DAR ES SALAAM, May 12 (Xinhua) -- The government of Tanzania has surveyed and identified 163 water sources for conservation and protection, a cabinet minister told parliament on Thursday.

Jumaa Aweso, the Minister for Water, said most of the identified water sources for conservation and protection were facing threats caused by human activities and climate change.

Tabling his ministry's budget estimates for the 2022/2023 financial year that runs from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023, Aweso told the House in the capital Dodoma that most of the identified water sources are located in the country's water basins.

"These water sources are now protected by law or they are in the process of being protected by law," said the minister in his 318-page budget speech.

He mentioned the water basins in which the 163 water sources are now protected by law as Pangani, Rufiji and Ruvuma rivers basins, and basins of Lakes Nyasa, Victoria, Tanganyika and Rukwa.

In November 2021, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan ordered district and regional commissioners to ensure that water sources are fully protected to save the country from looming water scarcity.

"Encroachment of water sources and felling of trees for farming and livestock keeping are destroying the water sources threatening water availability in the country," warned the president. Enditem

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