SADC launches water programme

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Thursday April 8, 2010 00:00

Officially launching the programme at Cresta Lodge, deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Mineral, Energy and Water Resources, Boikobo Paya, underlined the importance of water resources saying  seven of the eight Millennium Development Goals(MDGS) cannot be achieved without water.

He said water management supports the SADC objectives of poverty reduction, food security, energy security and industrial development, as well as being an instrument to promote peace and cooperation amongst member states.

The deputy PS said SADC, through the Regional Water Strategy has been tasked to mainstream and promote use of Water Demand Management (WDM) in all aspects of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) at regional, national and basin levels.

He explained that to effectively implement the strategy, it has been packaged in five year Regional Strategic Action Plans.

'In addition to the SADC Regional Water Policy (RWP), the Regional Indicative Strategic Plan (RISDP), which takes into consideration other sectors apart from water, highlights various opportunities for Water Demand Management to achieve the SADC goal and objectives, as well as other recognised international and regional targets such as the MDGs, the goals of the African Union on water through African Ministerial Council on Water (AMCOW) and the New Economic Plan for African Development (NEPAD), including the Southern African Vision for Water Life and the Environment,' Paya added. Paya said a regional and trans-boundary approach of Water Demand Management will, among others, ensure that lessons from more countries more advanced in Water Demand Management are transferred as well as broadening and increasing  the viability of the market for financial services for Water Demand Management amongst regional banks and financial organisations.

He added that the regional and trans-boundary approach of the water resources management could contribute to a more coherent regional use of scarce water resources.

Turning to the local scenario, Paya said because of the semi-arid climate, most of Botswana's rivers and streams are ephemeral, while the few perennial rivers are trans-boundary in nature. The majority of the population depends on ground water, which is also facing serious threats of pollution and over-exploitation, he said. 

Paya pointed out that the harsh situations Botswana found herself in made it imperative for the country to adopt a holistic planning process for water development and planning with a view to meeting the needs of all sectors of its economy, resulting in the 2006 review of the Botswana National Water Master Plan (NWMP).

The Deputy PS said Botswana is in the process of developing and implementing a dynamic Water Efficiency Plan, which will address both national and trans-boundary water management priorities.

Paya said the project will also implement some pilots for water conservation through conjunctive use of grey-water re-use and rainwater harvesting in selected schools in the country.  He added that the aim of the pilot project is to demonstrate tangible impacts on the ground and further document and disseminate lessons learnt across the Southern African region. 

'There was Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the same programme.  These past phases were directed at awareness creation, capacity building and information dissemination and generally to understand the state of Water Demand Management(WDM) in the region.  The upcoming Phase 3 will have the objective of entrenching a WDM culture in SADC and contributing to the SADC Vision,' Paya said. 

The SADC Water Division in the Directorate on Infrastructure and Services coordinates the pilot project.