Gov’t to restore degraded river Kochi catchment

Koboko, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Government has embarked on activities to restore the degraded Kochi River catchment area in the West Nile region.

Kochi River catchment is one of the twelve sub-catchments that form the Albert Nile Catchment in the Upper Nile water management zone. The sub-catchment covers an area of 1640 km2 across Koboko, Yumbe, and Moyo districts.

Over the past years, a large part of tree cover in the catchment areas has been degraded by individuals mainly for charcoal burning and brick making as income-generating activities. Most of the degradation in the sub-catchment is attributable to the Morobi refugee settlements where vegetation has been cleared for agriculture and house construction.

Kassim Sebbi, the Chairperson of Lodonga Sub-County in Yumbe district who also doubles as the Chairperson Kochi Catchment Sub-Project says that they plant various tree species on 500 hectares of land in the catchment area.

Sebbi further adds that under the project, individuals will be supported with alternative income-generating activities like Apiary aqua culture and fruit farming, especially those engaged in sand mining along the river banks.

Winfred Kateka, a Senior Hydrologist at the Ministry of Water and Environment who is also the head of the project explained that they decided to roll out the project after discovering that the high degradation in Koboko and Yumbe where River Kochi and its tributaries originate were responsible for increased the flooding intensity experienced in the low lands of Moyo District.

According to Kateka, they have already identified priority hotspots along the catchment from where soil and water conservation measures are going to be carried out.

Alege Wardri, the Koboko District Environment Officer said that the campaign is a welcome move saying it will help to restore river Kochi to its original state. He said the rampant degradation forced the district to start demarcation of the buffer zones of the river as a temporary measure to save the situation.

The Kochi river catchment management and restoration activities which are being implemented under the Integrated Water Management and Development project with funding from the World Bank. The project is expected to end by 2024.

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