Impacts of population increase on water resource utilization a case of Milola and Kinyope villages in Lindi district, Tanzania

An assessment of impacts of population increase on water resource utilization was carried out at Milola and Kinyope villages. A cross-sectional research design involving purposive and random sampling techniques when selecting villages and households respectively. Secondary data review and Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) including Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), field observations, household interviews and participatory mapping were used for data collection. It was found that water shortage increases because of rapid population growth, climate change and increased environmental degradation. Whilst, the amount of available water resources decreases markedly from year to year, there is a growing competition for the use of water resources among the various socio- economic activities. The amount of water in the study area is inadequate and is under great pressure due to the increase in population. It was also revealed that population increase have caused water competition and conflicts, water scarcity, decreased river flow, water catchment destruction and environmental degradation. The study recommends reforestation along the river banks and water catchment areas need to be protected. Planting and replacing trees along the riverbanks/water catchments.Also that the government needs to improve policy integration particularly of agriculture, water, energy, livestock, industry and environment. More integrated and coherent policy approaches are very important for sustainable water resource management and utilization for different sectors. The growing demand for water resources calls for effective allocation of the resource among the competing uses to ensure sustainable availability of adequate water of good quality for all socio-economic development activities for now and for the future.