Cuvelai-Etosha basin needs to be protected

•ABSALOM SHIGWEDHAPOLLUTION and salinity make up one of the major challenges to the sustainable use and management of the Cuvelai-Etosha basin in the North of Namibia. This was said by a senior official in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry.

Aune Amwaama said apart from people polluting the fresh water of Oshanas (flood-plains), the water canal which carries water from Ruacana to Oshakati also faces the same problem.

She explained that a lack of commitment from stakeholders and natural disasters are additional challenges.

Amwaama gave a presentation on a basin management approach in Namibia at the 10th annual Cuvelai-Etosha basin coordination information sharing workshop, held at Ongwediva in Oshana region earlier this month. The Cuvelai-Etosha basin is an essential source of water for thousands of people in the central North of Namibia, as it provides them with water for their cattle and for irrigation. It also provides food in the form of fish,frogs and reeds for thatching. Amwaama explained that the Cuvelai-Etosha basin is divided into four sub-basins namely: Tsumeb sub-basin, Iishana sub-basin, Niipele sub-basin and Olushandja sub-basin. She said because the Cuvelai-Etosha basin is a trans-boundary water course as it originates from Southern Angola, Namibia is collaborating with Angola on the management of the basin.

This has resulted in the signing of the Cuvelai-Commission between Namibia and Angola in September 2014. This agreement means that the two countries promise to inform each other on any activity on the use of the Cuvelai-Etosha basin.

Several features set the Cuvelai-Etosha basin apart fro other drainage basins in the worldIts drainage area consists of hundreds of channels (called Iishana in Oshiwambo), that merge and diverge hundreds of times.

Some water comes from narrow attributes that drain the southern slopes of the Angolan planalto highlands, but most channels start and remain on broad course from their headwaters all the way until they end in the Omadhiya (Lakes), such as the mighty Lake Oponona, north of the famous Etosha Pan. When flows do occur, they range between tiny trickles to broad fronts of flood-water. All the water gradually disappears, evaporating, being transpired by plants or seeping away into the ground.

It has no outlet to the sea but when flows are strong, some water may continue to flow into the Etosha Pan. The Cuvelai-Etosha basin has a very large number of people in its surrounding and because of the presence of shallow ground water and relatively fertile soils in many areas, this has allowed the cultivation of crops as well as year-round access to fresh water for people and livestock.

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