WINDHOEK – Grave concern is mounting over the ever-deteriorating water levels in Namibia’s major dams due to insignificant inflow despite recent rain.
Light downpours, resulting in the average rainfall for February, made insignificant difference in the levels of dams and the City of Windhoek yesterday sent out an SOS to residents to make every drop count in light of a looming water crisis.
The manager of corporate communications at the Windhoek Municipality, Joshua Amukugo, is concerned about the situation, saying rains in January have just not been penetrating enough to improve the underground water levels or cause any significant inflows into the three major dams supplying Windhoek and the central areas.
Reminding Windhoek residents of water restrictions that were imposed already last year, Amukugo said the water supply situation would be reassessed at the end of the current rainy season which is now drawing to a close.
He warned that tighter restrictions could be implemented if the situation remains unchanged. The current water restrictions imposed by the Windhoek Municipality include a ban on the use of hosepipes to wash cars, the mandatory covering of private swimming pools and no watering of gardens between the hours of 10:00 and 16:00.
His pleads for conservative use of water comes days after the government recognised an imminent water crisis, launching a N$7.6 million pre-feasibility study to investigate all alternative water sources which could be developed to secure a long-term, affordable water solution across the country.
Launching the project in partnership with the City of Windhoek, NamWater and various local water experts, Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, John Mutorwa, stressed that Windhoek’s runaway growth population and economic activities prompted the urgent study.
Fears are now growing by the day that some areas, especially Windhoek, could run dry by August next year if the major dams do not receive any inflow.
The total water storage in the three central area dams plummeted to 36.6 percent, compared to the 91 percent in February 2012 and the 63.3 percent in February 2013.
NamWater’s weekly dam bulletin yesterday confirmed that the dams, with the exception of the Naute dam (1.583 percent increase) and the Daan Viljoen dam (0.0024 percent increase) have not received received any inflow. The Hardap dam is now only 37.1 percent full, after the level dropped by a further 1.343 percent in recent weeks.
Fears of Windhoek, which is the economic hub of the central areas, running dry, mounted when recent modelling predicted shortfalls in water supply by 2020, based on the median scenario, and this will be much earlier if Namibia experiences more poor rainy seasons, independent experts have warned.
Driving home the urgency of the project, foremost water expert Chris Brown of Sustainable Solutions Trust said the pre-feasibility study and environmental scoping report would be completed in the first quarter of 2015, after which the full feasibility study would kick into gear.
Both Brown and Mutorwa stressed that easy and less expensive water supply options have been largely developed and that Namibia now has entered the age of living in the global village where only the toughest will survive the challenges of future water supply.
Mutorwa said developing future options would be more expensive and technically more challenging.
“Namibia spends more than eight times more on water supply and sanitation than any other snot only ub-Saharan country, because of challenging climatic circumstances, but also because government has made it a high priority to provide secure access to clean water for all Namibians and for the country’s economic growth and development.
Harold Koch, Director of Resource Management, told New Era that boreholes drilled in the Cuvelai delta are now being monitored at delivering some 20 cubic metres per hour which will be pushed up soon to conduct further studies on the source with the help of the German government who have pledged 2 million euros for the project.
It transpired that previous studies into alternative water sources did not include the Cuvelai area, which is dependent on a single source, the Calueque dam in Angola. Brown said this is of concern to Namibia and an alternative source is therefore required for the area.
The new study will be the first to consider the area east of Okakarara and north-east of Otjinene.
All water experts New Era spoke to made it clear that the pre-feasibility study is of utmost importance as future options require complex and expensive planning processes.
Namibia needs to ensure that it chooses the right options for the next three to four decades to ensure taxpayers and the public get value for money.
Three independent teams – an engineering team, an environmental and social team and a review team – have been appointed to undertake the study.
The first round of public meetings will take place early in June in Windhoek, Oshakati and Rundu. In July and August findings will be updated and further investigated in August 2015 after more public meetings early in 2015.
By Deon Schlechter