NO WATER NO LIFE (NWNL):
This project, with 501c3 status from Wings WorldQuest1, combines photography, science and data to raise awareness of watershed degradation2, strategies for fresh water use and preservation, and the need for upstream-downstream partnerships. Since 2004 NWNL photographs have publicized the availability, usage and quality of African and North American watersheds with exhibits, lectures and publications. NWNL’s Science Advisor is a Columbia University forest ecologist; its Project Coordinator is a resource manager and restoration ecologist; and its Research and Expeditions Coordinator is a Columbia University graduate student. NWNL has carried expedition flags from The Explorers Club and Wings WorldQuest and been fiscally supported by The Scott Pearlman Field Award.
NO WATER NO LIFE EXPEDITIONS:
Project expeditions document critical watersheds, producing:
• Research on a watershed’s value, threats, and potential solutions
• Contacts and interviews to support educational outreach and solution-based partnerships
• Photographic documentation of a watershed’s value, its condition and any degradation consequences
• Comparisons of watersheds that can generate and inform wise usage and globally sustainable management
• Dissemination of images and information illustrating today’s fresh water crisis in order to educate the public, change individual behaviors, and generate the political will to protect our vital fresh-water resources.
(NWNL’s 2007 expeditions will cover the Columbia, Raritan, Omo and Blue Nile River Basins.)
OMO RIVER BASIN:
The Omo River flows 621 miles southwest from Mt Amara in Ethiopia’s Shewan Highlands to Kenya’s Lake Turkana, creating an endoheic, or inland, drainage basin of about 56,371 sq mi. Twice the size of France, Ethiopia is one of the world’s six poorest countries and since the 1970’s has suffered three severe droughts causing widespread famine and political turmoil. Water-related crises in the Omo River Basin exemplify those of many arid, developing nations. The basin’s population, comprised of some of the most intact indigenous cultures remaining in Africa, suffers from lack of clean fresh water for human and livestock consumption, sanitation and bathing. Recent heavy flooding, seemingly connected with climate change has caused community dislocation. Proposed dams and large-scale irrigation projects could create food security within the arid basin’s fertile 348,000 hectares and offer flood control and hydroelectric power. These projects, which would also entail building roads, storage and marketing to distribute water and food, pose a solution to rain-dependent subsistence agriculture, which has left nearly half of Ethiopians in extreme poverty and without food. Possible long-term environmental consequences of these proposals include over-extraction of this fresh water resource and impacts on existing cultures and species.
Rural populations have increased sedimentation in the Omo by overgrazing by their livestock and removing vegetation for fuel and conversion to agricultural lands. Small irrigation schemes have reduced the Omo’s discharge into Lake Turkana by 50%. These changes in regional land use and rainfall and temperature changes have caused a 400% expansion of the Omo River Delta. While this wetland aggradation in an arid region may have environmental benefits, it raises trans-boundary issues as it has grown across into Kenya.
OMO RIVER BASIN EXPEDITION:
This expedition will focus on a food-scarce country facing a need for alternatives to rain-fed agriculture. This expedition to the Omo River Basin will produce photographs, videos, interviews and field notes on irrigation projects, deforestation and climate change. Outputs will include written publications, exhibits, lectures, web postings, and educational outreach. NWNL’s Omo River Basin timeline is:
Ongoing: Research by project director, project coordinator, and two research assistants
Early Fall 2007: Ethiopia expedition on the Upper and Lower Omo River
Late Fall 2007: Editing of expedition photographs, interviews and field journals
2007-2008: Images and findings will be disseminated and shared in various forums
2007-2008: Evaluation and assimilation of expedition materials with past Omo River documentation ( from 2003 and 2005) and determination of future expeditions.
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