Your search found 13 records
1 IWMI. (Comp.) 2006. IDIS basin kit, Limpopo Basin, V1.0. Colombo, Sri Lanka: IWMI. 1 DVD.
(Location: IWMI-HQ Call no: DVD Col Record No: H038920)
2 Basima, L. B.; Senzanje, A.; Marshall, B.; Shick, K. 2006. Impacts of land and water use on plankton diversity and water quality in small man-made reservoirs in the Limpopo Basin, Zimbabwe: a preliminary investigation. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, 31:821-831.
Water resource management ; River basins ; Plankton ; Zooplankton ; Reservoirs ; Water quality ; Land use / Zimbabwe / Limpopo Basin / Mzingwane Catchment
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: P 7923 Record No: H040220)
3 Ahmad, Mobin-ud-Din; Magagula, Thulani F.; Love, D.; Kongo, V.; Mul, M. L.; Kinoti, Jeniffer. 2005. Estimating actual evapotranspiration through remote sensing techniques to improve agricultural water management: A case study in the transboundary Olifants Catchment in the Limpopo Basin, South Africa. In 6th WaterNet/WARFSA/GWP Annual Symposium, Ezulwini, Swaziland, 1-4 November 2005.Theme 5: Water use in irrigated agriculture, challenges and opportunities in Southern Africa. 21p.
Evapotranspiration ; Remote sensing ; Models ; River basins ; Water allocation ; Irrigated farming / South Africa / Limpopo Basin / Olifants Catchment / Mpumalanga Province / Chókwè District
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: 551.572 G178 AHM Record No: H040786)
This paper describes a case study that uses a remote sensing technique, the Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) to assess actual evapotranspiration across a range of land uses in the middle part of the Olifants Basin in South Africa.. SEBAL enables the estimation of pixel scale ETa using red, near infrared and thermal bands from satellite sensors supported by ground-based measurements of wind speed, humidity, solar radiation and air temperature. The Olifants River system, although supplying downstream users in Mpumalanga Province (South Africa) and Chókwè District (Mozambique), is over-committed, principally for irrigation, in the upper reaches. herefore, quantification of evapotranspiration from irrigated lands is very useful to monitor respect of compliance in water allocations and sharing of benefits among different users. A Landsat7 ETM+ image, path 170 row 077, was acquired on 7 January 2002, during the rainy season and was used for this analysis. The target area contains diverse land uses, including rainfed agriculture, irrigated agriculture (centre pivot, sprinkler and drip irrigation systems), orchards and rangelands. Commercial farming rainfed and irrigated agriculture) is one of the main economic activities in the area. SEBAL ETa estimates vary from 0 to 10 mm/day over the image. Lowest ETa was observed for barren/fallow fields and highest for open water bodies. ETa for vegetative areas ranges 3 to 9 mm/day but irrigated areas, using central pivot, drip and sprinkler systems, appear to evaporate with a higher rate: 6 and 9 mm/day. Penman-Monteith reference crop evapotranspiration ET0 on the same day was found to be 7 mm/day. This indicates that these irrigated areas have no water stress and potential yields can be achieved provided there is no nutrient deficiency. The major finding is that SEBAL results showed that 24% of ETa is from agricultural use, compared to 75% from nonagricultural land use classes(predominantly forest) and only 1% from water bodies. Although irrigation accounts for roughly half of diverted streamflow in the basin, it contributes only about 4% of basin-scale daily ETa at the time of assessment.
4 Leary, N.; Adejuwon, J.; Barros, V.; Burton, I.; Kulkarni, J.; Lasco, R. (Eds.) 2008. Climate change and adaptation. London, UK: Earthscan. 381p.
