ATTENTIoN!!
WATER CRISIS
IN
NAMIBIA
By Zafari Nelao Zeidler
September. 8, 2024
My name is Zafari Nelao Zeidler
Hi dear readers, I am Zafari Nelao Zeidler a Windhoek International School student in Grade 10. For the MYP programme we have to do a personal project of any topic. I decided to make a website to create awareness about the water crisis in Namibia and hopefully be part of promoting water saving. I hope this website finds you well. All my research is from good, high quality sources including from primary sources such as the Government and Ministry officials.
Enjoy!!
WINDHOEK IS DRYING OUT!!!
Namibia, my home country, is the driest country in sub-Saharan Africa. We are having a severe water scarcity that is worsening with the overwhelming rate of climate change. In Windhoek, our capital city, the average annual precipitation is only 360mm. That said, the average evaporation annually is 2,170mm. Evaporation is 5x greater than average rainfall! In the rainy seasons we might think that our water crisis is solved but it isn't. 84% of water evaporates, 14% is lost through transpiration, 2% is run off in rivers/dams and a mere 1% seeps underground and recharges our local aquifers.
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Some months ago, the City of Windhoek water monitoring category was announced as C "scarcity", meaning there is a water problem. Now, in August 2024, we are in category D which is "severe scarcity" and every citizen must apply certain water saving actions. This is one category before E, the worst!! E means many of our industries and household water uses will be restricted, and Windhoek will be in total crises.
As population, industries and in-migration of people is increasing at a fast and unsustainable rate, our water demand will increase by at least 124% by 2050. This puts all water resources and solutions under pressure and stress.
We have no chance of winning this battle unless we take some serious actions!
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Let me give you some background information and practical tips for action so that YOU can help save water!
BY Python Maps on x.com. The map shows the world wide rainfall statistics in 2023
https://x.com/PythonMaps/status/1749505961772114297
Distribution of average annual rainfall (mm) in Namibia in Atlas of Namibia by Mandelsohn et al., 2002.
Importance of water
The City of Windhoek has already posted more than 2 alerts in 2024, saying that we have to save up to at least 15% of water or otherwise we will end up in the worst water monitoring category, causing enormous problems such as the closing of multiple industries causing a ginormous downfall of economic productivity. Many industries such as agriculture, but also manufacturing such a bottling beverages, are directly impacted/limited by water scarcity. If the crisis gets any worse than what it is, industries will be forced to close or shrink. This is an alarming problem. For example, Agriculture employs about 50% of the population meaning that poverty, unemployment and hunger will be increasing. Furthermore, this is predicted, we will lose US$1.5 million per day in productivity.
Water is the most important resource in our lives. You might think it’s your phone, but I hate to break the news to you, it’s not. First of all, we need water to live. Water carries nutrients to cells (without cells we are nothing) , prevents dehydration, regulates body temperature, protects organs and cells and breaks down food to get nutrients. So, how one can see, we need water. Without water we couldn’t even be doing tiktoks or doing our hobbies or going to school because we would be dead.
We also need water in other situations such as for cooking, sanitation (do U want to run around stinky, attracting flies, do U want diseases?), washing dishes, factories, electricity (no electricity no internet, no internet no tiktok).
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If we dont’ save water and don’t look for other solutions our water sources will become stressed and overused and eventually they cannot be a source of supply. The importance of water saving is vital as currently not even all sources combined can supply for all citizens in Namibia as our water demand is increasing.
“Please use water sparingly, every living being and plant depend on it. Let us find solutions together.” “Water is life, without it we can’t exist, therefore everyone, all citizens, I urge you to save water” said Dr. Elijah Ngurare, Deputy Executive Director of the Department of Water Affairs.
Public Notice by City of Windhoek, rules and regulations for water saving on Facebook on 30th August 2024
HOW YOU CAN HELP!
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Only shower, don't take baths. Take short showers (perhaps do a competition against your friends and see who can take the shortest shower and use the least water, the winner at the end of the week/month gets a prize).
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When washing your hair, turn the water off when doing so.
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Wash leniently - only wash if necessary. It is not even good for our skin to shower too often!
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Only flush the toilet if absolutely necessary. Standard toiles use up t0 23 l per flush. New water saving toilets still use 6 l of drinking quality water per flush!
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Use same dish water until it is VERY dirty. You can use grey water especially from rising for gardening purposes (but beware of giving too many detergent chemicals to your plants).
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Turn off the tap when brushing teeth and washing hands. If you leave the water running you use around 15 l of water! Turning the water off can reduce your use to 1 l, easily.
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Very sadly no filling pools even in summer (maybe make your own ice bath instead?).
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Don't wash your car. In fact you are not allowed to wash your car in a category D crises!
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When having a garden, only water in the early morning or late afternoon so that less water is evaporated. Use drip irrigation and not a pipe!
