Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction into Sustainable National Water Resources Development Programmes

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Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction into
Sustainable National Water Resources Development
Programmes

• D. Bashir and M. Garba
• National Water Resources Institute, Kaduna

Presentation at the Conference of Chief
Executives and Heads of Disaster Management
Organizations in Nigeria, held at Rockview Hotel,
Abuja on 21-22 August, 2007
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Outline of Presentation

• Introduction
• Factors Affecting Disaster Impacts
• Impacts of Climate Change
• Disaster Risk Reduction
• Vulnerability to Disasters
• Vulnerability to Water Related Disasters
• Challenges to Water Resources Management in
  Nigeria
• National Approach to Reduction of WRM Related
  Disasters
• Integrating DRR Concerns into IWRM
• Framework for Mainstreaming DRR
• Constraints to DRR Programs
• Recommendations

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Introduction

• Disaster is a serious disruption of the
  functioning of a community or a society causing
  widespread human, material, economic and/or
  environmental losses which exceeds the ability of
  the affected community or society to cope using
  its own resources (UN-ISDR, 2002)

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Introduction

• DFID characterized disaster to include
• death toll
• traumatized population (through injury,
  homelessness, loss of livelihoods)
• environmental and economic impacts that
  overwhelmed the coping capacity of the affected
  people)

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Introduction

• Disaster, as a result of water related hazards,
  impact on people in a variety of ways leading to
  jeopardizing human security and hampering
  socio-economic activities.

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Factors Affecting Disaster Impacts

• Impacts of disasters are exacerbated by a number
  of factors that include
• poor land-use planning,
• population growth,
• environmental mismanagement,
• increasing levels of vulnerability,
• poor planning,
• poor governance,
• climate change,
• lack of regulatory mechanisms,
• corruption

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Impacts of Climate Change

• Water related hazards are likely to get worse in
  this century due to climate change
• IPCC estimated the impact of global warming and
  predicted that
• "Drought-affected areas will likely increase in
  extent
• Heavy precipitation events, which are very likely
  to increase in frequency, will augment flood
  risk."

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Impacts of Climate Change

• Using historical data (1960-2002), Wheeler (2007)
  constructed a weighted human risk measure to
  obtain an index of human flood damage risk in
  each country.
• He also developed a physical flood risk index by
  dividing the total number of severe floods from
  1960-2002 by population in 1980.
• Using these indices and development status based
  on the World Bank's per-capita income categories
  he developed the relationship between dev. status
  and physical and human flood risks respectively

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Concepts and Definitions

• Disaster risk reduction (DRR) is the systematic
  development and application of policies,
  strategies and practices to minimize
  vulnerabilities and disaster risks throughout a
  society, and to avoid (prevention) or to limit
  (mitigation and preparedness) the adverse impact
  of hazards, within the broad context of
  sustainable development (UN-ISDR, 2002).
• Sustainable water resources development implies
  water resources utilization with adequate
  conservation effort.

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Disaster Risk Reduction

• Disaster risk reduction (DRR) becoming prominent
  on the policy agenda of countries
• The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have
  stressed the need for closer interaction between
  disaster risk reduction and sustainable
  development to speed up the attainment of poverty
  eradication and the creation of sustainable
  environment
• Effectiveness of DRR strategy in water resources
  dev. Programs is dependant on integrated approach
  to disaster management
• A sound DRR policy should aim at realizing the
  major objectives of sustainable development
  through reducing the burden of disasters on the
  environment, the poor and most vulnerable

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Vulnerability to Disasters

• Vulnerability results from peoples exposure to
  hazard and their susceptibility to hazard impacts
• It reflects social, economic, political,
  psychological and environmental variables
• It can also be defined as lack of capacity to
  anticipate, cope with, resist and recover from
  hazard impacts

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Vulnerability to Water Related Disasters

• Socio-economic conditions
• Poverty,
• Demographic pressures,
• Urbanization,
• Technological level,
• Alternative livelihoods,
• Behavioral challenges.
• Governance
• Government policies,
• Capacity and willingness of the national treasury
  to provide adequate funds,
• Regulatory framework enforcement mechanisms,
• Fragmented institutional structures.

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Vulnerability to Water Related Disasters

• Resources utilization
• poor environmental planning,
• land use other natural resource management
  practices,
• water use trends,
• environmental degradation.
• Awareness
• environmental awareness,
• level of understanding of risk and vulnerability,
• effectiveness of public awareness programmes.
• Monitoring and evaluation
• monitoring, forecasting and early warning
  capacities,
• imbalance between prevention response
  resources,
• database on environmental problems and disasters.

