First Regional Workshop on Lake Victoria Basin Water Information System (LVB-WIS) takes place in Nairobi, Kenya

Water resources and information management experts from East African Community Partner States of Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, and representatives of KfW, GIZ, NBI and LVBC took part in a three-day consultative workshop from 22- 24 June in Nairobi, Kenya. The aim was to explore the functional design, possible modelling tools, and data and information sharing requirements for a Regional Water Information System (WIS) being established at the LVBC.

 

The highly interactive event was hosted by LVBC under the framework of the Lake Victoria Basin Integrated Water Resources Management Programme co-funded by KfW and the EU. Topics for discussion included water information system functions, modelling and data needs, institutional setting and capacity development.

 

Isaac Nyarwaya, speaking on behalf of the LVBC Executive Secretary emphasised the importance of the LVB-WIS in an era where there is an increasing need for and access to information to guide evidence-based decision making.

 

Anne Marie Ran of KfW reinforced the need for the WIS not only to demonstrate value addition in responding to Partner State interests but also to answer key questions regarding investment decisions targeted to reducing pollution within the Lake.

Participants of the workshop visited the Headquarters of the Water Resources Authority (WRA) in Nairobi to appreciate the WRA data management system. Experiences from other Partner States were extensively shared.

 

The workshop ended with valuable recommendations including (i) enhancing cooperation with NBI; (ii) inclusion of groundwater data and modelling into the system; (iii) Partner States and LVBC to jointly develop the State of the Basin Report; (iv) development of, as much as possible, automated data sharing mechanisms; and (v) the establishment of an institutional setup for the LVB-WIScomprising the WIS-team at LBVC, a Sectoral Committee on WRM as guided by the LVBC Protocol, as well as Technical Working Groups.

 

IMAGE: Representatives from Partner States, GIZ, LVBC and the LVB IWRMP took part in a consultative workshop on the establishment of the LVB - WIS

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