VZCZCXRO2711
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHDS #2576/01 2290219
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 170219Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7489
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 2969
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 4010
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 2924
RUEHC/DEPT OF INTERIOR WASHINGTON DC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ADDIS ABABA 002576 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USAID/W DCHA/AA MHESS, GGOTTLIEB 
AFR/AA WWARREN 
DCHA/OFDA KLUU, ACONVERY, KCHANNELL 
AFR/EA KNELSON, BDUNFORD 
DCHA/FFP WHAMMINK, JDWORKEN, PMOHAN, MANDERSON, PBERTOLIN 
STATE DEPARTMENT FOR AF/E AND PRM/AFR 
USDA/FAS FOR U/S PENN, MCHAMBLISS, RTILSWORTH, AND LPANASUK 
NAIROBI FOR OFDA/ECARO JMYER, GPLATT, RFFPO, USAID/EA 
ROME FOR OHA 
BRUSSELS FOR USEU PBROWN 
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH, RMA 
USUN FOR TMALY 
NSC FOR PMARCHAN, TSHORTLEY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID PREF SENV EAGR ET
SUBJECT: ANALYSIS OF USAID/OFDA WATER INTERVENTIONS AND RELATED 
IMPACT ON POPULATIONS 
 
¶1. SUMMARY.  The USAID/OFDA Shelter and Settlements (S&S) Advisor in 
conjunction with USAID/OFDA Ethiopia staff monitored field 
activities in selected areas of Ethiopia's Oromiya Region from July 
25 to August 4, to assess strategic water interventions and 
implications on population and migration issues in the country. 
Based on field assessments and discussions with implementing 
partners and local officials, USAID/OFDA water and sanitation 
activities have resulted in improved water resource management and 
sustainable and self-supporting community-based water supply systems 
that both respond to emergency needs and reduce vulnerability to 
future drought events, particularly when linked to watershed 
management efforts supported by USAID/OFDA, the Government of 
Ethiopia (GoE), and others.  Targeted interventions are not 
increasing population growth through migration, do not significantly 
alter the migration patterns of pastoralist or other groups, or 
generate adverse impacts on local surface or groundwater resources. 
Although many communities in arid regions will likely continue to 
require USAID/OFDA emergency assistance due to the precarious nature 
of conditions, serious consideration should also be given to 
increased funding support of expansion and upgrading of successful 
USAID/OFDA activities in less vulnerable areas as development 
problems are so chronic in these areas that even moderate drought 
conditions will generate significant, widespread needs.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. USAID/OFDA staff monitored field activities in the Oromiya Region 
of southern and eastern Ethiopia from July 25 to August 4 to assess 
OFDA country strategies related to water interventions and possible 
impact on population growth in communities. USAID/OFDA Ethiopia 
staff visited nearly 30 project sites, traveled over 1,900 miles 
(3,140 kilometers) in eight days, and met with implementing partner 
representatives, local officials, and project beneficiaries.  Field 
activities commenced with visits to selected areas in Borena Zone 
with the Italian NGO, Comitato Internationale Per Lo Sviluppo Dei 
Popoli (CISP) from July 26-29.  A second field trip focused on 
selected villages in East and West Haraghe Zones with USAID/OFDA 
implementing partners CARE, IRC, and CRS, from July 31 to August 3. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
NON-DROUGHT WATER SUPPLY CONDITIONS IN BORENA ZONE BELOW THOSE FOUND 
IN THE IDP CAMPS OF DARFUR 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶3. The Borena Zone field activities focused on recent and potential 
CISP water and sanitation activities in selected pastoral, 
agricultural, and urban communities.  The current non-crisis 
conditions in these areas are perhaps the best of the year, in that 
rainfall has been relatively plentiful this current rainy season, 
pasture is available for livestock, and water supply systems have 
been operational.  However, even under the best of conditions, the 
situation is precarious and, at best, water supply and consumption 
rates per capita --even in the relatively developed zonal capital of 
Yabello--are far lower than similar rates in the IDP camps of 
Darfur.  As such, prevailing water supply outputs in selected Borena 
Zone communities, viewed in a development context, are even well 
below minimally adequate levels for basic humanitarian work, as 
specified in the Sphere project guidelines. Smaller, more remote 
settlements, both agricultural and agro-pastoral, are in an even 
more precarious state.  Therefore, chronic development conditions 
are so marginal that even moderate drought conditions will generate 
significant, widespread needs. 
 
¶4. Water and sanitation interventions similar to those implemented, 
and proposed, by CISP complement GoE development programs, can 
provide much-needed improvements in water and sanitation conditions, 
and can build household and village level resilience to withstand 
future drought conditions, while providing needed water to nearby 
 
ADDIS ABAB 00002576  002 OF 003 
 
 
pastoralists.  These interventions, however, should not be 
considered as substitutes for GoE water supply development projects. 
 Field assessment also suggests that water and sanitation 
interventions have not altered migration or settlement patterns, and 
are not likely to do so in the foreseeable future. 
 
