Assessment of Water Quantity Availability and Demand Management for Rugeramigozi I Dam in Muhanga District, Rwanda
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Rugeramigozi I Dam, located in Muhanga District, was built in 2011and was initially intended to support irrigated rice production over 120 ha. Over time, it has also become a key source of raw water for the Gihuma Water Treatment Plant, supplying Muhanga town, and this created a competition and water shortage conflict between irrigation and domestic water users. In response to that, government institutions opted to temporarily suspend rice cultivation and prioritise domestic water supply. However, this decision was made without a comprehensive scientific assessment of the dam’s water availability and its capacity to sustainably support competing uses. This lack of empirical evidence created a significant knowledge gap in understanding whether the existing water resources can be optimised or whether trade-offs are unavoidable. Therefore, this study aimed to quantitatively assess the water availability of the Rugeramigozi I Dam system and evaluate its capacity to meet current competing water demands. The study used a mixed-methods approach of hydrological modelling; water demand for irrigation and domestic water demand were obtained from the institutional records. The results revealed that domestic water demand tripled between 2015 and 2025, increasing from 518,400 m³/year to 1,440,000 m³/year, and the total irrigation water demand estimated was 2,158,554.216m3/year. The results revealed that total water availability was 2,888,697.6 m3/year, while the total water demand was estimated to 3,598,554.22m3/year, indicating that there was a deficit of 709,856.62 m3 in water available. The research concluded that the catchment supplies less water than is needed downstream. The study recommends that MINAGRI find another source of water that can complement the Rugeramigozi system to satisfy all water demands.
Authors: Pascal Komezusenge, Justin Nsanzabaganwa
Institution: University of Lay Adventists of Kigali
Subfield: Ocean Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7167377668
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