Abstract
Papyrus wetlands are predominant in permanently flooded areas of Sub-Saharan Africa, covering approximately 40,000 km2 in East and Central Africa. Previous studies have quantified and valued ecosystem services of these wetlands, but there is still a need to understand the key processes of the wetlands’ hydrology. The study objective was to quantify the seasonal variations in water balance and retention time of a papyrus wetland section. Discharge measurements were carried out to quantify channel flow in upstream and downstream parts of the wetland section. Groundwater fluxes were estimated using borehole triangulation of groundwater levels, while precipitation and other climatic variables for estimating evapotranspiration were monitored using an automatic weather station located 1 km from the study site. The retention time of the wetland section was estimated from tracer experiments and by calculating the volume-discharge ratio. Results show that the water balance of the section is dominated by wetland channel flow, contributing approximately 99.7% of the total inputs, while precipitation and groundwater discharge contribute approximately 0.2% and <0.1%, respectively. Estimated retention time varied between 2 hours and 7 days during periods of high and low flows, respectively. The groundwater gradient showed flow towards the wetland throughout the monitoring period, with average gradients of 0.0074 and 0.0043 on the western and eastern edges of the wetland, respectively. Since wetland channel flow is dominant, the wetland’s hydrology is vulnerable to land cover changes and resultant changes in surface runoff from the upstream catchment. Further research on impacts of land use changes within the upstream catchment on wetland channel flow is recommended.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Acreman M, Holden J (2013) How wetlands affect floods. Wetlands 33:773–786. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-013-0473-2
Anadranistakis M, Liakatas A, Alexandris S, Aggelides S, Kerkides P, Rizos S, Poulovassilis A (1997) Soil Heat Flux in the Penman-Monteith Evapotranspiration Equation. Paper presented at the ISHS Acta Horticulturae: II International Symposium on Irrigation of Horticultural Crops, Chania, Crete, Greece
Azza NGT, Kansiime F, Nalubega M, Denny P (2000) Differential Permeability of Papyrus and Miscanthidium Root Mats in Nakivubo Swamp, Uganda. Aquat Bot 67:169–178. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3770(00)00093-0
Beljin M, Ross RR, Acree SD (2014) 3pe: a tool for estimating groundwater flow vectors. (EPA/600/R-14/273, 2014). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC
Bouwer H, Rice RC (1976) A slug test for determining hydraulic conductivity of unconfined aquifers with completely or partially penetrating wells. Water Resour Res 12(3):423–428
Donaldson L, Woodhead AJ, Wilson RJ, Maclean IM (2016) Subsistence use of papyrus is compatible with wetland bird conservation. Biol Conserv 201:414–422. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.07.036
Emerton L, Iyango L, Luwum P, Malinga A (1999) The Present Economic Value of Nakivubo Urban Wetland, Uganda. IUCN, Nairobi
Gaudet JJ (1977) Natural Drawdown on Lake Naivasha, Kenya and the Formation of Papyrus Swamps. Aquat Bot 3:1–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3770(77)90002-X
Gore JA, Banning J (2017) Chapter 3 - Discharge measurements and streamflow analysis. In: Hauer FR, Lamberti GA (eds) Methods in stream ecology, vol 1, 3rd edn. Academic Press, Boston, pp 49–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-416558-8.00003-2
Institute of Hydrology (1992) Hydata operation manual. Hydrological data processing system, version 3.1. Institute of Hydrology, Wallingford
Jones M, Humphries S (2002) Impacts of the C4 Sedge Cyperus papyrus L. On Carbon and Water Fluxes in an African Wetland. Hydrobiologia 488:107–113. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2031-1_10
Kadlec RH, Knight R (1996) Treatment Wetlands. CRC Baca, Raton, FL
Kansiime F, Nalubega M (1999) Wastewater treatment by a natural wetland: the Nakivubo Swamp, Uganda. Processes and Implications. (PhD Thesis), Wageningen Agricultural University, Netherlands
Kansiime F, Sanders MJ, Loisella SA (2007) Functioning and dynamics of wetland vegetation of Lake Victoria: an overview. Wetl Ecol Manag 15:443–451. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-007-9043-9