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Install deep pipes next to your trees to ensure that your water reaches the roots! I will give you a good design ...
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Use native plants and plants that are resistant to the drought (fat plants, euphorbias, aloes, wild grass, keep trees to create a positive micro climate). Do not maintain lavish green lawns that need a lot of watering! An absolute no-go in Windhoek!
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If you are a good dancer try out the rain dance (maybe it works for you and us)!
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Remember that each tap you leave open, each long shower you take or each time you water the garden for long periods our crisis will worsen and you too will be affected by it. Also note that once the City of Windhoek announces a water crises you need to follow the water saving instructions - by law!
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Desert adapted succulent garden. Photographed in my now garden. September 2024
An Inforgaphic on how to save water by WWF South Africa December 2016
1 person uses 302-380 litres per day!!!How do we use this water each day?
Key water uses:
Toilet flushing: 23 litres per flush
Shower 30 litres per minute
Bath 151 litres per bath
Washing machine: 227 litres per load
Dishes 57 litres
Brush teeth 25 litres per brush
Wash hands 8 litres per wash
DID U KNOW?
Namibias current water resources & their problems
​In Windhoek, we have already used and developed all considered possible water sources and solutions within a 325 km radius. We mainly rely on 3 dams (the Omatako, the Swakoppoort and the von Bach dam), groundwater, the Windhoek aquifer and the Goreangab recycle plant (although the quality of the Goreangab dam is very poor and polluted).
In recent years, the evaporation rate has increased causing over 50% of the water in the dams to evaporate per year. On top of that, the dams rely on precipitation/ rainfall - so no rain -no recharge.
Avis dam in drought on July 2016 by Daniela Ruppel on Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/78747203@N08/27550812224
Groundwater can be abstracted in dry periods and it is the most economical way. Some aquifers partially recharge naturally in good rainfall years. But if not, it is a finite resource meaning that it eventually will run out if abstraction is not controlled. It is also not always good quality water for human purposes and is unevenly distributed, meaning it is only solving problems for some.
The 3 way dam system by WRMP JOINT VENTURE NAMIBIA, 2010c.
Diagram of how aquifers look like by Environment Canada / USGS on LIVE SCIENCE: https://www.livescience.com/39625-aquifers.html
Aquifers are natural underground water reservoirs and in them water is protected from evaporation and pollution. MAR - the Managed aquifer recharge system that is being implemented in Namibia has been beneficial as the existing aquifers are used as water storage, in the end saving the 50% p.a. lost from open dams. So more crops have access to water and farmers can water more areas! Aquifers enable water to be deposited when available and withdrawn when needed. However in the future if there isn’t enough rain and water in dams there isn’t a lot, then there is no water that can be deposited in aquifers for recharge. another thought - even if there was more rainfall, accessible aquifers would probably still not be enough to please Windhoek’s water demand in the future.
Water reclamation is a very successful strategy in Namibia. Water reclamation can also be called water reuse. It is the process of treating waste water and sewage so that it can be used again for drinking, showering a.o.. This is recycling but just with water instead of garbage or paper. The Goreangab water reclamation plant eliminates contaminants in water which can then be reused by citizens. This recycling plant was built in 1968 . It is already over 50 years old. Older than most of us. The recycling plant provides direct potable reuse services and does all processes in 24hrs. It produces up to 25 million litres of water each day. This is our hero, but like the others it is not enough to solve our water crisis. And - on the side - it seems to be a little aged ... or why would the Goreangab dam be so smelly?
The Goreangab Water Recycling Reclamination plant in Windhoek, photo by Veolia 2018
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
Desalination plant
The government is looking at starting the construction of a new desalination plant at the beginning of next year (2025) at the coast. The cost will be about N$ 2 billion as it is not being constructed from scratch but added to the infrastructure of the already existing desalination plant at the coast. In the future, it is planned to build pipelines to the Swakoppoort dam - but this is a steep uphill!
Namibia is first trying to work with the cheapest options until the crisis is out of control and more actions are needed.
Kavango link project
Another option would be the Kavango water transfer link, however, that solution faces greater problems and challenges: The Kavango is shared by 3 southern African countries: Angola, Botswana and Namibia. This means that each country has a certain part or portion of the river. The cost for constructions are an estimated at 7 billion N$. The process if it is taken as consideration would be having pipelines transport the water to Grootfontein and from there the water would be supplied to central areas. But the impact on the Okavango delta could be catastrophic. However, if the water crisis is life threatening for all citizens then this strategy and project may be needed.
Nature based solutions
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Nature-based Solutions (NBS) address societal challenges through actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural and modified ecosystems, benefiting people and nature at the same time.