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Challenges to Water Resources Management in
Nigeria

• Major challenges arise from inadequate catchment
  management resulting in
• devastating erosion,
• perennial flooding,
• recurring drought,
• increasing desertification,

• These, in many cases, have reached alarming
  proportions enough to be classified as disasters

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Challenges to Water Resources Management in
Nigeria
About 10 of the countrys land mass is under
severe erosion problems with more than 50 of the
affected areas concentrated in the southeastern
Nigeria
"According to credible reports, Anambra, Abia,
Imo, Enugu and Ebonyi States have over 750, 650,
500, 400 and 250 major erosion sites
respectively. This gully census is conservative
and incomplete since smaller and young gullies
were not enumerated. These younger gullies shall
ultimately mature within next year and pose as
serious a hazard as older ones" Egboka (2006)
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Challenges to Water Resources Management in
Nigeria
Every year floods in various parts of Nigeria
have been reported to cause the death of many
people, forced thousands of people from their
homes, and destroyed scores of houses and many
social infrastructures such as schools, roads and
bridges
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Challenges to Water Resources Management in
Nigeria
State Location Destruction
Lagos Kosefe District and Ikorodu 6 dead 200 buildings destroyed 4,000 people displaced
Ogun Abeokuta 400 houses flooded 1,000 people displaced
Taraba Jalingo Bridge over R. Jalingo collapsed Over 12 people dead 50 houses washed away 3,000 people displaced
Sokoto Sokoto, Shagari/Tureta Road, Sokoto/Gusau Road, Giyawa Village 5 people crushed, 2 dead Shagari/Tureta Road submerged Sokoto-Gusau highway cut off 30 houses destroyed
Plateau Wase LGA 10 communities affected 19 people dead 50 houses washed away 3,000 people displaced
In the weekend of 3rd to 5th August, 2007, some
of the reported devastating floods include
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Challenges to Water Resources Management in
Nigeria

• Some extreme cases of drinking water quality
  problems in a number of locations in Nigeria have
  been reported (Ince et al., 2006)
• high nitrate concentrations in Plateau (246.4
  mg/l), Adamawa (149.6 mg/l), Oyo (88.0 mg/l),
  Kebbi (88.0 mg/l) and Benue (88.0 mg/l) States.
  These are far above the WHO GL (50 mg/l) and may
  results in child mortality
• high fluoride concentrations (gt WHO GL of 1.5
  mg/l) in Yobe (22 mg/l), Plateau (10.5 mg/l) and
  Oyo (7.5 mg/l) States which may cause dental and
  skeletal flourosis that cause deformation and
  disability in susceptible individuals
• Very low pH values were recorded in Plateau (3.6)
  and Lagos (3.7) States. These acidic waters, if
  consumed, will cause persistent stomach upset
  problems
• Very low quality of water supplied by public
  water agencies with national compliance for
  turbidity of utility pipe water of only 55,
  thermotolerant coliforms (TTC) of 77 and faecal
  streptococci (FS) of 75. These indicate serious
  concern for public health.

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National Approach to Reduction of WRM Related
Disasters

• Draft National Water Policy
• seeks to improve on the nations water resources
  management including the management of
  hydrological risks and vulnerabilities,
• Is deficient on strategies on how to prevent such
  hazards/disasters
• Emphasized for the assessment of water resources
  is to improve real time forecasting of
  hydrological phenomena

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National Approach to Reduction of WRM Related
Disasters

• National Erosion and Flood Control Policy
• is aimed at ensuring co-ordinated and systematic
  measures in the management and control of the
  hazards of erosion and floods.
• encourages participatory approach towards
  reducing the impact on people and the environment
  in an integrated manner by
• Evolving a mechanism for forecasting, monitoring
  and control of erosion and floods.
• Reviewing the land use laws and regulations.
• Creating public awareness to encourage
  participation.
• Promoting and strengthening training at all
  levels in erosion and flood prevention,
  management and control.
• Protection of the marginal lands by limiting
  utilization to their carrying capacity.
• Subjecting resources users and developers to
  guidelines in order to reduce the vulnerability
  of the environment to disaster.
• Providing early warning systems to avert the
  escalation of flood and erosion hazards.

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National Approach to Reduction of WRM Related
Disasters

• To implement the National Erosion and Flood
  Control Policy, an Action Plan was developed to
  achieve the following
• Involvement of all stakeholders in the prevention
  and management of erosion and flood
• Coordinated participation of other tiers of
  government in service delivery for erosion and
  flood control
• Creation of efficient institutional arrangements
  and legal framework for erosion and flood
  management and
• Sustainable funding mechanism for effective
  erosion and flood management.

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National Approach to Reduction of WRM Related
Disasters

• To regulate soil and water management activities
  Technical Guidelines were produced to provide
  necessary instructions to guide all aspects of
• planning and location,
• design features,
• construction practice,
• maintenance,
• research and development
• for
• Inland erosion control,
• Flood control,
• Watershed management,
• Coastal zone management, and
• Dams and reservoirs.

