Namibia: Water Crisis Worsens, Rainfall Plummets Below-Average

March 8, 2024 Hour: 4:49 pm

On Friday, official sources stated that Namibia is facing a worsening water shortage crisis as reservoir levels reach critical lows, prompting the country’s water utility and municipalities to implement emergency measures to prevent a potential disaster.

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“The expected rainfall and inflow into the dams for the current rainy season did not materialize as expected. It is well below average,” said Andries Kok, a spokesperson from NamWater, the national water utility, in an interview with Xinhua on Friday.

Three crucial dams responsible for supplying water to Windhoek, Namibia’s capital, and surrounding areas are currently at a mere 20.4 percent capacity, down from 42.5 percent a year ago, Kok said.

Vonbach Dam, the primary water source for Windhoek, is particularly alarming, with levels plummeting to just 11.4 percent, compared to 30.1 percent during the same period last year, he added.

In response to a severe water shortage, the City of Windhoek has activated its emergency borehole scheme to bolster the drinking water supply.

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— Namibia Economist (@Nam_Economist)
March 7, 2024

Furthermore, the Omatako dam, which is also a source of water for Windhoek where water from this dam is transferred to Vonbach, is already empty.

Worsening the crisis is the limited capacity for water transfer from other sources. While water is transferred from Swakopoort to Vonbach, there are constraints on the volume that can be transported.

“Namwater can transfer 10 million cubic meters a year, which is not sufficient. To supply the whole of the central areas, we need about 24 million cubic meters per annum,” he said.

The country’s geographical and climatic characteristics, characterized by arid conditions and erratic rainfall patterns, make it highly vulnerable to water scarcity, leaving water as an exceedingly scarce resource.