Rwanda Completes River Sebeya Flood Retention Dam
Recent floods destroyed thousands of houses and displaced more than 20,000 people.
The Rwanda Water Resources Board (RWB) has announced the completion of a flood retention dam for the River Sebeya.
The dam is located in the Kanama sector, Rubavu district, Rwanda. It forms part of the Embedding Integrated Water Resources Management (EWMR) project, commonly known as the Sebeya project, which was launched in June 2019, by the Ministry of Environment through the RWB, in collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature and other partners.
The RWB embarked on the construction of two dams in 2021 along the River Sebeya to help curtail severe floods affecting the districts of Rubavu, Rutsiro, Nyabihu and Ngororero. A total of US$ 6.38 million was allocated to the project.
"The primary objective of the dam is to retain a portion of the floodwater and release it at a controlled flow rate," the RWB said in a statement.
The dam is intended to help avoid a repetition of the recent devastating floods that resulted in the destruction of 5,963 houses and displaced 20,326 people.
The Sebeya catchment is one of the water reservoirs in Rwanda that communities rely on for their livelihoods, supporting activities such as agriculture, tea growing and hydropower generation.
☑️#Sebeya retention dam in @KanamaSector, @RubavuDistrict, now complete.
— Rwanda Water Resources Board | RWB (@RwandaWater) July 10, 2023
Its objective is to hold a part of the flood volume and release it at a lower flow rate. It is set to alleviate the flood hazards affecting #Mahoko Center and other households nearby the Sebeya River. pic.twitter.com/5GXXNx2FWn
Photo: Sebeya retention dam (Source: RWB Twitter @RwandaWater)
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