Rio Save flood risk – New flood-warning system

Project milestones October 2007–June 2008

Experience gained on the Búzi project has been put to good use in another flood warning system. With the new system in place, communities along the River Save are ready to face the next rainy season.

The River Búzi flood warning system again performed well during the 2007/2008 rainy season. A number of communities along the river and a large sugar plant were affected when flood waves struck twice in December 2007. As with Cyclone Favio in spring 2007, people managed to reach safety in time and, a further positive note, there was no need for rescue teams to launch the inflatable dinghies. Mozambique's President, Armando Guebuza issued a very favourable verdict on our SIDPABB flood warning system, and advocated its use along other rivers in Mozambique. In fact, assisted by our partners in Mozambique, we had already begun work on a second warning system in 2007, partly to demonstrate that the system can be used elsewhere.

The Rio Save project posed a different set of challenges. The downstream flood risk originates in Zimbabwe, where the river rises. Intensive crop irrigation schemes there consist of a series of dykes and dams that regulate the flow of the river. Accurate readings are needed of water levels at the point where the river enters Mozambique so that the risk of flooding in exposed downstream areas can be realistically assessed. Reliable gauges have been installed not far from the border, at Massangena.

The scheme was given the official blessing of the district administrators in Machanga and Govuro already on 15 November 2007. It was then a matter of working in close partnership with the administrators, local disaster committee representatives and meteorologists in Vilankulo and Caia to fulfil the project’s objectives.

Work in progress
Training courses have been organised with teachers, disaster officials, religious leaders and AJOAGO, a local young people’s organisation, to ensure people in the local communities are familiar with the scheme and to recruit additional volunteers. This will help to ensure that the system works effectively.

Good radio communications are a vital part of the flood warning system. The antennae and transmission stations were installed in June 2008. Now, readings and other important information can be shared between the six main sites on a common frequency. Water level details recorded at Massangena are initially transferred from there to the provincial capitals, Inhambane and Beira, for analysis. If the situation warrants it, flood warnings are then issued to areas on the Save likely to be affected in Machanga and Govuro. Initial practice drills were organised with the help of the local disaster committees in autumn 2007.

The object of the final phase of the project is to explain to a broad public how the system functions. Talks have been held with various authorities involved (meteorological institute, flood prevention officials) to ensure that the Save flood warning system (SIDPARS), like its Búzi counterpart, will be a model for other schemes.

Please read a detailed report, to be found in the download section on the right-hand side (The full report is only available in German).
 
22 July 2008