Climate change ; Risks ; Forecasting ; Biodiversity ; Water resource management ; Models ; River basins ; Watersheds ; Flooding ; Institutions ; Malaria ; Cholera ; Waterborne diseases ; Drought ; Cereals ; Irrigated farming ; Households ; Fisheries / Africa / Caribbean / South America / Botswana / Sudan / Gambia / Nigeria / Tunisia / Egypt / Mongolia / China / Philippines / Argentina / Mexico / Limpopo Basin / Lake Victoria / Heihe River / Lower Mekong River Basin / Rio de la Plata
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: 304.25 G000 LEA Record No: H040836)
5 Dube, O. P.; Sekhwela, B. M. 2008. Indigenous knowledge, institutions and practices for coping with variable climate in the Limpopo Basin of Botswana. In Leary, N.; Adejuwon, J.; Barros, V.; Burton, I.; Kulkarni, J.; Lasco, R. (Eds.). Climate change and adaptation. London, UK: Earthscan. pp.71-89.
Climate change ; River basins ; Natural resources management ; Drought ; Rural communities ; Villages ; Poverty ; Income generation ; Livestock ; Rural development ; State intervention ; Public policy ; Rural economy / Botswana / Limpopo Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: 304.25 G000 LEA Record No: H040838)
6 Senzanje, A.; Boelee, Eline; Rusere, S. 2008. Multiple use of water and water productivity of communal small dams in the Limpopo Basin, Zimbabwe. Irrigation and Drainage Systems, 22:225-237.
Water use ; Multiple use ; Water productivity ; Participatory management ; Social participation ; Dams ; River basins / Zimbabwe / Limpopo Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: PER Record No: H041677)
(0.24 MB)
The history of dam construction in Zimbabwe dates back to the 1920s and since then over 7,000 small dams have been constructed countrywide. Small dams are multipurpose structures used for improving rural livelihoods. The multipurpose nature of these dams has largely gone unquantified in terms of importance of the uses to the community and influence of management practises. The current study made use of a questionnaire among small dam users, key informant interviews, secondary data and observation on four communal dams in the Limpopo basin to establish the uses, volume of water abstracted and water productivity for some uses and the interrelationship between various organisations and the community in the management of small dams. Uses on all dams in order of importance were livestock watering, domestic use, irrigation, fishing, brick making, and collection of reeds used for roofing. Livestock consume on average over 70% of water for consumptive uses. Water productivity in terms of yield per volume unit of water used ranged from 0.025 kg m-3 for vegetables to 7,575 kg m-3 for bricks, and monetary values per volume unit of water used were Z$ 389,434 m-3 for brick making and Z$ 1,874 m-3 for irrigation. Traditional leadership and the community are pivotal in the management of the small dams, with some organisations giving technical, financial and input assistance. The management and conservation of small dams needs to be well coordinated between the communities, NGOs and government if the full benefits of these national resources are to be realised in the long term.
7 Woolley, Jonathan; Harrington, Larry; Huber-Lee, Annette; Douthwaite, Boru; Geheb, Kim; Vidal, Alain; George, Pamela; Nguyen Khoa, Sophie. 2009. Integrated food and water research for development. In Chartres, Colin (Ed.). Words into action: delegate publication for the 5th World Water Forum, Istanbul, Turkey, 16-22 March 2009. London, UK: Faircount Media Group. pp.84-88.
Water use ; Water security ; Water scarcity ; Water productivity ; River basins ; Reservoirs ; Cropping systems ; Livestock ; Research projects / Ethiopia / South Africa / Limpopo Basin / Nile Basin / Volta Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI 333.9162 G635 SAL Record No: H042189)
(1.03 MB)
8 Ncube, B.; Magombeyi, M.; Munguambe, P.; Mupangwa, W.; Love, D. 2009. Methodologies and case studies for investigating upstream-downstream interactions of rainwater water harvesting in the Limpopo Basin. In Humphreys, E.; Bayot, R. S. (Eds.). Increasing the productivity and sustainability of rainfed cropping systems of poor smallholder farmers: proceedings of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food, International Workshop on Rainfed Cropping Systems, Tamale, Ghana, 22-25 September 2008. Colombo, Sri Lanka: CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food. pp.209-221.
