Take Water Conservation Seriously -- Experts
Source: The Herald
Date: 29 November 2006
Author: Tsitsi Matope Recently in Windhoek Namibia
WATER experts attending the just-ended Zambezi Basin Wide Stakeholder Consultative Conference said Southern Africa should take water conservation seriously in order to deal with inefficiencies in water management.
The experts said the bulk of countries within the region suffered from unnecessary water shortages when all that was needed was to prioritise good management.
Both the quality of water, which was said to be deteriorating in some countries and its insufficiency that has caused water rationing were among issues that dominated the conference.
There were concerns over why some countries had not adopted water conservation strategies and technologies being employed by arid countries such as Botswana and Namibia in line with their projections that there was likely to be a water crisis in 2015.
"There is no other scientific miracle that could resolve the challenges facing our region, of having to do with limited water. We need to come up with mechanisms that mitigate water challenges and effectively conserve the less rains the region is now inclined to," a water expert from the World Conservation Union, Mr Lenka Thamae said.
He said countries should learn from the Namibian experience, which values every drop of water and has made great strides in ensuring water recycling programmes mitigate the water challenges facing the country.
"If countries do not take seriously water management issues and decide to take lightly integrated water resources management principles, which we have recommended for effective use of water, then meeting millennium goals will be a big challenge without adequate water for all sectors."
Other experts said 2005-2015 is a Water Decade and therefore the region's major task is to identify and develop practical models, tools and guidelines for providing and upscaling improved water services that better meet all people's multiple water needs.
They indicated there was need to shift from ever increasing water production investments to a demand management, which reduces at the same time water consumption and financial expenses.
"We need to quickly shift from the 'administrative' water allocation procedures and employ economic tools. Considering the ancestral wisdom that water is purity and life and has to be sustained as such in its natural sites is key," the Malawian principal secretary in the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Development, Mr GWP Malunga said.
The experts also emphasised on environmental sustainability through use of water resources in an equitable manner while ensuring sound watershed management that provides adequate drainage and prevents pollution and water erosion.
"We are aware that in the past decade there were immense water challenges that threatened our achieving the millennium development goals and these included bad governance of water issues and lack of seriousness to adopt technologies that works," Miss Caroline Gwature of IUCN said.
She said the region's water experts view the adoption of the integrated water resources management approach by many countries within the region as an effective way to achieving coordinated development and management of water and land-related resources.
"This would maximise resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems."
Mr Thamae said countries should strive to meet water gaps by investing in improving management of existing water resources and in building new water infrastructure, which include water storage facilities.
"Many countries in the region are experiencing water-related problems and it is important that we share ideas and help each other mitigate various challenges we are faced with in the water sector."
Agriculture, which is the main driver of the region's economy, will suffer more due to lack of adequate water by 2015.