An Assignment in Africa Connects Forests, Water, and People
In the east-central African country of Rwanda, people primarily rely on surface water for drinking, hydroelectric power, and irrigation for subsistence and export crops grown across 70 percent of Rwanda’s land. “Water is critical to the security and well-being of any country regardless of the country’s wealth, but water is everything to the people of Rwanda,” says Eastern Threat Center research ecologist Steve McNulty. In 2011, McNulty and Center researchers Ge Sun and Erika (Cohen) Mack collaborated with the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Rwanda Agricultural Board to perform a rapid assessment of Rwanda’s water resources using the Water Supply Stress Index (WaSSI) model, now described in a recently published case study. Rwandan officials received the assessment results and now have the ability to use WaSSI themselves to see how changes in land cover, leaf area, and current and future climate can affect runoff and surface water supplies for watersheds and sectors across the country. Read more in CompassLive...
