WATER POLITICS

Nafasi Water, Manager for New Business, Brendan Petschel has said that Namibia’s coastal regions which hold the key to future prosperity of Namibia is expected to require 36,500 Ml p.a. (megalitres per annum) of water by 2030 for public and private use.

This provides an evident challenge as only 12,000 Ml p.a. can be supplied from existing sources, further affirmed Petschel in a Green Hydrogen Masterclass last week where he spoke broadly about the establishment of water desalination plant in Namibia.

To this end, this presents a potential 24 500 Ml p.a water deficit.

One megalitre of water is equivalent to one million litres of water.

The Central Coastal region is home to mining, tourism and fishing industries through hubs in Walvis Bay and Swakopmund.

“In addition to major growth driving industries such as mining, NamWater in the Central Coastal region also needs to meet public needs for water supply in the region,” said Petschel.

Only 2% of Namibia’s unpredictable rainfall (c. 272 mm p.a.) is captured as surface run-off and only 1% is available to recharge ground water

Namibia’s high evaporation rates leads to an annual water deficit, relative to rainfall, of c. 1,300mm – 2,500mm which can be compounded by periodic droughts.

Further to this, Namibia’s sparse population exacerbates challenges in distributing its limited, erratic ground/surface water supply to both rural and urban settlements. Limited perennial rivers run along Namibia’s Northern and Southern borders, 700-800km away from high demand areas such as Windhoek and Walvis Bay.

DESALINATION

In July, it was reported that the government has obtained land to construct a desalination plant in the Namib Desert.

NamWater chief executive officer Abraham Nehemia affirmed this noting that the government is in the process of building a desalination plant through NamWater to secure water supply at the central coast and in central Namibia.

The Erongo Regional Council has donated land for the plant, adjacent to the existing Orano desalination plant owned by French state-owned Orano Mining Namibia, which was previously known as Areva Resources Namibia.

NamWater first revealed plans to build a water desalination plant in 1998 to deal with rising water demand in coastal areas.

The battle to construct a second desalination plant has been going on for years.

LACK OF WATER IMPACT ON INDUSTRY

Namibia’s emerging and booming green hydrogen industry is one of the industries that could be affected by water challenges in the coast and beyond. An example is Namibia’s first hydrogen project in the Erongo region, Dâures Green Hydrogen which could be challenged in identifying a water source – a key component of turning water into energy.

It has also been reported that the project was considering using water from the Ugab River, a major source of water for wildlife in the Namib Desert.

Located at Dâures, the project is also looking at sourcing water from the Atlantic Ocean, situated about 140km from the site.

As of March, the implementers have spent N$37 million (16%) of the N$220-million grant from the German government to implement the project in 18 months – yet a water source has still not been identified.

The government selected the Dâures Green Hydrogen Consortium, led by Enersense Energy Namibia, to carry out the pilot project, which was launched last year.

This includes the Dâures Green Hydrogen Village comprising a production plant, community partnerships, green schemes and a fertiliser plant.

However, the project estimates it would need 2,2 billion litres of water.

In the past, inconsistent water supply has reportedly cost companies a lot in potential revenue, with Swakop Uranium saying in 2020 it lost about N$1,9 billion over two years because of water scarcity.

The lack of water in many parts of Namibia remains a constant problem.

Previously, the Executive Director of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, Ndiyakupi Nghituwamata confirmed that severe water shortages are being experienced in the Erongo, Kavango West, Omaheke, Ohengwena, Omusati, Oshikoto and Ohangwena regions.

Windhoek too is experiencing water problems, and residents have been asked to cut back their water consumption by 10% to help sustain water demand.

In 2012, a massive aquifer was declared as capable of supplying about 40% of the Namibian population in the central northern region with water for 400 years.