Water harvesting ; Models ; Supplemental irrigation ; River basins / South Africa / Mozambique / Zimbabwe / Limpopo Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: 631 G000 HUM Record No: H042441)
(8.92MB)
Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is a promising technology for increasing water availability for crop production of smallholder farmers in the semi-arid regions of the Limpopo Basin. A few studies on rainwater harvesting have been conducted in the basin at small plot and farmer field scales. Results from Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa indicate substantial benefits to crops grown using a range of rainwater harvesting techniques. However, there have been no catchment and basin level studies to investigate the impacts of wide scale adoption at these levels. A methodology flow chart is proposed for systematically investigating the impacts of out-scaling of these in-field and ex-field rainwater harvesting techniques. The method proposes an analysis of levels of adoption to help identify optimum levels that will maximize land and water productivity while minimizing negative hydrological and ecological impacts at catchment or basin scales.
9 Moalafhi, D. B.; Sharma, A.; Evans, J. P. 2017. Reconstructing hydro-climatological data using dynamical downscaling of reanalysis products in data-sparse regions - application to the Limpopo Catchment in southern Africa. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 12:378-395. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2017.07.001]
Hydroclimatology ; Climatic data ; Models ; Simulation ; Meteorological observations ; Precipitation ; Temperature ; Arid climate ; Catchment areas ; River basins / Southern Africa / Limpopo Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H048295)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581817302537/pdfft?md5=b8200e131bda5cfd71db88e4288c6253&pid=1-s2.0-S2214581817302537-main.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H048295.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H048295.pdf
(2.28 MB) (2.28 MB)
This study is conducted over the data-poor Limpopo basin centered over southern Africa using reanalysis downscaled to useful resolution.
Reanalysis products are of limited value in hydrological applications due to the coarse spatial scales they are available at. Dynamical downscaling of these products over a domain of interest offers a means to convert them to finer spatial scales in a dynamically consistent manner. Additionally, this downscaling also offers a way to resolve dominantatmospheric processes, leading to improved accuracy in the atmospheric variables derived. This study thus evaluates high-resolution downscaling of an objectively chosen reanalysis (ERA-I) over the Limpopo basin using Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) as a regional climate model.
The model generally under-estimates temperature and over-estimates precipitation over the basin, although reasonably consistent with observations. The model does well in simulating observed sustained hydrological extremes as assessed using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) although it consistently under-estimates the severity ofmoisture deficit for the wettest part of the year during the dry years. The basin's aridity index (I) is above the severe drought threshold during summer and is more severe in autumn. This practically restricts rain-fed agriculture to around 3 months in a year over the basin. This study presents possible beneficial use of the downscaled simulations foroptimal hydrologic design and water resources planning in data scarce parts of the world.
Reanalysis products are of limited value in hydrological applications due to the coarse spatial scales they are available at. Dynamical downscaling of these products over a domain of interest offers a means to convert them to finer spatial scales in a dynamically consistent manner. Additionally, this downscaling also offers a way to resolve dominantatmospheric processes, leading to improved accuracy in the atmospheric variables derived. This study thus evaluates high-resolution downscaling of an objectively chosen reanalysis (ERA-I) over the Limpopo basin using Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) as a regional climate model.
The model generally under-estimates temperature and over-estimates precipitation over the basin, although reasonably consistent with observations. The model does well in simulating observed sustained hydrological extremes as assessed using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) although it consistently under-estimates the severity ofmoisture deficit for the wettest part of the year during the dry years. The basin's aridity index (I) is above the severe drought threshold during summer and is more severe in autumn. This practically restricts rain-fed agriculture to around 3 months in a year over the basin. This study presents possible beneficial use of the downscaled simulations foroptimal hydrologic design and water resources planning in data scarce parts of the world.
