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dam-l Asmal & Saving Water
The following is from South Africa's "Business Day," 23 March 1998
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Asmal calls for greater awareness of saving water
by Josey Ballenger
WATER Affairs Minister Kader Asmal yesterday called on authorities, water
boards and other water supply players to put their efforts behind creating
a "broader consciousness" of water conservation and to continue working
together beyond "traditional boundaries" to unite for water provision.
"We have made co-operative governance work," Asmal said on the banks of
the Vaal River in Vanderbijlpark at the conclusion of National Water Week,
whose motto was "To have water is your right. To save water it is your
responsibility."
Asmal pointed to the water affairs department's Working for Water
programme - which eliminates alien vegetation, saves water and creates
jobs, particularly for women, in collaboration with water boards across the
country - as an example of a multiparty initiative.
The national water conservation campaign had also mobilised several
partners "beyond their (mandated) boundaries" in its 2020 Vision for Water
schools project, another "world first".
Asmal also highlighted Gauteng utility Rand Water Board's involvement in
repairing leaks in areas such as Thokoza, Soweto, Tembisa, Kagiso and
Daveyton. This reduced water loss and the high costs to local authorities
"resulting from apartheid-era plumbing in homes".
"This country faces serious water stress within two decades if we do not
give water the respect it deserves. We must give it proper value, conserve
it (and) find new resources without harming the environment or
populations," he said.
"We must keep water where it belongs on the national agenda: on the top,"
he said.
Rand Water CE Vincent Bath and other experts emphasised throughout the
week that with current consumption patterns and population growth, SA will
have used up its existing supply by 2020. Building dams was "not the
answer" to obtaining additional supply.
However, Asmal said yesterday that calls for a delay in the Lesotho
Highlands water project were "wrong" and that people should not be
"deceived" by full dams, as uncertainty lingered surrounding the El Nino
effect, which could bring severe drought to southern Africa.
-end-
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Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
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