Community views on water demands under a changing climate: The case of River Mpanga Water Catchment, Western Uganda

Different sectors globally are experiencing the impacts of changing climate and water resources are among them. This study was conducted with an aim of examining the community views regarding the effect of changing climate on water demand over the River Mpanga Water Catchment. The study employed a cross-sectional survey using 111 household interviews; 14 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and 27 key informants interviews (KII). This study considered 14 villages and employed a mixed-methods study design. The analysis was conducted using SPSS software to derive the descriptive statistics. Qualitative information was analyzed using content analysis to conduct an in-depth analysis. The study found that the main source of water is tap water (72.1%) and the main use of water in the study area is domestic water use. This study also found that, breakage in water supply especially during the dry season (10 out of 14 FGDs) and poor quality of water especially the tap water due to chemical treatment (11 out of 14 FDGs) were the major challenges of water the community faced. Additionally, this study observed that 15 out of 27 KII considered drought as a major threat and that the area had experienced decreases in rainfall amounts over the months of January and February. Therefore, this study recommends that the providers of domestic water should invest heavily in technologies for improving water quality and amount; ensure sustainable and equitable rationing of water during scarcity; and promote incentives for water harvesting.   Key words: Community survey, water resources, River Mpanga.