10 Kolusu, S. R.; Shamsudduha, M.; Todd, M. C.; Taylor, R. G.; Seddon, D.; Kashaigili, J. J.; Ebrahim, Girma Y.; Cuthbert, M. O.; Sorensen, J. P. R.; Villholth, Karen G.; MacDonald, A. M.; MacLeod, D. A. 2019. The El Nino event of 2015-2016: climate anomalies and their impact on groundwater resources in East and Southern Africa. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 23: 1751-1762. [doi: https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-1751-2019]
El Nino ; Groundwater management ; Water resources ; Water storage ; Climate change ; Rainfall ; Drought ; Water balance ; Water levels ; Surface water ; Precipitation ; Evapotranspiration ; Satellite imagery ; Satellite observation / East Africa / SouthernAfrica / Limpopo Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H049164)
https://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/23/1751/2019/hess-23-1751-2019.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H049164.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H049164.pdf
(2.80 MB)
The impact of climate variability on groundwater storage has received limited attention despite widespread dependence on groundwater as a resource for drinking water, agriculture and industry. Here, we assess the climate anomalies that occurred over Southern Africa (SA) and East Africa, south of the Equator (EASE), during the major El Niño event of 2015–2016, and their associated impacts on groundwater storage, across scales, through analysis of in situ groundwater piezometry and Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite data. At the continental scale, the El Niño of 2015–2016 was associated with a pronounced dipole of opposing rainfall anomalies over EASE and Southern Africa, north–south of ~12° S, a characteristic pattern of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Over Southern Africa the most intense drought event in the historical record occurred, based on an analysis of the cross-scale areal intensity of surface water balance anomalies (as represented by the standardised precipitation evapotranspiration index – SPEI), with an estimated return period of at least 200 years and a best estimate of 260 years. Climate risks are changing, and we estimate that anthropogenic warming only (ignoring changes to other climate variables, e.g. precipitation) has approximately doubled the risk of such an extreme SPEI drought event. These surface water balance deficits suppressed groundwater recharge, leading to a substantial groundwater storage decline indicated by both GRACE satellite and piezometric data in the Limpopo basin. Conversely, over EASE during the 2015–2016 El Niño event, anomalously wet conditions were observed with an estimated return period of ~10 years, likely moderated by the absence of a strongly positive Indian Ocean zonal mode phase. The strong but not extreme rainy season increased groundwater storage, as shown by satellite GRACE data and rising groundwater levels observed at a site in central Tanzania. We note substantial uncertainties in separating groundwater from total water storage in GRACE data and show that consistency between GRACE and piezometric estimates of groundwater storage is apparent when spatial averaging scales are comparable. These results have implications for sustainable and climate-resilient groundwater resource management, including the potential for adaptive strategies, such as managed aquifer recharge during episodic recharge events.
11 Uhlenbrook, Stefan; Ringler, C.; Lautze, Jonathan; McCartney, Matthew; Hafeez, Mohsin. 2022. On the role of water resources management to transform water, energy, food and ecosystem (WEFE) systems in transboundary river basins [Abstract only]. Paper presented at the IAHS-AISH Scientific Assembly 2022, Montpellier, France, 29 May-3 June 2022. 1p. [doi: https://doi.org/10.5194/iahs2022-463]
Transboundary waters ; River basins ; Water resources ; Water management ; Energy ; Foods ; Ecosystems ; Nexus approaches / East Africa / Southern Africa / Central Asia / South Asia / Blue Nile Basin / Limpopo Basin / Aral Sea Basin / Ganges Basin / Indus Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051440)
https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/IAHS2022/IAHS2022-463.html?pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051440.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051440.pdf
(0.10 MB) (96.8 KB)
12 Dickens, Chris; Whitney, C.; Luedeling, E.; Dlamini, V.; O'Brien, G.; Greffiths, Ikhothatseng Jacob. 2023. Environmental flows in support of sustainable intensification of agriculture in the Letaba River Basin, South Africa. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 51p. (IWMI Working Paper 205) [doi: https://doi.org/10.5337/2022.226]
Environmental flows ; Sustainable agriculture ; Sustainable intensification ; Small-scale farming ; Livelihoods ; River basins ; Water resources ; Water management ; Water availability ; Water demand ; Irrigation water ; Irrigated farming ; Subsistence farming ; Crop water use ; Water requirements ; Crop yield ; Ecosystem services ; River flow ; Catchment areas ; Fishing ; Livestock ; Smallholders ; Farmers ; Gender ; Women ; Risk ; Rural communities ; Policies ; Food security ; Sustainable Development Goals ; Water rights ; Land rights ; Modelling / South Africa / Letaba River Basin / Limpopo Basin / Prieska / Mahale / Ga-Selwane
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI Record No: H052105)
(2.47 MB)
This study evaluates the socioecological consequences of the potential trade-offs between maintaining environmental flows (e-flows) and providing water for sustainable subsistence agriculture and livelihoods to the vulnerable human communities living along the lower Great Letaba River in South Africa. Implementation of e-flows is now generally recognized as an essential part of water resources management as they are designed to ensure that sufficient water is retained in a river to protect river ecosystems and all the beneficiaries of services that arise from those ecosystems. Understanding the relationship between e-flows and the use of water for small-scale agriculture is important for the management of trade-offs.