¶5. Based on field assessment and discussions, roof catchments, 
(plastic lined) ponds, and borehole activities should be expanded, 
where possible, to support additional human and livestock 
populations. These activities should include expansion of roof 
catchments to housing, in addition to the current focus on public 
facilities (e.g. schools and health posts), perhaps in a manner 
where harvested rainwater is shared among groups of families.  In 
addition, utilizing the three capped boreholes in the zonal capital, 
Yabello, and managing the nearby upland watershed to facilitate 
groundwater recharge and mitigate against flash flood impacts on the 
boreholes, will enable Yabello to increase its role as a Zonal 
administrative and commercial center, and --equally importantly--a 
relatively drought-resistant hub for humanitarian interventions in 
the event of a drought or other emergency, as further development of 
the Yabello boreholes will support expected population growth for 
several years. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
LINKAGE OF WATERSHED MANAGEMENT AND WATER SUPPLY EXPANSION IN 
HARAGHE GENERATE SIGNIFICANT POTENTIAL FOR WIDESPREAD DROUGHT 
VULNERABILITY REDUCTION 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶6. USAID/OFDA water and sanitation implementing partners CARE, IRC, 
and CRS work in selected communities in the East and West Hararghe 
Zones of the Oromiya Region, where elevation, microclimatic 
conditions, and rainfall levels vary widely, often within a few 
kilometers.  Such contextual diversity requires diverse responses, 
and implementing partners have performed admirably in this regard, 
often incorporating watershed management measures into programs, or 
collaborating with similar GOE watershed management efforts.  [NOTE: 
USAID is providing significant funding for the Productive Safety Net 
Program (PSNP) in these zones; CARE and CRS are implementing 
partners.  END NOTE.] 
 
¶7. Poor long-term management of watersheds and water resources, due 
in part to intense population pressure and widespread poverty, has 
resulted in significant alteration of major portions of East and 
West Hararghe zones.  Further, GoE efforts to remedy environmental 
degradation, while well-intentioned, have sometimes resulted in 
unintended, adverse impacts, such as inappropriate selection of tree 
species as part of reforestation efforts, resulting in introduction 
of non-native species ill-suited to area conditions (e.g., tree 
species that require high levels of water compared to native 
species).  In this regard, the recent and rapid transformation of 
Lake Alamaya, near the city of Harar, from lake to dry lakebed, is a 
cautionary tale of watershed mismanagement, over pumping of surface 
and groundwater resources, and uncontrolled discharge of domestic 
and agricultural waste, thereby accelerating the demise of an 
important water source. 
 
¶8. Past and current CRS activities in Kersa and Meta woredas of East 
Hararghe, CARE activities in Grawa Woreda of East Hararghe, and IRC 
activities in Chiro and Mieso woredas of West Hararghe have all 
benefited from recent area closures of upland watershed areas, and 
related GoE resettlement of populations.  These actions have 
contributed to increased water recharge rates that have permitted 
support and expansion of water supply systems to ever greater 
numbers of people, thereby reducing drought vulnerability in many 
zonal settlements. 
 
 
ADDIS ABAB 00002576  003 OF 003 
 
 
¶9. Two examples from the zones provide additional detail of the 
successful linkage of watershed management, water supply expansion, 
and drought vulnerability reduction.  CRS found in Meta Woreda that 
GoE watershed management of upland areas, which included area 
closure and resettlement, increased flow rates from nearby springs 
by six-fold within two years of implementation, and is expected to 
increase in the future as watershed conditions improve.  This 
dramatic increase in water availability is now sufficient to support 
a population of 12,960 people (as well as associated agro-pastoral 
and agricultural activities) at the consumption rate of eight (8) 
liters per capita per day.  The water supply system implemented by 
CRS is only able to serve 3,750 people, however, suggesting 
significant potential to increase service and reduce vulnerability, 
as well as improve public health conditions. 
 
¶10. In a similar vein, IRC borehole development in Arbarekete, West 
Hararghe Zone, can now support up to 112,320 people (as well as well 
as associated agro-pastoral, and agricultural activities) at the 
consumption rate of ten liters per capita per day, but the current 
water supply system developed by IRC is only able to serve 4,500 
people.  USAID/OFDA support of borehole development in Arbarekete 
has not only reduced drought vulnerability of the project 
beneficiary population, but raises the possibility of significant 
increases in water supply to additional vulnerable populations while 
accommodating projected population growth of Arbarakete, as well as 
the heretofore unconsidered option of water transmission to 
relatively arid regions nearby, which are far more prone to drought. 
 However, developing and transmitting available water resources at 
the level suggested would, of course, require considerable 
investment by water development agencies, rather than humanitarian 
entities such as USAID/OFDA.  For example, the current GoE effort to 
pipe water from Dire Dawa to Harar, a distance of 55 kilometers, 
will cost at least USD 33.3 million, with costs likely to rise, as 
is the case with most large infrastructure development projects. 
 
¶11.  Based on field assessment and discussion, it does not appear 
that USAID/OFDA water and sanitation activities contribute to 
increased population growth in east and west Haraghe that could be 
attributed to in-migration.  Further, USAID/OFDA activities do not 
significantly alter the migration patterns of pastoralist or other 
groups, or generate adverse impacts on local surface or groundwater 
resources. Borehole development, for example, is not attracting 
in-migrants, nor has reduction in flow rates been reported to date, 
suggesting that current consumption rates by drought vulnerable 
populations are not adversely affecting groundwater resources. 
However, any significant expansion and upgrading of borehole or 
other water supplies will have to be examined carefully prior to 
investment by development agencies. 
 
YAMAMOTO