by André

As I mentioned in our last post we are organizing a series of webinars covering the various aspects of the “Integrated Urban Water Management “. The webinars are part of a project in partnership between AQUASHARE and TU Delft, funded by NWO‘s program on Urbanizing Deltas of the World. In this new post I am sharing detailed information about the first three events, starting from September 2020.

Urban Water Cycle – Integrated Urban Water Management for Urbanizing Maputo

Date: 16 September 2020
Short description: The traditional approach to the planning of water supply, sanitation and drainage, at urban level, typically entails the provision of clean drinking water which is largely converted into wastewater and/or fecal sludge. These waste streams, whether or not treated, are subsequently discharged into the environment, typically water bodies. A similar approach is followed for rainwater which is conveyed, combined or not with wastewater, into the environment. This one-way approach to urban water resources management should be reconsidered in a context of urban development, population growth and climate change. Re-thinking this cycle in order to reach a closed urban water cycle is paramount to assure the access to safe drinking water and the provision of safe and affordable sanitation services in the coming decades to millions of urban dwellers across the World, and this issue is particularly pressing for African cities, which are lagging behind in implementing more environmental, social and economic sustainable urban development approaches. This first webinar will be the introduction to the concepts of the Urban Water Cycle and Integrated Urban Water Management and discuss in detail how these concepts could support the sustainable development of Mozambique’s capital, Maputo.

Structure:

Access to water and sanitation services in cities across Africa – challenges for the 21st century. Manuel Alvarinho (AQUASHARE) [15 min]
Urban Water cycle and its link with Integrated Urban Water Management Luuk Rietveld (TU Delft) [15 min]
Integrated Urban Water Management for urbanizing Maputo: bringing together water supply, sanitation and urban drainage. André Arsénio (TU Delft) [15 min]
Q&A

Implementation of Water Reclamation Projects in Maputo

Date: 14 October 2020
Short description: Water demand in Maputo has been increasing, and this trend is expected to continue in the future. At present, water for Maputo is extracted from the Umbeluzi river and in the near future water will be pumped from Corumana dam (Nkomati river) at a distance of 100 km. Nevertheless, these resources will be insufficient to provide sufficient water to urban agriculture, industry and households after 2030. Also, the combined impacts of agricultural expansion, increased industrialization, improvements in living standards and climate change are expected to cause more pressure to urban water resources, compounded by deteriorating water quality. If water reclamation is appropriately planned and implemented, it can address several of the issues mentioned above and compete with expensive, alternative solutions as desalination. Water reclamation mainly consists of treating sewage water to a level fit for use for for industrial and urban agricultural purposes.

Structure:

Challenges and opportunities for water reclamation projects in Maputo, Mozambique. Nelson Matsinhe (Universidade Eduardo Mondlane) [15 min]
Water reclamation for industries – the case of Maputo, Mozambique. Noor Gulamussen (TU Delft/Universidade Eduardo Mondlane) [15 min]
Current practices of water reclamation for irrigation in Maputo – risks and added value. Celma Niquice (TU Delft/Universidade Eduardo Mondlane) [15 min]
Decentralized wastewater treatment and water reclamation projects for peri-urban areas across Africa. Jules van Lier (TU Delft) [15 min]
Q&A

Governance Aspects of Multiple Uses of Water and Integrated and Inclusive Urban Water Management in Maputo City

Date: 18 November 2020
Short description: Introducing IUWM as an approach to manage Maputo’s urban water system poses challenges and opportunities with respect to governance. There are multiple water uses in the city’ and the reality is dynamic and complex. However, recent government reforms and interventions with support from international donors in the water sector, water interventions are designed and implemented responding to a single purpose: water supply and sanitation. In a city facing a freshwater shortage, leading to water competition and public health hazards, and also a factor of social inequities in its urban development, it is essential to recognize the multiplicity of water uses in policies and regulations. It is equally important to understand the effects this multiple-use complexity has on practices and human development of the inhabitants of the city’s different neighborhoods. The conception of water as a resource with multiple uses implies recognizing the needs and knowledge that already exist in the interventions’ target communities for the design of integrated water and sanitation policies that favor a truly integrated and inclusive urban development.

Structure:

Rights-Based Freshwater Governance for the Twenty-First Century: Beyond an Exclusionary Focus on Domestic Water Uses. Barbara van Kopen (IWMI) [20 min]
Challenges and opportunities to institutionalize water reuse in Mozambique: a review of current policies in the water and sanitation sector. Adriano Biza (Universidade Eduardo Mondlane/IHE Delft) [15 min]
The case of Infulene Valley as an example of the impossibility to look at sanitation and domestic uses of water separated from water reclamation and fresh water use for irrigation in urban agriculture in the bigger picture of Maputo’s urban development. Natalia Tejada (IHE Delft) [15 min]
Q&A