Zambia - Groundwater Management in the Upper Kafue Catchment
Country / Region: Zambia / Africa
Focal Point: Groundwater
Begin of project: January 1, 2016
End of project: December 31, 2019
Status of project: February 18, 2020
Installed monitoring network in the project area and its location in Zambia
Source: BGR
Due to population growth, agricultural and industrial development as well as tourism, Zambia faces an increasing demand for water. The increasing demand for water is still a challenge for sustainable water management, which is a political aim of the Government of Zambia. In order to achieve sustainable water management the Government of Zambia made a decisive step in 2011 by enacting the “Water Resources Management Act.” The “Water Resources Management Act” regulates the drawing of water, including groundwater, for all purposes, by law and is monitored by the Ministry of Energy and Water Development. Amongst other things, the act has resulted in:
1. The establishment of the Water Resources Management Authority (WARMA) on the national level. WARMA is responsible for the implementation of this act and the allocation and management of all water resources of Zambia.
2. The establishment of Catchment Councils and Sub-catchment Councils for the management of water resources under IWRM principles on the local level in accordance with the act.
As part of German support to the water sector reform in Zambia, BGR is implementing the Groundwater Resources Management Support Programme (GReSP). The programme aims to strengthen the technical capacities of the Water Resources Management Authority and its related Catchment and Sub-catchment Councils in sustainable groundwater management.
BGR is focusing its support on developing and implementing groundwater management plans in the Kafulafuta and Upper Kafue Catchment to protect the groundwater resources and to secure potential drinking water supplies. This includes advocacy work for groundwater management within planning institutions, awareness-raising on the governmental and non-governmental level and training for WARMA and related institutions.
The sustainable use of groundwater is based on profound and reliable knowledge of the quality and quantity of the resources. In cooperation with BGR, WARMA undertakes field campaigns and data collection from water users and drilling companies in order to assess and monitor Zambia’s groundwater resources. BGR supports the application of a Groundwater Information Management System (GrIMS) within WARMA through the upgrading of the technical components, training courses and intensive on-the-job training with partner staff. GrIMS is a tool for the further analysis of data and their presentation, for example, in GIS maps.
The focus area of GReSP comprises the Kafulafuta and Kafubu sub-catchments and the Mpongwe karst area, which are situated to the greater part in the Copperbelt province. This particular province is the center of Zambia’s copper production and therefore one of the most economically significant provinces in Zambia. Consequent to the province’s economic growth, towns and the population are growing and there is more agricultural pressure to produce more efficiently. The groundwater aquifers and resources in this catchment are limited, not well explored, and under risk of too high water extraction and pollution by acid mine drainage from copper mines. Therefore, WARMA and BGR have agreed to focus the project’s activities, especially those related to the development of a groundwater management plan, on this area of Zambia.
Project contributions:
Partner:
Ministry of Energy and Water Development (MEWD) – Water Resources Management Authority (WARMA)