THE incidences of drying dams, broken river flows, reduced ground water recharge and dry taps are not an artist impression but a glaring reality in Zambia.
This is because the national water security is under threat due to various human activities.
Some of the recent human activities that are threatening the commodity include the unregulated sinking of boreholes and diverting the river flow.
I am, however, glad that the Government is in the process of creating a Statutory Instrument that would police the illegal sinking of boreholes.
I just hope that the penalties would be stiffer to deter people from doing wrong things that continue to threat the water system and the environment at large.
My focus today is on the environmental impact of diverting the river flow because this trend is unbecoming and has the potential to further affect the water system and the environment.
Recently, the regulator-Water Resource Management Authority (WARMA) issued a warning against diverting the river flow as the vice had the
potential to impinge on national water security.
WARMA called for urgent steps to overcome the current situation to foster the nation’s water security; whatever those steps are!
The water regulator also observed that the threat to the nation’s water security was exacerbated by the illegal practice of diverting the flow of rivers.
Rivers and creeks have natural patterns of high and low flows, which plants and animals rely on at different times to reproduce and survive.
These patterns are being disrupted by human activity and climate change.
Environmental water releases are designed to emulate natural river flows, and improve the health of waterways for native animals and plants which also makes them better places for the community to enjoy.
According to eHow, a blog, river diversions have proven to be primary destroyers of aquatic habitat, contributing substantially to the destruction of fisheries.
River diversion has contributed to the extinction of species and the overall loss of the ecosystem services on which the human economy depends.
An ecosystem, according the Online Dictionary, is a community of living organisms in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment (things like air, water and mineral soil), interacting as a system.
These biotic and abiotic components are regarded as linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows.
Water diversions cause major environmental disruptions. Altering a natural habitat, even slightly, can cause a cascade of events that harm the entire ecosystem.
Migratory fish and birds are especially vulnerable to habitat loss.
They require two seasonal habitats, in addition to those along their migration routes.
Water diversions change nutrient flow, water flow and water chemistry.
These changes alter the riparian habitat of rivers and streams.
For example, building embankments on the banks of most rivers in Zambia especially lodges and guesthouses is a common phenomenon that has continued to affect the river system.
There are numerous lodges and guest houses that have not observed the 50 meter rule of not building on the banks of the rivers.
Many wetland ecosystems have been completely lost to human development.
Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil, or is present either at or near the surface of the soil all year or for varying periods of time during the year, including during the growing season.
Wetlands in Zambia occupy more than 20 per cent (150 520 km2) of the country’s total area of 752 600 km2.
The broad divisions of wetlands include swamps, floodplains and dambos.
Wetlands provide many ecosystem services such as water quality improvement in watersheds, and carbon retention almost everywhere.
Plants from wetlands help lessen water pollution, absorb some harmful fertilizers and pesticides.
The wetlands like Lukanga Swampa in central province help purify water especially from the Kafue River that carries some heavy metals and toxins from mining companies.
After exiting the Lukanga Swamps, much of that water is purified and this is the water we end up drinking in Lusaka.
So if you disturb the water flow it makes extremely difficult for some migratory birds to find areas to rest and eat as they migrate.
For example Coots build their nests in shallow water sheltered by vegetation and sometimes out in the open.
Coots like to feed on aquatic plants and small animals such as snails and larvae.
Kingfishers are species that build nests in tree hollows or holes in the ground beside a river bank or lake. Therefore, if disturbed with diverting waters, this species would be lost out thus affect the ecosystem.
Habitat for aquatic species is also fragmented by dams, water diversion for drinking water and agricultural irrigation.
Dredging of rivers is another way habitat becomes fragmented.
Fragmented areas are often too small and disconnected to support mammals that need large territories in order to mate and find food.
Aquatic biodiversity has value to humans because it supports and maintains overall environmental health.
Humans depend on aquatic environments for resources such as materials, medicines, and food.
Aquatic organisms depend on biodiversity for materials, food and breeding grounds. When biodiversity is lost, many living things are affected.
Biodiversity is the variety of plant and animal life in the world or in a particular habitat, a high level of which is usually considered to be important and desirable.
There are chances of downstream river bed becoming dry which may cause the river change its course over a period of time.
The spawning or breeding grounds for aquatic species may be affected as a result the population of the species could be affected.
The ground water table in the downstream areas decreases.
Some river diversion projects involve construction of dams which cause water logging problems.
Large areas of lands, forests, settlements get submerged which has a direct impact on wildlife.
The irregular release of water on the main course river bed increases soil erosion in the downstream.
Water diversion from rivers leads to significant changes in river flow regimes, which may have large impacts on ecological water uses of river-dependent ecosystems, such as river, lake, wetland, and ecosystems.
I am sure with the creation of the regulatory authority-WARMA, I am optimistic that the laws would be enforced to secure the most precious commodity.
Let us protect the wetland because of the role they play in the conservation of the environment.
Until  next week, have a blessed week!
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