“It is scientifically false to attribute Lwera activities to the River Katonga flow towards the bridge. This is ecologically not possible,” NEMA Executive Director, Dr. Barirega Akankwasah said.
The flooding of river Katonga and washing away of the bridge has since cut off of the Kampala-Masaka highway but has also led to a diversion of traffic on the busy highway.
Many commentators have since blamed the floods on the ongoing activities including sand mining and rice growing in Lwera swamp for the floods.
However, according to the NEMA boss, River Katonga catchment is relatively big and has had a lot of rains recently receiving runoff from Mbirizi, Kalisizo, Masaka, Sembabule, Kabamba, Katonga Wildlife Reserve and this accounts for the floods.
Worst is yet to come
According to a statement by NEMA, the country is currently experiencing enhanced rainfall with areas around Lake Victoria getting as high as 512.4mm of rainfall in Lwengo, Entebbe at 493.1 mm, Buyende at 459.7mm and Mukono at 411.5mm between the end of April and early May 2023.
“Because of the enhanced rainfall above the normal average and above the Long Term Mean (LTM), the country is experiencing flooding. We have seen floods in areas of Kigezi, Mbale, Sembabule, Rwenzori, Kampala and more recently Katonga river flooding that damaged the Katonga bridge. Severe flooding has also been experienced by neighbouring countries in the Great Lakes region with scores of lives lost. Southern Africa, Asia, Europe and America have experienced similar flash floods as well with significant damage to infrastructure and lives,” NEMA said.
The environmental body also warned that the current water levels on River Katonga are still below the highest recorded levels of 2022 (about 5.0m) and 2021 (about 5.3m).
“The current water levels are approximately 4.6m meaning that there is a likelihood of further increase in water levels and hence more flooding. The rainfall forecast indicates that we shall receive more enhanced rainfall even in June 2023.”
According to NEMA, these heavy rains are as a result of climate change whose effects will continue.
“The increasing frequency and intensity of floods are among the consequences of the global crisis that manifests through erratic weather conditions, unusually high rainfall, extreme heat (heat waves) and above normal rainfall leading to rising water levels.”
NEMA says this can be reversed through restoration and conservation of the fragile ecosystems including forests, wetlands, hilly and mountainous areas, lake shores
and river banks.