APPLIED RESEARCH AREAS

NTWAM’s applied research approach centers on the interconnected Water-Energy-Environment systems, recognizing their deep interdependence. This focus supports integrated resource management and governance, ensuring that decisions consider both trade-offs and synergies across sectors. By embracing a nexus-based perspective, NTWAM can collaborate with investors, policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to develop solutions that maximize benefits while minimizing unintended consequences. The goal is to drive sustainable progress by fostering coordinated strategies that balance environmental, economic, and social priorities.

Some selected key applied research activities earmarked include, but not limited to, the following:

         (i)    FLOW FORECASTING; (Links below)

                      From Unsolicited Research to National Legacy: NTWAM role in establishing Tanzania’s National streamflow forecasting System; 

                      An Operational Streamflow Forecasting System for a Data-Scarce Catchment in Tanzania;

         (ii)    HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES MODELING; (Links below)

                      Critical review of SWAT applications in the upper Nile basin countries;

                      SWAT model application in a data scarce tropical complex catchment in Tanzania;

                      Future hydrology and climate in the River Nile basin: a review;

                      Evaluating land cover change and its impact on hydrological regime in Upper Shire river catchment, Malawi;

                      Use of Radarsat-2 and Landsat TM Images for Spatial Parameterization of Manning’s Roughness Coefficient in Hydraulic Modeling;

         (iii)    CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION STRATEGIES; (Links below)

                      Uncertainty of runoff projections under changing climate in Wami River sub-basin;

         (iv)   INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT; (Links below)

                      Comparing flow regime, channel hydraulics, and biological communities to infer flow–ecology relationships in the Mara River of                              Kenya and Tanzania;

                      Nile River Basin – Ecohydrological Challenges, Climate Change and Hydropolitics;

                      Creating sustainable capacity for river science in the Congo basin through the CRuHM project;

         (v)   RAINWATER HARVESTING AND MANAGEMENT; (Links below)

                      Metallic Iron; (Rain) Water, and the City: A handout for Researchers and Policymakers

                      Reliability of Rainwater Harvesting Systems in Suburbs. A case study of Changanyikeni in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania;

                      Tackling rainwater shortages during dry seasons using a socio-technical operational strategy;

         (vi)    COMMUNITY WATER ACCESS AND MANAGEMENT; (Links below)

                      Rural Water Clustering: The Case for Community Based Water Supply Organizations in Tanzania

         (vii)   LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT AND RESTORATION; (Links below)

                      Assessment of basin-scale soil erosion within the Congo River Basin: A review;

                      A guided SWAT model application on sediment yield modelling in Pangani River basin: LESSONS LEARNT;

                      Estimating gully erosion contribution to large catchment sediment yield rate in Tanzania;

                      Suitability of SWAT Model for sediments yields Modelling in Eastern Africa;

                      Modeling Sediment Dynamics: Effect of Land Use, Topography, and Land Management in the Wami-Ruvu Basin, Tanzania;

                       Validation of PSIAC Model for Sediment Yields Estimation in Ungauged Catchments of Tanzania;

                       Estimating Soil Loss Rate and Sediment Yield of the Proposed Ngololweni Earth Dam, Kingdom of Eswatini;

                       Comparison of sediment transport computations using hydrodynamic versus hydrologic models in the Simiyu River in Tanzania;;

         (viii)   RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERY EFFICIENCY; (Links below)

                       The development of micro hydro for rural energy supply in Tanzania;

         (ix)  ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AND AUDIT; (Link below)

                       Comparing flow regime, channel hydraulics, and biological communities to infer flow–ecology relationships in the Mara River of                             Kenya and Tanzania;

                       Environmental flow assessment as a tool for achieving environmental objectives of African water policy, with examples from East                           Africa;

         (x) NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT; (Link below)

                       Fluoride occurrence in groundwater systems at global scale and status of defluoridation – State of the art

                       Groundwater resources in the East African Rift Valley: Understanding the geogenic contamination and water quality challenges in                         Tanzania;

                       Arsenic in Africa: potential sources, spatial variability, and the state of the art for arsenic removal using locally available materials

         (xi)   WATER SECURITY ASSESSMENT; (Links below)

                      “Floods and Droughts: Investment in Water Security is an Urgent Issue”;

                      “ MEETING BETWEEN WAMI / RUVU BASIN, CTI,SWM,GWP-Tanzania, NTWAM and UNESCO”;

         (xii)    URBAN DRAINAGE AND FLOOD RISK MANAGEMENT; (Link below)

                       Accuracy of Dem-Based Topographic Data in Flood Inundation Modelling: A Case of Wami River, Tanzania;