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Although wetlands make up less than 10% of Tanzania, their “critical, life support, ecosystem services” sustain
over 95% of lives, of wildlife and of livestock. They provide security as sources of food, water, energy,
economy and livelihoods, therefore, the aim of this paper is to address the current hydrologic conditions of
Usangu wetlands. Several approaches were used in the collection of data for analysis. Both primary and secondary
data was collected and analysed. The key finding shows that, the overall area of the Usangu Wetlands
is divided into two main portions, the Eastern Wetland and the Western Wetland, the core wetland, the Ihefu
Swamp varies between 30 and 65 km2
, whereas the seasonally wetted areas varies between 260 and 1800
km2
. Major perennial rivers which feed the Ihefu swamp in Usangu wetlands include Kimani, Mbalali,
Ndembera and the Great Ruaha River. The contribution from Mbalali River ranges between 69.17% and
47.78%; from Ndembera River ranges between 25% and 13.83%; from Kimani River ranges between 25%
and 8.33% and from Great Ruaha River contribution ranges 24.0% and 2.96%. The irrigated agriculture is
most important as a user of water and impacts most heavily on wetlands. Abstraction of water for agriculture
is leading to dried up rivers, falling ground water tables, salinated soil and polluted waterways. |
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