The Letaba River Basin and it's tributary, the Great/Groot Letaba, are located in the eastern part of the Limpopo province in South Africa. This is one of the most important river basins in the region supporting both large-scale commercial and small-scale farmers. The river sustains many vulnerable human communities who depend on the ecosystem services provided by the river. Yet, the water resources of the Letaba River are heavily overutilized due to expanding developments, including upstream dams with associated offtakes mostly for irrigation.
The findings of the study indicate that irrigation water demand from subsistence agriculture in the Great Letaba Basin amounted to around 2 million cubic meters annually with median demand not exceeding 300,000 cubic meters per month. This means that irrigation water demand from smallholder agriculture only amounts to about one-tenth of the estimated e-flow requirement. However, small-scale farmers contend with an increasing crop water gap which limits irrigated agriculture, especially during the dry season. Given the need to sustainably maintain e-flows for ecological purposes, crop water gaps are only likely to increase and compromise the sustainability of irrigated agriculture. With active upstream supplementation of river flows from dams to maintain both environmental and livelihoods-oriented river flows, the crop water gap can be fully eliminated. This supplementation is not assured due to competing uses.
The Letaba River Basin and it's tributary, the Great/Groot Letaba, are located in the eastern part of the Limpopo province in South Africa. This is one of the most important river basins in the region supporting both large-scale commercial and small-scale farmers. The river sustains many vulnerable human communities who depend on the ecosystem services provided by the river. Yet, the water resources of the Letaba River are heavily overutilized due to expanding developments, including upstream dams with associated offtakes mostly for irrigation.
The findings of the study indicate that irrigation water demand from subsistence agriculture in the Great Letaba Basin amounted to around 2 million cubic meters annually with median demand not exceeding 300,000 cubic meters per month. This means that irrigation water demand from smallholder agriculture only amounts to about one-tenth of the estimated e-flow requirement. However, small-scale farmers contend with an increasing crop water gap which limits irrigated agriculture, especially during the dry season. Given the need to sustainably maintain e-flows for ecological purposes, crop water gaps are only likely to increase and compromise the sustainability of irrigated agriculture. With active upstream supplementation of river flows from dams to maintain both environmental and livelihoods-oriented river flows, the crop water gap can be fully eliminated. This supplementation is not assured due to competing uses.
13 CGIAR Initiative on NEXUS Gains. 2023. Initiative overview. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). CGIAR Initiative on NEXUS Gains. 12p.
Water security ; Energy security ; Agrifood systems ; Nexus approaches ; Food security ; Water resources ; Water management ; Sustainability ; Transformation ; Nutrition security ; Transboundary waters ; Water productivity ; Water storage ; River basins ; Ecosystems ; Biodiversity ; Innovation ; Governance ; Capacity development ; Women / Central Asia / South Asia / East Africa / Southern Africa / Aral Sea Basin / Ganges Basin / Indus Basin / Blue Nile Basin / Limpopo Basin / Incomati Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052471)
(5.90 MB)
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