Groundwater scientists in the southern African region have a major role to play to ensure that policy and decision makers especially in non-water sectors understand and appreciate the economic value of using, developing and managing the groundwater resource.

This was one of the issues highlighted at the 3rd Southern African Development Community Multi-stakeholder Water Dialogue held on 27 to 28 May 2009 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

In his welcome remarks to the Dialogue whose theme was ‘Watering Development in SADC: Surfacing of the Hidden Resource – Groundwater’, Director for the Infrastructure and Services Directorate at the SADC Secretariat, Mr. Remigious Makumbe noted that the region faced the challenge of raising the profile of groundwater, its importance and the role it plays in socio-economic development.

About 110 delegates comprising groundwater scientists, representatives from the water, health, mining, economic and planning, tourism, environment and agriculture sectors from the SADC member states, as well as others from donor organizations and national water partnerships participated in the two-day dialogue. The member states of SADC include Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The Water Dialogue was organized on behalf of SADC by the Global Water Partnership – Southern Africa (GWP-SA) and funded by the government of Denmark under the SADC/DANIDA Regional Water Sector Programme.

The meeting noted that despite the acknowledged potential of groundwater use to improve rural water supply, the real value of groundwater was not visible enough to influence policy decisions and resource allocation that could lead to improved use, development and management of the resource within the region.

A survey conducted by the Groundwater and Drought Management Project of SADC early this year, reveal that there is a great need for groundwater awareness targeting policy and decision makers, including those in non-water sectors on the use, development and management of the groundwater resource.

In her keynote address to the dialogue Ms. Karen Villholth a groundwater expert from the Denmark’s Ministry of Climate and Environment described groundwater 'as a strategic resource of today and tomorrow for SADC', adding that, if properly understood, groundwater can enhance the efforts towards improved water supply, food production, drought proofing, climate adaptation and meeting the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Delegates argued that the extent to which groundwater issues will be placed on the top agendas of policy and decision making to a large extent depended on the extent to which the experts promote the economic good and value in the use, development and management of groundwater.

The delegate from Malawi’s Ministry of Economic Planning, Mr. Yona Kamphale said that in his country, the government was convinced to allocate resources for monitoring of groundwater in the 2009 national budget because the communities and parliamentarians worked with experts to present the case.

At least 70 percent of the 250 million people in the SADC region rely on groundwater as their sole source of water for drinking, domestic use, livestock and irrigation, yet there is little knowledge and appreciation of its potential role to contribute to socio-economic development and poverty alleviation.

According to the groundwater experts at the dialogue, compared to other regions, the use and development of groundwater for agricultural production is underutilized in the southern African region. South Africa is one country in the region where more farmers are using groundwater to irrigate their crops during the dry season.

The inadequate use and development of groundwater in the region is attributed to the widespread lack of understanding of groundwater and its role in national and regional development objectives.

The fact that groundwater is hidden underground, and 'out of the public sight', and little knowledge about its value to economic development and poverty alleviation is known to policy and decision makers, it is often left out in water resources management and other socio-economic development programmes.

There is need for increased awareness on groundwater’s role towards the improvement of water supply in the rural areas of many countries in the region, especially those which currently have to go furthest in meeting the MDGs.

There is need for more people in the policy and decision making positions to understand groundwater and fully integrate it in their planning, management and resource allocation so that the region can benefit from the hidden resource in a sustainable manner.

In the more arid areas of the southern African region where rainfall is low and less predictable, groundwater may be the only source of supply for all types of agricultural activity, including watering livestock.

The following advantages of groundwater were highlighted:

- Groundwater allows people to live in places where surface water is scarce. In much of rural Southern Africa, it is the sole water supply for livestock and domestic purposes.

- Groundwater is also an important ecological resource. It helps keep the rivers and lakes full, and sustains a wealth of plants of animals. Some of the ecosystems in the region are dependent on groundwater for their survival.

- Groundwater is reliable in dry seasons or droughts because of the large storage.

- Groundwater is cheaper to develop, since, unpolluted, it requires little treatment or no treatment before use for domestic
supply.

- Groundwater can often be developed in the vicinity where the water supply is required while; dams can only be constructed in streams with assured flow and may be a long distance from the demand.

- Groundwater resources do not take up valuable agricultural (or other) land.

* Barbara Lopi is communications and events officer for the SADC Groundwater and Drought Management Project.
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.