Dropping water level threatens port of Bujumbura

Dropping water level in Lake Tanganyika is threatening the port of Bujumbura and aquatic life. The lake has dropped more than five feet, undermining activities at the port. Lake Tanganyika is Africa's longest and the world's second deepest lake. Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tanzania and Zambia share the lake. The lake is drying up apparently because of deforestation and climate change. "The port of Bujumbura, whose basin has dropped tremendously, is going to close down in four or five months if nothing is done to re-shape or re-define the new boundaries of the port," Méthode Shirambere, the port's managing director, told IRIN on 20 October. Burundi's second vice-president, Alice Nzomukunda, visited the port on 19 October to assess the drop in the water level and how this was affecting the port's activities. Burundi, a landlocked country, relies on the port of Bujumbura to transport up to 90 percent of its imports and exports. Shirambere said that following the dropping water levels on the shores and around the port, more than 300 meters of dock space has been rendered unusable because large ships risk running aground. As a result large vessels are unloaded far from the docks and the goods taken to shore by smaller boats. This process is costly, he said. "The dropping of water levels has been going on for the last 14 years, but was expedited by the destruction of a natural dam on Rukuga River which flows from Lake Tanganyika to the DRC," Shirambere said. Climate change and extensive deforestation has greatly contributed to the dropping water level in Lake Tanganyika, said Boniface Nyakageni, an environmental activist and adviser at Burundi’s Ministry of Environment. "The 12 years of civil war in Burundi has worsened the situation as many forests were set on fire to destroy weapons caches," he said. The deforestation, Nyakageni said, led to changes in rainfall patterns and prolonged dry spells. He added that the dry season in Burundi was now longer than before due to the climate change. Forests are the natural regulators of the climate. They act like sponges; in the dry season they slowly release water into rivers whose waters flow directly into the lake and during the rainy season they absorb rainwater. Thus the lowering of water levels in rivers has contributed to the lowering of the Lake Tanganyika waters. Can anything be done to stop the port's closure and further dropping of the lake’s water level? Shirambere made some suggestions, the first and urgent one being the removal of sand and debris surrounding the port. The second, he said, would be to divert River Ntahangwa and the drainage channel from Buyenzi, a suburb of the capital, Bujumbura. The drainage carries substantial amounts of debris and waste into the port basin after spells of heavy rainfall. Shirambere said at least 80 percent of the waters of the River Ntahangwa flows into the Bujumbura port basin. Shirambere urged Burundi government officials to immediately initiate and maintain constant contact with their counterparts in the DRC in an effort to rehabilitate the natural dam on the River Rukuga, destroyed during civil war in the Congo.