TITLE:
Environmental Impacts Investigation of Irrigation Projects: Case Study of Kanyonyomba Rice Perimeter in Rwanda
AUTHORS:
Félicien Majoro, Concilie Mukamwambali, Jean D’Amour Uwimana Shumbusho, Emmanuel Hagenimana
KEYWORDS:
Environmental Impact, Kanyonyomba Rice Perimeter, Rwanda
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Water Resource and Protection,
Vol.8 No.7,
June
7,
2016
ABSTRACT: Irrigation
is an agricultural practice adopted in Rwanda to fight against poverty by
increasing agricultural production as a big sector which occupies a central
place in the economy of the country. Once irrigation project is made without
taking into account the environmental impacts that may occur, it may fail
before the design period or may persist with the excessive generated negative impacts
exceeding the targeted objectives. The aim of this study was to investigate
environmental impacts of an already implemented irrigation project in
Kanyonyomba swamp located in Gatsibo District of Eastern Province of Rwanda in
order to quantify the benefits and to increase agricultural production by
mitigating negative impacts generated by this project. The Kanyonyomba earth
dam has been constructed on Kanyonyomba River in Gatsibo District with a
length, a spillway crest width and a reservoir height of 210 m, 4 m and 8.5 m
respectively. The site observations on land, the interviews analysis and water
and soil laboratory tests were conducted to assess various environmental
impacts. The analysis of the results reveals the presence of positive impacts including
increased agricultural space and agricultural production through the
introduction of rice cultivation in this medium. However, this project has led
to multiple adverse effects in the hosting environment impacts that need to be
mitigated including the increased incidence of diseases in the surrounding
population and accidents resulting from an increased exposure of people to the
dam reservoir. Moderation of soil acidity, the use of the dam reservoir as a
water supply source, the provision of boots and gloves to protect farmers from
being contaminated by water living microorganisms and the development of
impacts monitoring plan are among the proposed measures in order to mitigate
these environmental impacts.