Water resources under climate pressure

Sion Shifa, the senior conservation scientist at the environment ministry, has warned that climate change is placing increasing pressure on the country’s water resources, with dam levels shrinking as a result of declining rainfall and rapidly rising temperatures.

Speaking in Otjiwarongo yesterday during discussions on the revised National Policy on Climate Change, Shifa said higher temperatures are accelerating water evaporation from dams and other water reservoirs, while insufficient rainfall is also affecting the replenishment of underground aquifers.

He said the country relies heavily on groundwater, making reduced rainfall a growing concern for the availability and storage of water resources.

-Phillipus Josef