Awoke Aymere, Beyene Abebe, Kloos Helmut, Goethals Peter L M, Triest Ludwig
Department of Environmental Health Sciences and Technology, Jimma University, P.O. Box 378, Jimma, Ethiopia.
Department of Biology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium.
Environ Manage. 2016 Oct;58(4):694-706. doi: 10.1007/s00267-016-0734-y. Epub 2016 Jun 30.
Despite the increasing levels of pollution in many tropical African countries, not much is known about the strength and weaknesses of policy and institutional frameworks to tackle pollution and ecological status of rivers and their impacts on the biota. We investigated the ecological status of four large river basins using physicochemical water quality parameters and bioindicators by collecting samples from forest, agriculture, and urban landscapes of the Nile, Omo-Gibe, Tekeze, and Awash River basins in Ethiopia. We also assessed the water policy scenario to evaluate its appropriateness to prevent and control pollution. To investigate the level of understanding and implementation of regulatory frameworks and policies related to water resources, we reviewed the policy documents and conducted in-depth interviews of the stakeholders. Physicochemical and biological data revealed that there is significant water quality deterioration at the impacted sites (agriculture, coffee processing, and urban landscapes) compared to reference sites (forested landscapes) in all four basins. The analysis of legal, policy, and institutional framework showed a lack of cooperation between stakeholders, lack of knowledge of the policy documents, absence of enforcement strategies, unavailability of appropriate working guidelines, and disconnected institutional setup at the grass root level to implement the set strategies as the major problems. In conclusion, river water pollution is a growing challenge and needs urgent action to implement intersectoral collaboration for water resource management that will eventually lead toward integrated watershed management. Revision of policy and increasing the awareness and participation of implementers are vital to improve ecological quality of rivers.
尽管许多热带非洲国家的污染水平不断上升，但对于应对污染以及河流生态状况及其对生物群影响的政策和体制框架的优势和劣势，人们了解得并不多。我们通过从埃塞俄比亚尼罗河流域、奥莫-吉贝河流域、特克泽河流域和阿瓦什河流域的森林、农业和城市景观中采集样本，利用物理化学水质参数和生物指标调查了四个大型流域的生态状况。我们还评估了水政策情景，以评估其在预防和控制污染方面的适用性。为了调查对与水资源相关的监管框架和政策的理解与实施水平，我们查阅了政策文件并对利益相关者进行了深入访谈。物理化学和生物学数据显示，与所有四个流域的对照点（森林景观）相比，受影响地点（农业、咖啡加工和城市景观）的水质有显著恶化。对法律、政策和体制框架的分析表明，利益相关者之间缺乏合作、对政策文件缺乏了解、缺乏执行战略、没有适当的工作指南以及基层机构设置脱节，无法实施既定战略，这些是主要问题。总之，河流污染是一个日益严峻的挑战，需要采取紧急行动来开展水资源管理的部门间合作，最终实现流域综合管理。修订政策并提高实施者的认识和参与度对于改善河流生态质量至关重要。
