The Rwanda Water Resources Board (RWB) is completing construction of the Sebeya dam in the Rubavu district. The dam will hold back the overflow of floodwater from the Sebeya river, which is responsible for flooding in several districts.
The devastating floods in the districts of Rubavu, Rutsiro, Nyabihu and Ngororero should be alleviated thanks to the new dam built on the Sebeya river in Rwanda. The Rwandan Water Resources Board (RWB) announced the completion of the dam on 10 July 2023, after two years of work. It is one of two dams planned by the RWB as part of the Landscape Restoration and Integrated Water Resources Management project in Sebeya and other catchment areas, launched in 2019.
Recent flooding caused by high water on the Sebeya river is said to have resulted in the destruction of 5,963 homes and the displacement of 20,326 people. Climate change is also causing soil erosion, accelerating food insecurity through the destruction of plantations, intensifying water shortages due to the destruction of drinking water production facilities, and power cuts due to the destruction of hydroelectric infrastructure.
Safeguarding 18,000 hectares of land
By retaining rainwater, the Sebeya dam will help to restore the landscape. This is necessary in order to safeguard around 18,000 hectares of land that is currently under threat in the four catchment areas of the Sebeya river. The river rises in the mountains of the Rutsiro district, along the watershed between the Nile and the Congo, in western Rwanda.
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The aim is also to improve livelihoods and natural resource management in Sebeya and halt erosion. The second flood retention dam currently under construction will require an investment of some 7.5 billion Rwandan francs, or around €5.8 million. The funding will be deducted from the overall budget for the Landscape Restoration and Integrated Water Resources Management project in Sebeya and other catchment areas, which amounts to 10 billion Rwandan francs (nearly €7.7 million) financed by the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The project also includes the digging of trenches and reforestation around the Sebeya river. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) are working with the RWB to implement the project.
Inès Magoum
