OSHAKATI – While many residents in and around Oshakati have expressed concern about the availability of water once the N$1.8 billion Flood Mitigation Project, which was approved by Cabinet three years ago, is completed during the next few years, the designers of the massive project say they will “harvest” water that will be available to affected residents throughout most of the year.
Oshakati is regularly severely affected by the annual floods that leave many residents without homes and force businesses to close, thereby severely affecting the economy of the northern town. According to some residents flooding also affects investor confidence as well as property prices in the town.
The Project Manager of Oshakati’s Flood Mitigation Project, from the Buro of Architects (BAR) Namibia, Jan Wynants, told New Era during an exclusive interview that 11 water harvesting points will be established every two kilometres along the 23-kilometre dyke that will be constructed to divert the damaging flood water around the town of Oshakati.
Wynants explained that the dimensions for the water harvesting points will be 120m x 60m and will be about 4m deep, depending on specific ground conditions. “The water harvesting points will be designed in such a way that they are safe for children and animals, with sloping embankments on all sides to prevent people and animals from falling in,” explained Wynants.
“We can’t move the town so we have to move the water. And we don’t want to fight the water, we just want to redirect it,” said Wynants during a one-on-one interview with New Era.
He continued that while there are massive volumes of water in and around Oshakati for about four months of the year, the remainder of the year is usually very dry. Wynants also pointed out that while the overall amount of water that originates in the highlands in southern Angola is massive, only a minuscule percentage will be harvested.
“People still use use water for crops and animals while some people purify the water for human consumption. Within the town of Oshakati we do not want people to be without water so we will control the amount of water that seeps into the town through sluices,” explained Wynants.
Once implemented the Flood Mitigation Project will protect 100 square kilometres from flood water, which is almost equivalent to the size of Windhoek that is estimated to be 110 square kilometres.
The much anticipated project took a step closer to fruition last week with the ground-breaking ceremony of the Okatana bridge and traffic circle, which in itself constitutes infrastructural investment of N$93 million. The total project will consist of five bridges and roundabouts and a 23-kilometre dyke that will divert flood water around the town but will not hamper the water from flowing to its final destination in the Etosha Pan.
By Edgar Brandt