Water sector continues to face critical challenges – Schlettwein
The Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, Hon Calle Schlettwein said that deteriorating water quality and crumbling infrastructure, combined with limited technological advancements and fragmented investments, are hindering the country’s water sector.
He revealed this recently at the opening of the National Workshop on Water Security and Climate Change.
According to Schlettwein the urgency of these challenges, the implementation of crucial water policies and strategies remains stalled, intensifying concerns for the nation’s water security.
Sustainable and long-term access to water resources is imperative for Namibia’s future, he said.
Key adaptation options include promoting efficient water harvesting techniques, endorsing the recycling, re-use, and reclamation of wastewater, and advancing the development of seawater desalination technologies, he said.
Additionally, Schlettwein said, leveraging artificial aquifer recharge can significantly increase the water supply while integrated water resource management is also being championed as an essential strategy to safeguard the nation’s water future.
These options are however capital intensive and require innovative financing, such as blended climate financing from various funding institutions, he elaborated.
“On the research front, we need to strengthen collaborative research efforts to gain a deeper understanding of our local climate patterns and to investigate innovative approaches to water resource management,” he said.
Schlettwein said, that in the past four decades, the frequency of droughts and floods in Namibia has surged by approximately 18 percent while surface water resources, vital for various purposes, including agriculture, are dwindling and becoming more unpredictable.
Rising temperatures and more frequent droughts and floods are already affecting the economy, with the most vulnerable being communities reliant on natural resources for their livelihoods, particularly subsistence agriculture, he said.
