10.3.3  Impacts of drought on WASH in Ethiopia

As well as causing shortages of food and surface water, droughts have a significant effect on the availability of safe water resources. Drought causes water scarcity, so people are more likely to use unsafe water sources such as polluted rivers, streams and lakes. During times of water scarcity, people may save whatever water they can find for drinking and cooking, and stop using it for hygiene activities such as handwashing after defecation (Kovats et al., 2003). Drought can also increase the concentration of pathogenic organisms in rivers and lakes because the lower volume of water cannot dilute the contaminants to below the infectious dose (Kovats et al., 2003). We will discuss the impacts on human health in Study Session 11.