September 2023 | News and latest updates
Lake Victoria Basin Integrated Water Resources Management Programme workshops on the Water Information System have successfully taken place in three Partner States of the East African Community.
A series of three in-person Lake Victoria Basin-Water Information System (LVB-WIS) workshops organised by the Lake Victoria Basin Commission have been successfully completed. They began in Entebbe, Uganda from 6th to 10th March with a second workshop taking place in Kigali, Rwanda from 24th to 28th April. Mwanza in Tanzania was carried out from 5th to 9th June. Alongside these sessions a series of virtual sessions also took place with strong attendance. Thus keeping the momentum going and also maximizing the effect of capacity building for the LVB-WIS.
The working sessions form part of the ‘joint configuration’ of the LVB-WIS. Alongside the actual installation of the information system by the Consultant, the sessions consist of training programmes for the experts from the five Lake Victoria Basin (LVB) Partner States. Capacity building and a transfer of knowledge on ‘how to develop and maintain the system’, is a corner stone in the sustainable development of the LVB-WIS.
The ultimate goal of the planned working sessions is to develop and set-up a fully functional LVB-WIS.
Specifically, the workshops intend to ensure:
· Configuration of the Delft-FEWS software component of the LVB-WIS
· Implementation of the Nile Basin DSS – Delft FEWS database linkage
· Installation of the LVB-WIS as a client-server system
· Undertaking acceptance testing of the LVB-WIS
· Capacity development/training of the LVB-WIS experts
· Selection of Use Cases (pilot studies in the partner states)
· Approach for in situ data collection and data sharing
We envisage 5 national use cases and 4 regional ones. The main objective of the use cases is to further operationalize the LVB-WIS within the PS’s and LVBC. For each use case the following steps are foreseen:
· Joint problem identification
· Define specific information products
· Continued capacity building in data management and modelling
· Widening the range of users
· Increased awareness and appreciation by the policy makers
· Transboundary – river basin management issues
· Long term basin wide response (flood, drought, pollution)
· Combined effort on climate adaptation and mitigation measures
· Harmonize IWRM regional capacity amongst partner states (knowledge, equipment, data)
· Support project fund raising (interaction with international donor agencies)
· Basin wide monitoring & evaluation (‘State of the Basin’)
· Harmonize and operationalize basin wide environmental regulations
· Facilitate regional IWRM data collection, validation, processing and sharing
The main use of the LVB-WIS will be:
· Joint problem analysis among the partner states
· Transboundary – river basin management
· Regional data collection, validation and sharing
· Hydrological modelling to prepare information products
· Support for strategic decision making for regional IWRM challenges
· Monitoring & Evaluation of IWRM policies and climate change measures
· Evaluation of effectiveness of investment to improve water quality

Image: LVB-WIS workshop gets underway in Kigali, Rwanda
Workshop outcomes
It is hoped that the LVB-WIS becomes fully functional and operational, with an installed client-server system including an agreement on the selected use of cases and data collection.
A well trained group of Partner States experts can independently operate and further develop the LVB-WIS. And an active web page (will publish relevant Lake Victoria Basin Integrated Water Resources Management (LVB IWRM) information that is generated by the LVB-WIS. All Partner State water management authorities are expected to benefit from the training.
The training is closely linked to the Lake Victoria Basin Commission’s main mission: ‘To promote, facilitate and coordinate activities of different actors towards sustainable development and poverty eradication of the Lake Victoria Basin’. More specifically in the implementation of the LVB IWRM strategy.
Communities in the LVB will also have improved access to information products on IWRM and possible solutions to flood, drought, and pollution hazards.
Added value of the LVB-WIS
All Partner States already have their proper operational water information systems. However due to the present day and future, IWRM and climate change challenges, more close international cooperation is needed.