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Build earth dams which retain water during the rainy season and increase water infiltration to recharge aquifers
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Improve quality of run off by managing livestock and game manure and limiting pollution of open water dams
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Maintain a healthy tree and vegetation cover and soil quality (through organic matter) that can better absorb rainwater, prevent erosion
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Build artificial wetlands between waste water plans and water retention dams to naturally purify water. Plants and macro fauna (beetle larvae, and other) naturally absorb and filter ablution remnants in the water.
DO U HAVE ANY IDEAS ON HOW TO SAVE WATER?!
Desalination Plant, Swakopmund, photographed by Philip Mostert 2010.
NAMIBIA IS NOT ALONE
Although Namibia is one of the driest countries in the World, the problem of water shortages and water quality and cleanliness is a global one. Around 2 billion people don’t have access to clean water to DRINK!! And 3 billion people don’t have access to basic/ good sanitation services. Imagine feeling dizzy and unenergetic each day because you can’t even have the basic needs of life. Imagine walking around stinky, unable to wash your hair (maybe even have lice in your hair) and have to wear dirty clothes every single day! This is shocking!! In many countries women and girls have to walk long distances, up to 6km a day on average, to fetch water. All girls together around the world spend about 200 million hours per day just to fetch water!! This prevents them from going to school or doing other productive activities. And what do we do?? We do our hobbies, go to school, get driven around, watch films. Water directly impacts on the progression of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) in areas such as education, poverty, hunger and gender equality.
Many humans around the globe are stuck in the poverty cycle
Many women in Malawi have to collect water which is far away from homes and not always clean. Photographed by Jenipher Changwanda
Access to clean water and water as a whole causes a poverty cycle.
By Tiaji Salaam Blyther , 2012
CLOSE WATER ISN'T ALWAYS CLEAN WATER
Many people are forced to drink dirty water as they have no other option. This causes per year almost 3-4 million people die of waterborne diseases because of bacteria in the water. This is so frustrating!!
Many don't have access to clean water in the world and some not event to water.
Picture by Yasin Demirci/Anadolu Agency/Getty in 2022
Causes of dirty water
Water pollution: Agricultural and industrial waste including pesticides, fertilisers and other toxins pollute the water. This can lead to is eutrophication, causing algal blooms. Water pollution is responsible for contamination of water which can cause diseases. Everyone should be ensured and have the right to use water from freshwater bodies and have the certainty that they are safe to use.
Population growth: As our population is expected to grow rapidly (in Windhoek by 2060 a doubling of the population is expected, from 326,000 to 790,000), more pollution is expected as more industries will be needed, and more water will be required. To add on - unsustainable use of water and increasing water demand will bring water resources under stress.
Climate change: Weather patterns globally are changing fast because of the CO2 and other greenhouse emissions we release to the atmosphere. Many countries are threatened by droughts, floods and other natural disasters. The more droughts we have, the more water evaporates meaning less water accessibility and less precipitation/ rainfall is falling. Many communities are forced to drink dirty water to survive in this situation. Floods can cause water contamination as it may cause flooded latrines, sewage and chemical waste.
WATER SITUATION IN Namibia's regions
Even though our water crisis in Windhoek is devastating during the 2024 drought, there has been worse situations in other parts of the country. In the Zambezi region, examples of how wildlife is affected can be seen. Where once was a landscape of thriving biodiversity was seen, now a sight of graveyard is emerging. It can be expected that thousands of animals may die as there is a lack of water and food for people and for animals, livestock and wildlife.
Below is an article which explains the situation with regards to the Government's announcement of culling animals in Namibia because of the drought (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/29/world/africa/namibia-drought-elephants-meat.html).
Animals die in Bamunu community conservancy because lack of water and food. September 2024 by Juliane Zeidler/WWF Namibia
Animals die in Bamumu community conservancy because lack of water and food. September 2024 by Juliane Zeidler/WWF Namibia
DID U KNOW?
Only 3% of the planet's water is fresh water and from that 1.7% is hidden in glaciers and ice caps. Only 1.3% of water of the whole Earth can be used for drinking water. Our main water supply is surface water from lakes, rivers, dams and swimming pools (joking). We also rely on groundwater.
Okavango Delta, photographed by Gertrude M. Matswiri
I deeply apologise that you have to read so much. I also don’t like reading. But now you are a water expert on Namibia. If school doesn’t work out for you guys, you can do something with water in Nam. You have all the knowledge you need to get started.
References
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Clayton, Freddie. “Why Namibia’s 1960s Sewage Purifying Plant Is a Beacon of Hope for the US Water Crisis.” Nature Africa, 8 Dec. 2023, www.nature.com/articles/d44148-023-00349-z#:~:text=Windhoek%27s%20plant%20uses%20a%20process, https://doi.org/10.1038/d44148-023-00349-z. Accessed 22 Feb. 2024.
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