Kayendeke EJ, Kansiime F, French HK, Bamutaze Y (2018) Spatial and temporal variation of papyrus root mat thickness and water storage in a tropical wetland system. Sci Total Environ 642:925–936. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.06.087
Kigobe M, Wheater H, McIntyre N (2014) Statistical Downscaling of Precipitation in the Upper Nile: use of Generalized Linear Models (Glms) for the Kyoga Basin. In: Melesse AM, Abtew W, Setegn SG (eds) Nile River Basin: ecohydrological challenges, climate change and hydropolitics. Springer, Cham, pp 421–449. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02720-3_22
Kipkemboi J, van Dam AA (2018) Papyrus wetlands. In: Finlayson CM, Milton GR, Prentice RC, Davidson NC (eds) The wetland book: II: distribution, description, and conservation. Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht, pp 183–197. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4001-3_218
Krasnostein A, Oldham C (2004) Predicting wetland water storage. Water Resour Res 40:W10203
Kyambadde J, Kansiime F, Gumaelius L, Dalhammar G (2004) A comparative study of cyperus papyrus and miscanthidium violaceum-based constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment in a tropical climate. Water Res 38:475–485. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2003.10.008
MacLeod D (2018) Seasonal predictability of onset and cessation of the East African Rains. Weather Clim Extrem 21:27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2018.05.003
Mburu N, Rousseau DPL, van Bruggen JJA, Lens PNL (2015) Use of the macrophyte cyperus papyrus in wastewater treatment. In: Vymazal J (ed) The role of natural and constructed wetlands in nutrient cycling and retention on the landscape. Springer, Cham, pp 293–314. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08177-9_20
Morrison EH, Upton C, Pacini N, Odhiambo-K’oyooh K, Harper DM (2013) Public perceptions of papyrus: community appraisal of wetland ecosystem services at Lake Naivasha, Kenya. Ecohydrol Hydrobiol 13:135–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecohyd.2013.03.008
Namaalwa S, Van dam AA, Funk A, Ajie GS, Kaggwa RC (2013) A characterization of the drivers, pressures, ecosystem functions and services of Namatala Wetland, Uganda. Environ Sci Pol 34:44–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2013.01.002
NEMA (2008) Pilot integrated environment assessment of the Lake Kyoga Catchment Area. National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), Kampala
Okurut TO (2000) A pilot study on municipal wastewater treatment using a constructed wetland in Uganda. PhD Thesis, Wageningen University Netherlands
Opio A, Jones M, Kansiime F, Otiti T (2014) Growth and development of cyperus papyrus in a tropical wetland. Open J Ecol 4:113–123. https://doi.org/10.4236/oje.2014.43013
Owor M, Taylor R, Mukwaya C, Tindimugaya C (2011) Groundwater/surface-water interactions on deeply weathered surfaces of low relief: evidence from Lakes Victoria and Kyoga, Uganda. Hydrogeol J 19:1403–1420. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-011-0779-1
Rasmussen TC, Deemy JB, Long SL (2018) Wetland hydrology. In: Finlayson CM, Everard M, Irvine K, McInnes RJ, Middleton BA, van Dam AA, Davidson NC (eds) The wetland book: I: structure and function, management, and methods. Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht, pp 201–216. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9659-3_71
Sauer TJ, Horton R (2005) Soil heat flux. In: Hatfield JL, Baker JM (eds) Micrometeorology in agricultural systems. Asa monograph, vol 47. American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Madison, WI, pp 131–154. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronmonogr47.c7
Saunders MJ, Jones MB, Kansiime F (2007) Carbon and water cycles in tropical papyrus wetlands. Wetl Ecol Manag 15:489–498. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-007-9051-9
Saunders MJ, Kansiime F, Jones MB (2013) Reviewing the carbon cycle dynamics and carbon sequestration potential of cyperus papyrus L. wetlands in Tropical Africa. Wetl Ecol Manag 21:143. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-013-9314-6
Semeniuk CA, Semeniuk V (1995) A geomorphic approach to global classification for inland wetlands. Vegetatio 118:103–124. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00045193
