WALVIS BAY – NamWater has warned of possible damage to its infrastructure that could affect water supply at Walvis Bay as a result of the flowing Kuiseb River.
The water utility spokesperson John Shigwedha in a statement yesterday noted most of the water infrastructure supplying the town of Walvis Bay is situated within the river, adding there is a possibility of infrastructural damage due to the current water flows. “NamWater monitors the level of the water in the river via telemetry at its water monitoring level station situated at Gobabeb,” he said.
According to Shigwedha, the first flow was recorded at Gobabeb and peaked at 1.97 metres and subsided in the evening to 0.57 metres. He added the flow rose on Tuesday again and measured at 1.23 metres on Wednesday morning.
“There is always a possibility of damage to the water supply infrastructure at the Kuiseb water supply scheme if the water level at Gobabeb rises above one metre,” he explained. However, Shigwedha said NamWater has invested in the Kuiseb River infrastructure since the 2011 flood to increase the security of water supply to Walvis Bay.
Shigwedha added the company has since strengthened all the power line poles by encasing them in concrete.
They also buried collector pipelines crossing the river at least three metres deep. In 2011, the harbour town went for weeks without water after the Kuiseb River came down in flooding, causing massive damage to water infrastructure.
The flood also destroyed several graves of the Topnaar community residing on the riverbanks of the Kuiseb.
– edeklerk@nepc.com.na