Kalugendo, Praxeda Paul Hydropower and Water Resources Management in Pangani River Basin, Tanzania M.Sc. in Hydropower Development, NTNU Subject code(s): 830 Construction technology Abstract: (maximum 450 words) The Pangani river basin in Tanzania is one of the most important rivers in the country. The river is the major source for hydropower generation, and also provides water to large and small irrigation projects of vital importance of the economy. The basin is located in the north eastern side of the country and water use in irrigation projects is increasing as the population in the Kilimanjaro foothills is increasing rapidly. Different water users in the basin are competing resulting an ever increasing pressure on the using the limited water resource. This study is one of several studies within hydrology conducted on the water management of the Pangani River basin to establish the relationship between land use and runoff response, to find out methods to balance between competing water users. Revision of previous studies on hydrology, hydropower and water management in the catchment was made to understand the background. Statistical analysis for the obtained historical information on precipitation, river discharge and power production were performed to identify the trend on these parameters as the time went on. The aim was to find out if there is trend increase or decrease in the above said parameters and their relationship into the water resource diminishing. Long term data series for precipitation, river flow and power production were sought in order to have a sound scientific concluding remarks. Unfortunately, very few data with long time record was available for the study and the year differences in time series for the three parameters was unavoidable. The hydrological analysis conducted showed that there is no remarkable precipitation decrease for the 20 to 60 observation years time. Common trend of increase or decrease of precipitation was noted during the analysis, and it was repeating after eight to ten years of observation. In some data series of river flows, the trends showed more or less peaks and lows following the precipitation trends. The power production trend followed the river flow trend. During the study, the hydropower simulation was conducted using the nMAG model program to verify if the simulated production is compatible with the observed production. Here unfortunately, the data period for observed production was too short to give reliable concluding remarks, although the obtained simulation results from Nyumba ya Mungu Power plant gave almost the same values as the observed production. More study on the possible cause of water resource diminishing is required, and it should be done in combination with all activities conducted in the basin related to water resource usage. Improvement of methods of attaining and storage of good and reliable information for water availability and usage should be made. This probably will give a good result, and the possible solution for water management of the basin will be obtained.
Author’s nationality: Tanzania
Ref.29-2004
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