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Estuaries: A Lifeline of Ecosystem Services in the Western Indian Ocean pp 169–182Cite as

Estuarine Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts Associated with Upland Agricultural Irrigation and Hydropower Developments: The Case of Rufiji and Pangani Estuaries, Tanzania

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Part of the book series: Estuaries of the World ((EOTW))

Abstract

The present paper reviews the anthropogenic pressure related with freshwater resource availability and its exploitation through irrigation and damming in the Rufiji and Pangani river basins and their resulting impacts on the Rufiji and Pangani estuaries and adjacent coastal and marine habitats, located along the southern and northern coast of Tanzania, respectively. In the Rufiji River Basin, water abstraction for the existing and planned irrigation and hydropower developments have been estimated at 12,788 million m3, which is 45% of the total available 28,382 million m3 water in the Basin. In the Pangani River Basin, water abstraction for the existing irrigation and hydropower developments have been estimated at 810 million m3 which is 90% of the total available water (900 million m3) in the Basin. The reduced river flow due to irrigation and hydropower developments are considered to have significant environmental impacts on the estuarine and adjacent coastal and marine habitats. The environmental impacts are more severe during the dry season than during the rainy season. It is also noted that the two basins are generally at different levels of water stress, with the Pangani Basin being under more critical water stress compared to the Rufiji Basin.

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Acknowledgements

This paper is based on the previous work conducted on the Rufiji and Pangani River Basins (Shaghude 2004a, b; Shaghude 2006) under the financial support of Global Change System for Analysis Research and Training (START) and the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA). The assistance provided by Dr Muhando and Mr Ali Haji Kombo (IMS GIS Laboratory) in improving the quality of the maps is highly acknowledged.

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  1. Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Dar es Salaam, 668, Zanzibar, Tanzania

    Yohana W. Shaghude

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  1. Yohana W. Shaghude
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Correspondence to Yohana W. Shaghude .

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  1. Academy of Sciences and Techniques – Section of Agricultural Sciences, Universite Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar,National Sciences and Techniques,Academy of,Senegal,, Dakar-Fann, Senegal

    Salif Diop

  2. WWF Coastal East Africa Initiative, Dares Salaam, Tanzania

    Peter Scheren

  3. College of Agricultural Sciences and Fisheries Technology, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

    John Ferdinand Machiwa

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Shaghude, Y.W. (2016). Estuarine Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts Associated with Upland Agricultural Irrigation and Hydropower Developments: The Case of Rufiji and Pangani Estuaries, Tanzania. In: Diop, S., Scheren, P., Ferdinand Machiwa, J. (eds) Estuaries: A Lifeline of Ecosystem Services in the Western Indian Ocean. Estuaries of the World. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25370-1_11

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