During the past four years, the local media has been saturated with reports about how the city will run out of water, and promises to come up with long-term solutions have fallen by the wayside.
Being the capital city of Namibia and housing up to a quarter of the country’s population of 2,4 million, the city relies on NamWater for 70% of its water, while the other 30% comes from surface water and boreholes.
However, due to poor rainfall, NamWater this week reported low water levels at the three dams where Windhoek draws its water from.
According to the report, the three dams supplying the central parts of Namibia – including Windhoek and Okahandja – with water are currently a combined 29,9% full, according to the corporation’s latest weekly dam bulletin.
Amutenya explained that the city has now moved from Category B, which means there was a need to be alert about the low water levels, to Category C, which shows that there is a drought, and water savings need to be increased to 10%.
But all residents, businesses and consumers still need to do their best to keep the situation under control, as “with concerted efforts, we will survive the drought.” “The city is well-known for water recycling through our reclamation plant, and there are also plans to construct a second reclamation plant in the foreseeable future that is expected to augment water supply,” she said, adding that the only effective measure to conserve water now is to use it sparingly.
Speaking to The Namibian on Tuesday, the Popular Democratic Movement’s councillor Ignatius Semba said the city should come up with a long-term solution to the water crisis.
He said the issue of water is not being taken seriously by the city or central government as they keep coming up with solutions which are not implemented, such as the idea of a desalination plant.
Some think it might not help, but it could because restricting people from using water will not help,” he stated.
“Maybe come up with a plan that looks at how many people are allowed to come in and stay in Windhoek per month or year, and thus know what you are dealing with,” Mbai urged.