Don’t blame us, says NamWater

NAMWATER yesterday blamed poor town planning and reeds in the Fish River for the floods at Mariental and warned that the water utility would not be able to prevent a similar catastrophe from happening in the future.

The Chief Executive Officer of NamWater, Vaino Shivute, told a media briefing in Windhoek that the western parts of Mariental were prone to floods and that the parastatal would be unable to prevent a similar incident if confronted by huge inflow into the Hardap Dam. “This is yet another lesson that we have learnt.We have discussed a number of issues to prevent a similar flood but I can’t give you any response right now,” Shivute said.NamWater Hydrology Manager Andre Mostert described the flood as something “unheard of in the history of hydrology in Namibia” and maintained that there was nothing his company could have done to prevent it.”We knew it would cause damage and we know it’s going to happen again,” he said.He said the situation was exacerbated by reeds and other plants growing in the riverbed, which helped divert water to the western parts of the town.”But even without the reeds, Mariental would have been flooded with this specific event,” Shivute added.It was the biggest inflow into the Hardap Dam (4 000 cubic metres per second) since the 1972 floods, which also caused extensive damage at Mariental.Mostert said NamWater had taken up the issue of reeds in the riverbed with the Ministry of Agriculture and that Government sprayed them with herbicide every year to kill them.The problem, however, was that the dead reeds were never burned or removed and piled up, obstructing the flow of the water.Shivute said the dam’s floodgates were opened when the operators became worried that the unusual inflow could break through the dam wall.”It is of paramount importance here to be cognisant of the catastrophic practical and economic consequences that would have resulted from dam failure.Mariental could have been literally wiped off the map of Namibia,” Shivute said.Both Shivute and Mostert said that more than 500 million cubic metres per second of water was discharged from the dam on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.The dam has a capacity of 300 million cubic metres.”It is unfortunately not uncommon under such circumstances for scapegoats to be sought and fingers being pointed.This is also the case now, with easy and uneducated accusations being thrown NamWater’s way by the public and others,” Shivute said.”This is yet another lesson that we have learnt.We have discussed a number of issues to prevent a similar flood but I can’t give you any response right now,” Shivute said.NamWater Hydrology Manager Andre Mostert described the flood as something “unheard of in the history of hydrology in Namibia” and maintained that there was nothing his company could have done to prevent it.”We knew it would cause damage and we know it’s going to happen again,” he said.He said the situation was exacerbated by reeds and other plants growing in the riverbed, which helped divert water to the western parts of the town.”But even without the reeds, Mariental would have been flooded with this specific event,” Shivute added.It was the biggest inflow into the Hardap Dam (4 000 cubic metres per second) since the 1972 floods, which also caused extensive damage at Mariental.Mostert said NamWater had taken up the issue of reeds in the riverbed with the Ministry of Agriculture and that Government sprayed them with herbicide every year to kill them.The problem, however, was that the dead reeds were never burned or removed and piled up, obstructing the flow of the water.Shivute said the dam’s floodgates were opened when the operators became worried that the unusual inflow could break through the dam wall.”It is of paramount importance here to be cognisant of the catastrophic practical and economic consequences that would have resulted from dam failure.Mariental could have been literally wiped off the map of Namibia,” Shivute said.Both Shivute and Mostert said that more than 500 million cubic metres per second of water was discharged from the dam on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.The dam has a capacity of 300 million cubic metres.”It is unfortunately not uncommon under such circumstances for scapegoats to be sought and fingers being pointed.This is also the case now, with easy and uneducated accusations being thrown NamWater’s way by the public and others,” Shivute said.