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Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM)

• IWRM is a process that promotes the coordinated
  development and management of water, land and
  related resources, in order to maximize the
  resultant economic and social welfare in an
  equitable way without compromising the
  sustainability of the vital ecosystems.
• IWRM is characterized by the following approaches
  that will ensure a reasonable reduction in
  minimizing disaster or its impacts
• integrated,
• management,
• stakeholder,
• partnership,
• balanced sustainable approach

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Integrating DRR Concerns into IWRM

• For effective integration of disaster risk
  reduction concerns into IWRM and related
  development policies, there is the need for
  effective institutional strengthening that
  involves
• Strengthening appropriate legal frameworks based
  on risk management strategies with due
  consideration to the development processes
• Informed decision making based on sound
  scientific knowledge, as well as local indigenous
  knowledge
• Using tried and tested techniques, and evaluating
  any promising innovations
• An information base which supports planning and a
  proactive response to disaster mitigation and
  reduction

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Integrating DRR Concerns into IWRM

1. Participatory and transparent approach which
   includes a representative range of stakeholders
   in the decision making process
2. Regional and sub-regional approaches, strategies
   and cooperation arrangements for a harmonized
   approach
3. Partnerships among different levels of
   Government, civil society, private sector groups
   and communities
4. Decentralized decision-making through local
   authorities and basin committees, including the
   provision of adequate resources and clarify
   division of responsibilities at various levels
5. Effective policies to regulate further growth of
   human settlements in risky areas including
   appropriate economic policies, such as fiscal
   incentives for orientation of economic activities
   away from disaster-prone areas

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Framework for Mainstreaming DRR

• Mainstreaming DRR should aim at building
  partnerships and collaboration between
  stakeholders. Strategies to achieve these include
  the following
• Develop a system of Indicators to assess disaster
  risk and develop an assessment methodology to
  measure key water related risk elements across
  all the States.
• Determine vulnerability to natural hazard events
  and the performance of different disaster risk
  management policies and tools where available.
• Produce a risk model to be used as a tool to
  focus attention on risk in order to stimulate
  actions to reduce risks in disaster prone areas.
• Design and support the implementation of an
  effective water resources data management system.
• Develop a way of capturing progress qualitatively
  and quantitatively, in each thematic area that
  contributes to reduction of identified risks.
• Incorporate risk assessment into development
  project appraisal and in monitoring and
  evaluating the impact of initiatives specifically
  for reducing risk.
• Set up minimum standards to be attained in
  disaster assistance by specifying what people
  affected by disasters have a right to expect from
  humanitarian assistance.

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Constraints to DRR Programs

• Key factors that may constraint the attainment of
  the objectives of DRR program
• Poverty and poor level of basic education among
  the generality of the populace
• High level of corruption
• Perception of politicians and policy makers that
  disaster risk reduction is much less visible than
  emergency response
• Donors and support agencies less willing to fund
  risk reduction compared to their support for
  emergency assistance
• Insignificant attention to and little interest in
  disaster risk reduction by the media
• Low awareness and education on disaster risk
  reduction among NGOs and their tendency to follow
  donor priorities
• Assumption that poverty-focused development will
  automatically reduce disaster risk
• Weak water resources data acquisition and
  management system

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Recommendations

• To institutionalize disaster risk reduction in
  water resources development and management in
  Nigeria, a wide range of strategies and
  activities are required to be carried out in a
  holistic and coordinated approach. To this end,
  we recommend the following
• Promote development of IWRM plans by supporting
  and coordinating the efforts of all water
  resources management stakeholders in this regard.
  As Nigeria is yet to develop its National IWRM
  Plan, there is urgent need to embark on a
  holistic programme of developing IWRM Plans from
  the LGAs to the Federal levels.
• Develop National Systems for Disaster Prevention
  and Response by establishing legal and regulatory
  frameworks and programs that bring together the
  planning agencies, local governments and civil
  society organizations developing national
  strategies for risk reduction, and assessing
  inter-sectoral priorities, backed by adequate
  budgetary provisions.

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Recommendations

• Minimize vulnerability by Supporting and
  empowering poor households and communities to
  reduce their vulnerability to natural hazards and
  enhance their capabilities to recover from
  disasters through reconstruction assistance.
• Involve the private sector by creating conditions
  for the development of insurance markets,
  encouraging the use of other risk-spreading
  financial instruments where appropriate, and
  designing economic and regulatory incentives for
  risk reduction behavior.
• Provide risk information for decision-making by
  establishing an effective national water
  resources data management system. This will
  facilitate evaluating risk assessment
  methodologies, developing indicators of
  vulnerability, and stimulating the production and
  wide dissemination of risk information.
• Foster regional cooperation in the management of
  transboundary water resources by supporting
  regional organizations to promote coordinated
  actions and to mobilize regional and
  international resources for investments in
  disaster risk reduction program.

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THANKS FOR LISTENING