The management of water resources under conditions of scarcity in central northern Namibia

Abstract

The amount of water in the hydrological cycle is constant. At the same time, water demand is increasing due to population as well as economic growth (GWP 2000). These circumstances lead to competition and potential conflicts over water resources and a water gap (contribution of Kluge in Part V). A deficient water management or its complete absence is likely to have negative social, economic, and environmental implications. Especially, political and technical dependencies as well as power structures which disadvantage certain population groups have to be mentioned in this context. These issues are of particular importance in developing countries where securing water supply is paramount. This is why management approaches have been developed of which one will be presented in the following. Beside of institutional and political aspects, demand management and technical contributions play a key role when solving these kinds of problems. Before the proposed water supply techniques will be explained in detail, the specific case study and the objectives of the corresponding research project are introduced.