ZAMBIA is at a risk of having a water crisis, warns the Water Resources Management Authority (WARMA).
Featuring on Zambezi FM radio, WARMA public relations officer Mubiana Nalwendo said reports have continued to indicate that water resources in the country are diminishing at an alarming rate.
“WARMA has indicated in its reports that Zambia is at a risk of having a water crisis in the near future due to activities that are negatively affecting the resource,” Nalwendo said.
He indicated that WARMA has continued to record cases indicating that resources are diminishing in most parts of the country especially in Lusaka and Southern Province.
Nalwendo added that the authority has been receiving numerous reports of boreholes drying up, an indication that the ground water table has tremendously dropped.
“The diminishing of the resource can also be seen from the drying of many streams that are contributary to rivers such as the Zambezi and Kafue rivers. It is worrying that the ground water table has dropped to as low as 120 metres in areas like Lusaka West, a situation that cannot be compared to a few years back when ground water in Lusaka could easily be accessed after drilling about 35 to 40 metres,” he said.
Nalwendo noted that WARMA has continued to engage many stakeholders in the mining, agriculture and energy sectors who are the major users of water so as to find ways to avoid compromising the state of the water resource.
He said the authority constantly sends inspectors on the ground to ensure the resource is not encroached on. This is contained in a report published by The Mast.
By Edwin Mbulo in Livingstone