THE water requirements of a rare, inch-long toad native to Tanzania’s southern highlands have prevented a hydro-electric plant in the area operating at full capacity, a local newspaper reported. The habitat of the Kihansi Spray Toad needs as much water, about seven cubic metres per second, as is used to generate 52 megawatts of electricity. And there is not enough water in the Kihansi river to quench the thirst of both the diminutive amphibian and the plant operated by the Tanzania Electric Company (Tanesco). Tanesco has already set up an artificial spray system for the toad, which has never been spotted outside a very small area at the base of the Kihansi escarpment, but this only delivers two cubic metres per second. That is enough, however, to stop the plant, completed in April, generating its maximum output of 180 megawatts. – AFP