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dam-l IRN Press release on Okavango/LS
INTERNATIONAL RIVERS NETWORK PRESS RELEASE
October 29, 1999
For Immediate Release
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CONTACTS
In US: Lori Pottinger, 510.848.1155, lori@irn.org
In Botswana: Steve Rothert, +267.353.337, stever@info.bw
Web site: www.irn.org
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OKAVANGO PIPELINE NOT NEEDED, NEW REPORT REVEALS
(NB: The new report, "Meeting Namibia's Water Needs While Sparing the
Okavango," is available on IRN's web site at
http://www.irn.org/programs/okavango/wn.exec.shtml)
The Okavango River and Delta have been threatened in recent years by a
proposed 250-km pipeline that would divert water from its rich inland
habitat to Namibia's parched capital, Windhoek. Now, alternative solutions
have been put forth that could ensure the Okavango is able to sustain its
ecologically rich inland delta and the communities which depend upon it.
The Okavango flows through Namibia into Botswana where it creates a massive
wetland in what would otherwise be a desert.
A new report by International Rivers Network and Conservation
International, based on data gathered by the water department and other
agencies in Namibia, reveal that cheaper, more sustainable measures could
meet growing demand and sustain the country through a future drought, while
also protecting the Delta in Botswana from the impacts of water diversions.
The Namibian Government has planned to pipe up to 20 million cubic meters
of water a year from the Okavango river upstream of the Delta ever since a
drought in 1996 forced the country to declare a water emergency. That
emergency has come and gone, but dry Namibia is bound to have many future
water crises, and government water planners have long planned to tap the
Okavango River.
The new report states that even in a worst case scenario - if it were to
stop raining and surface supplies would be exhausted by 2001 - Namibia has
many water alternatives that are cheaper and easier to get on-line than
taking the momentous and costly step of building the Okavango pipeline.
The average cost of water produced by these alternatives is less than half
the cost of Okavango water, and many of them could be implemented more
quickly than the two-year construction time for the Okavango pipeline. The
most elegant and perhaps most promising option is "water banking" - storing
surface water underground until needed during a drought, thereby reducing
evaporative losses. Namibia has among the highest evaporation rates in the
world, a fact which severely compromises above-ground water storage.
The report was handed over to the Technical Team Leader of the Namibia
Water Resources Management Review on October 4. At this event, the
Paramount Chief of the Okavango Delta of Botswana appealed to the Namibian
Government to give serious consideration to the alternatives described in
the report..
Chief Kgosi Tawana Moremi II said the Delta represents a significant
tourism resource in the region, providing thousands of jobs and generating
US$250 million in revenue for Botswana each year. "But there are people who
have no connection to the tourism industry. They, on a daily basis, sustain
themselves from the river and I am representing those people. It is
definitely not the last time that you hear of us and the Okavango Delta,"
he said.
The report acknowledges that, compared to many of its neighbors, Namibia
has already made significant advances towards this goal, including the
creation of an exemplary water conservation program in Windhoek, the
near-completion of a comprehensive water sector review and the drawing up
of a national demand management assessment.
"More needs to be done, however. The Water Act and water policies need to
be updated and revised, artificial recharge should be further explored,
demand management should be instituted nationwide, economics should be
applied more effectively, and emerging technologies need to be monitored
for eventual inclusion in the central supply system," the report says.
For example, although Windhoek has perhaps Southern Africa's most advanced
water conservation plan, there remains room for significant savings. The
architect of the city's water conservation campaign, Ben van der Merwe,
believes consumption could be cut by one-third more, at less than one-fifth
the cost of Okavango water.
With effective planning and continued commitment to sustainable water
management by all Namibians, the country can continue to grow and prosper
without having to consider building an expensive pipeline to the Okavango
river for a very long time, the report adds.
"Meeting Namibia's Water Needs While Sparing the Okavango" was presented to
the Namibian and Botswana governments' water departments in September, as
well as local NGOs working on water issues in the region.
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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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