Semeniuk V, Semeniuk CA (1997) A geomorphic approach to global classification for natural inland wetlands and rationalization of the system used by the Ramsar Convention – A discussion. Wetl Ecol Manag 5:145–158. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1008207726826
Ssanyu GA, Kipkemboi J, Mathooko JM, Balirwa J (2014) Land-use impacts on small-scale mpologoma wetland fishery, Eastern Uganda: a socio-economic perspective. Lakes Reserv Res Manag 19:280–292. https://doi.org/10.1111/lre.12073
Terer T, Muasya AM, Higgins S, Gaudet JJ, Triest L (2014) Importance of seedling recruitment for regeneration and maintaining genetic diversity of cyperus papyrus during drawdown in Lake Naivasha, Kenya. Aquat Bot 116:93–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquabot.2014.02.008
Terer T, Triest L, Muasya AM (2012) Effects of harvesting cyperus papyrus in undisturbed Wetland, Lake Naivasha, Kenya. Hydrobiologia 680:135–148. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-011-0910-2
Tomasella J, Hodnett MG, Cuartas LA, Nobre AD, Waterloo MJ, Oliveira SM (2008) The water balance of an amazonian micro-catchment: the effect of interannual variability of rainfall on hydrological behaviour. Hydrol Process 22:2133–2147. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.6813
Trask JC, Fogg GE, Puente CE (2017) Resolving hydrologic water balances through a novel error analysis approach, with application to the Tahoe Basin. J Hydrol 546:326–340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.12.029
Turyahabwe N, Tumusiime DM, Kakuru W, Barasa B (2013) Wetland use/cover changes and local perceptions in Uganda. Sustain Agric Res 2:95. https://doi.org/10.5539/sar.v2n4p95
van Dam AA, Dardona A, Kelderman P, Kansiime F (2007) A simulation model for nitrogen retention in a papyrus wetland near Lake Victoria, Uganda (East Africa). Wetl Ecol Manag 15:469–480. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-007-9047-5
van Dam AA, Kipkemboi J, Mazvimavi D, Irvine K (2014) A synthesis of past, current and future research for protection and management of papyrus (cyperus papyrus L.) wetlands in Africa. Wetl Ecol Manag 22:99–114. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-013-9335-1
WMD (2009) Mapping a better future: how spatial analysis can benefit wetlands and reduce poverty in Uganda. Wetlands Management Department, Ministry of Water and Environment
Zahraeifard V, Deng Z (2011) Hydraulic residence time computation for constructed wetland design. Ecol Eng 37:2087–2091. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2011.08.011
Zotarelli L, Dukes MD, Romero CC, Migliaccio KW, Morgan KT (2010). Step by step calculation of the Penman-Monteith evapotranspiration (Fao-56 method). Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. University of Florida
Acknowledgements
This work was funded by the ‘Norwegian Programme for Capacity Development in Higher Education and Research for Development (NORHED)’; Grant number: 3303010034. The funding is through the ‘Regional Capacity Building for Sustainable Natural Resource Management and Agricultural Improvement under Climate Change (CAPSNAC)’ Project housed at Makerere University, Uganda. We appreciate Dr. Michael Owor and Dr. Philip Njenje for advice and assistance in installation of monitoring boreholes. We also thank Mr. Bright Twesigye and Mr. Kukutu Solomon Collin for their assistance in the data collection exercise in and around the Naigombwa wetland. We thank Mr. Frank Kigozi for help with wetland gauge installation and for carrying out the discharge measurements. Finally, Mr. Kisitu Francis is greatly appreciated for providing information about drinking water wells in the areas surrounding the wetland section.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kayendeke, E.J., French, H.K. (2019). Characterising the Hydrological Regime of a Tropical Papyrus Wetland in the Lake Kyoga Basin, Uganda. In: Bamutaze, Y., Kyamanywa, S., Singh, B., Nabanoga, G., Lal, R. (eds) Agriculture and Ecosystem Resilience in Sub Saharan Africa. Climate Change Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12974-3_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12974-3_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-12973-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-12974-3
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)