15 Oct 2015

University of Botswana (UB) official, Dr Ronald Tshelametse has challenged water scientists to think outside the box and look for more water sources with a view to address the current situation in the country.

He said they should come up with solutions rather than spending more time describing the problem. 

Giving a presentation on alternative water sources and practices during the Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (SASSCAL) consultative workshop held at Maun Lodge, Dr Tshelametse urged participants to move away from stating the problem, adding that it was worrisome that sixty per cent of the time was spent on describing the problem while forty per cent was spent on discussing solutions.

“As scientists we should set out to transform human habitats such as homes, businesses, industries, schools, offices and cattle posts into entities that do not depend entirely on neither surface water nor underground water sources for their daily water needs,” he added.

The workshop attracted key stakeholders from Botswana and surrounding countries. The objective of the workshop was to receive, discuss and validate science based services and products and capacity development needs that were identified by previous workshops.

He said they should engage other stakeholders to change their domains in terms of water practices towards the AWSAP philosophy and approach.

He said there was need to manage and conserve what was available, noting that a lot of water was lost through condensation, chemical reactions, biological substances and from plants.

He said 44 per cent of portable water was lost through leakage and theft. Ends