admin
In Zimbabwe, WWD 2013 celebrations have come at a difficult time, a time when the availability of safe and reliable water, particularly in urban areas, remains a serious challenge. That is the same problem as we had last year, and the year before and the one before that. The water problem has plagued Zimbabweans for a long time now; it is time to move away from talk and ceremonies to action.
For 2013, the World Water Day global theme is “Water Co-operation”. Zimbabwe is following the same theme. Spokesperson in the Ministry of Water Mr Butholezwe Nyathi said water co-operation meant a lot for Zimbabwe, especially at a time when the number of people lacking access to clean water was rising globally. He said in these circumstances, co-operation in the distribution and management of water resources between different parties could be the precise answer.
“Failure to have water co-operation might have deleterious effects and at times might lead to conflict among societies and countries,” Mr Nyathi said in an interview last week.
In Zimbabwe, water co-operation exists at various levels. For example, in rural areas people rely on communal water sources, which survive mainly because of the people’s co-operation in their management and conservation.
Zimbabwe also has rivers that cut across two or more districts or provinces and the people could only realise the optimum benefits through water co-operation.
“The country also shares various water courses with its neighbours and other riparian states along the Zambezi. Present Sadc protocols allow optimum water co-operation on these shared water courses,” he explained.
Mr Nyathi said while it was true that the availability of clean water had become unreliable, it was important to note that this emanated from various factors such as power cuts, plant breakdowns and inadequate resources.
However, on WWD, Government was expected to launch the National Water Policy “to address some of the gaps that are resulting in the problems people are encountering”.
But there was no joy for Mrs Betty Muchenje, a housemaid in Dzivaresekwa who cares for two children – a Grade Three pupil and a two-year toddler. She says she was not aware of an international day that celebrates the importance of water worldwide, and even when celebrated, she questioned what was being celebrated? But Mrs Muchenje said she was well aware that for three straight days last week the taps in her township ran dry. She complained that residents were now being forced to draw water for household use and drinking from unprotected wells spread around the high-density suburb.
“We cannot continue like this. We need water. If we do not get it soon, we will soon feel its impacts again -disease. Think about it, we cannot even use the toilet. Children have been defecating in the open,” she lamented. To improve water supplies, Mr Nyathi said the country depended on dams and rivers, adding that the policy of dam construction was Government priority to avoid water flowing into seas and oceans, particularly in the context of climate change. Zimbabwe has the second largest number of dams in Southern Africa after South Africa.
Water situation may worsen
The UN Panel on Climate Change expects that overall water surface resources in Zimbabwe will be significantly reduced by 2080 owing to changing climatic conditions. The northeastern and eastern parts of the country are projected to experience a surplus in surface water while the western and southern regions will most likely dry up.
Surface water (which are predominantly rivers and dams) is the main source of water here, providing over 90 percent of supply.
However, this type of water is lost in excessive quantities due to evaporation, caused by higher temperatures. Climate change will cause evaporation to rise by up to 25 percent, according to estimates. Yet, annual rainfall is seen declining by between 5 and 20 percent in the next 70 years. Currently, the agriculture sector consumes 80 percent of Zimbabwe’s water with the urban and industrial sector taking up 15 percent. The rest is shared among rural authorities, conservation and mining, according to Government statistics.
However, national water demand far outweighs supply by 631 million cubic metres. Government says in 2010 access to safe water and sanitation in urban areas was at 90 percent. To date, these figures have fallen to as low as 40 percent countrywide, says a report by the International Institute for Environment and Development on climate change impacts in Zimbabwe.
In 1999, some 75 percent of rural people had access to water but eight years later a third of that population were believed to be lacking access to improved drinking water.
“Zimbabwe’s water and sanitation infrastructure is generally aged and, therefore, more expensive to maintain . . .,” the report said.
God is faithful.
Online Reporter