29 Jul 2024

An Emergency Water Security and Efficiency consultancy project is underway to enhance water resource management. 

Backed by the World Bank to the tune of US$1.1 million, the project started in January with its completion expected in November. 

In an interview, a project team member and water engineer at the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), Ms Onalekutlo Kenabatho, explains that Botswana is in the process of developing a national water resources drought preparedness and management plan, along with an early warning system to manage hydrological drought in the country and ensure adequate supply. 

She says the project is meant to establish an integrated drought monitor, draw a preparedness plan and build stakeholder capacity.

“The project is at the consultation stage and approval of interfaced system designs. It targets the improvement of water conservation efficiencies through promotion of practices and technologies that enhance water conservation, such as efficient irrigation techniques and water-saving devices,” she says. 

She adds that the project targets to improve policy and institutional frameworks through recommending policies, regulations and institutional capacities to support effective drought management and sustainable water resource stewardship. She highlights that the project is necessitated by the fact that Botswana depends on both surface and underground water with major contributions from the Okavango, Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers. The country has approximately 42 000 registered boreholes yet still grapples with water challenges such as low recharge rates and insufficient monitoring. “Botswana contends with high evaporation rate of 2 000mm per annum, inconsistent and scarce rainfall, shared water courses with other Southern African countries, which are subject to regulation by the SADC Protocol on Shared Water Course as well as frequent droughts,” she adds. 

Also, she says Botswana’s flat terrain makes it hard to explore other potential damming sites for additional water sources and the country is prone to repeated droughts that affect both its water resources and economy

As such, she says some measures are in place to deal with the challenges, which include development of a national water resources drought preparedness and management plan, an early warning system and a water resources drought management centre. 

Ms Kenabatho says assessments have been carried out and results have that the total water demand for the country is 233mm3 per year against the current water supply status of 225mm3 with projections reflecting an increase of 340mm3 by 2035. She further says the main water sources for the country are surface, groundwater and grey water re-use, albeit very lowly utilised in the country. 

She says dams account for 59 per cent towards supply, groundwater is at 30 per cent, while rivers provide 11 per cent of the water supply. Currently, she says, water source sustainable yields stands at a total of dams’ storages capacity at 513mm3. Botswana has potential suitable groundwater supply capacity of 96mm3 and has 374 small dams that contribute 3.3mm3 while wastewater re-use is at minimal, which is only beneficial in urban areas. 

She further reveals that the project is progressing well as the team is currently engaging stakeholders to incorporate their input in the plan, working with an Italian consultancy company Studio Galli Ingegneria (SGI) to proactively implement the National Drought Management Strategy (NDMS) through the implementation of a Water Resources Drought Management Centre.

A representative of SGI, Mr Leonard Dikobe, says there is growing worry over the reactive way of dealing with drought, which mainly focuses on managing crises as they arise. 

“The reactive approach only deals with the effects of drought, and not the reasons why certain areas are vulnerable to it in the first place,” Mr Dikobe says. 

He adds that supply of fresh drinking water is facing more challenges, with prolonged droughts being a major factor. Severe droughts and climate change, like those experienced from 2014 to 2016, are now recognised as significant obstacles to achieving sustainable growth, economic development, better agricultural output, and meeting the water needs of homes and businesses in Botswana. 

The project, he says will come up with an early warning system,  a mechanism designed to detect and alert people or organisations to potential hazards, risks, or threats before they escalate into emergencies or disasters. 

He explains that the early warning system involves monitoring of various indicators or signals related to natural disasters like droughts. 

“In an early warning system for drought, several indicators or signals can be monitored to assess and predict drought conditions. These indicators include meteorological indicators, remote sensing and soil moisture indicators, hydrological indicators such as monitoring flow of rivers and streams to assess water availability and drought impacts on water bodies as well as measuring groundwater levels in wells and aquifers,” he says. 

He also reveals that the proposed decision support system will comprise water evaluation and planning tool that will be hosted at DWS Hydrological Drought Centre and the Database and GIS Web User Interface hosted at the Department of Shared Digital Services. Ends