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dam-l New reports says SA water resources unsustainable (fwd)
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From owner-irn-safrica@igc.org Thu Oct 28 12:45:12 1999
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Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 09:37:49 -0700
From: lori@irn.org (Lori Pottinger)
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Subject: New reports says SA water resources unsustainable
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SOUTHERN AFRICA: New environment report says water resources are
unsustainable
JOHANNESBURG, 27 October (IRIN) - South Africa's first 'State of the
Environment' report by the national department of Environmental Affairs and
Tourism, shows that water resources in the country are already almost fully
utilised and that with the projected population growth and economic
development rates, it is unlikely that the foreseen demand on water
resources will be sustainable.
"Water is increasingly becoming the limiting resource in South Africa, and
supply will become a major restriction to the future socio-economic
development of the country," the report said. According to the report,
maintaining sustainable water resources is a critical element in the battle
against poverty and a "cornerstone of prosperity."
The report cites a number of reasons for the declining water resources, the
most important being population growth and increased economic activity.
This has led to intensification of land practices, which has in turn led to
increased water demands and increased deterioration of water resources. It
said that most of the country's major rivers have been dammed to provide
water to an expanding population. Most of the natural wetlands have been
converted for other land purposes, and the report estimated that up to 50
percent of the country's wetland have already been lost. It said that
ground and surface water resources have been severely affected by pollution
adversely affecting fresh water ecosystems.
South Africa is to a large extent a very dry country, with only 8.6 percent
of the annual rainfall available as surface water. This is one of the
lowest ratios in the world. The country has an average rainfall of about
497 mm, the world average is about 860 mm per year.
South Africa is not the only country in the southern Africa region that is
facing decreased water resources. According to a recent Southern African
Development Community (SADC) water sector report, the region has had "mixed
blessings" in rainfall patterns. It said that the rainfall distribution in
the region has been erratic and uneven, resulting in recurring droughts in
many parts of the region. "In the rural areas of most SADC member states,
which have underground water as their resource, shallow boreholes have
dried up," the SADC report said. SADC has maintained that an integrated
approach towards the development and management of water resources has to
be adopted. A World Bank report said that "the wars of the next century
will be over water."
The SADC protocol on shared watercourse systems, which has been ratified by
Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and
Zimbabwe, says that "member states shall utilise a shared water system in
an equitable way." The Zambezi River Basin, is the largest in the SADC
region and is shared by eight countries, with a total population of 102.9
million people, and flows over a distance of about 2,800 km. It is the
fourth most shared river basin in Africa.
[ENDS]
Contact IRIN-SA (Tel: +27 11 880 4633, e-mail irin-sa@ocha.unon.org) for
more information or free subscriptions.
Item: irin-english-1862
[This item is delivered in the "irin-english" service of the UN's IRIN
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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 1999
Subscriber: sacbl@sn.apc.org
Keyword: Botswana
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Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
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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