas
of the stakeholders heard?
• How to share the better options available
to stakeholders?
Visit: http://www.smallreservoirs.org/full/toolkit/index.htm

13. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
Small reservoirs are already used in many countries, but there is still potential
to increase the number, without impacting significantly the catchment
hydrology.
No. of small reservoirs in selected countries
Burkina Faso > 1,500
Ethiopia > 100
Ghana > 1,000
Ivory Coast > 600
Mali > 800
Mauritania > 350
Mozambique > 600
Uganda > 500
Zimbabwe > 9,000
Zambia > 2,000
Small Reservoirs … Potential
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
1801-
1840
1841-
1911
1912-
1939
1940-
1956
1957-
1973
1974-
1987
1988-
2001
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
source : Philippe Cecchi (IRD)
Number of Dams and Small Reservoirs in
Burkina Faso

14. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
Small Reservoirs Governance
(N > 400 SRs)
Line
ministries
Donors Contractors
Local
government
Traditional
authorities
WUA's Community Farmers Others
construction 41 6 33 8 2 2 3 2 2
extension role 75 3 0 3 3 6 3 0 8
major
maintenance
39 13 6 22 2 7 4 2 3
minor
maintenance
4 0 0 5 5 36 42 6 2
setting management
rules
4 0 0 4 22 42 21 6 2
implementing &
monitoring rules
5 0 0 4 13 49 21 5 4
relation with
other actors
11 1 0 9 12 42 18 3 5
conflict resolution
5 0 0 8 54 20 11 1 2
environmental
protection
7 0 0 4 10 35 33 9 2
exploitation &
marketing
13 0 0 1 5 14 12 47 6
Source: Venot JP, Sept. 2011
Many actors with complimentary roles

15. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
• New stakeholders (agro-business) are emerging
in the field, with various strategies to maximize
investments in the short term
• New ‘predators’ have appeared in the
landscape, particularly “mines” with high
consumption of water; pollutions; social
disorders; etc.
• Increased human population, associated land
use and intensification of agricultural practices
(nutrients, pesticides) contribute to the
eutrophication of SR with serious threats on
quality and productivity of SR as well as health
status of dependent rural poor
Small Reservoirs … Emerging issues
Controlling consequences of intensification is a
necessity

16. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
Uses and users require water (quantity and quality)
Uses and users impact the resource (quantity and quality)
There exist trade-off between impacts and requirements that determine
the nature of available resources
Water Uses and Users
Requirements
Resources
Impacts
Key words
Integrated managements
Local scale/ multi scale
So..

17. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
A necessity for management …
To document
To inform
To predict
Cross-scaling in terms
of resource management
and/but also in terms of
processes involved
Multiple scales of information gathering (farm household,
community, watershed, country, basin)

18. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
‘‘The challenge lies not merely in reducing vulnerability [against Climate
Change] but also in getting the structures in place so governments and
investors can tackle adaptation in the most effective manner possible.
The good news is we can improve lives today while building the crucial
infrastructure needed for tomorrow.’’
Source: ‘‘Global Warming and Adaptability’’ Wall Street Journal, 12 Dec. 2011
In Conclusion
More efforts are needed to promote the high potential of small
reservoirs for dry environments by increasing their numbers and
improving their management.

19. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
Thanks for your Attention
www.volta.waterandfood.org

20. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
Volta: Rainwater and small reservoirs
Identified successes (soil-water
conservation, small reservoirs, and
small pumps) and failures (culture
and gender-sensitivity) to
extrapolation domains
Better link crop-livestock farming
with market value chains through
innovation platforms
Resilience analysis helps evaluate
common threads driving or limiting
innovations (e.g. water quality in
small reservoirs)