Coping with diminishing water resources

Deepening poverty continues to complicate efforts by Swazi authorities to raise awareness of water resource management, officials acknowledged at a ceremony to mark World Water Day on Tuesday. The ministry of natural resources noted that the government had found it difficult to regulate water usage, despite existing legislation aimed at improving efficiency. "There are too many people who want to use water - the [water in the] rivers is not enough," said Sindi Mthimkulu, an official with the Water Resources Bureau of the Ministry of Natural Resources. Mthimkulu added that below average rainfall in recent years had compounded the problem. Rivers that were once perennial have now begun to run dry during the winter months, from June to September, when little or no rain falls. Dams throughout the country were below their usual level for this time of year. The largest of these, the Maguga dam in the mountainous northern Hhohho region, a joint venture between Swaziland and South Africa, had not reached even half its capacity since it opened two years ago. Melvin Mayisela, senior water engineer in the rural water supply department, said, "We encourage communities to use boreholes and streams instead of rivers - if a river is used, it would mean qualified technicians would have to monitor the project to ensure a safe water supply." He recently denied the residents of the rural Hosea community permission to use water from the Ngwavuma river in southern Swaziland, due to its high level of toxic pollutants. River pollution is a lethal byproduct of Swaziland's push for industrialisation, and has further compromised the nation's water supply. Every Swazi is legally entitled to draw enough water from a river or stream to irrigate one-quarter hectare of land. "This is to allow families to grow their own food; anything larger than a quarter hectare, you need to apply for a license, so we know who the users are," Mthimkulu explained. "The Komati river, which feeds Maguga dam, has an 11,100 square km catchment area, which is how we measure river volume. This is a huge resource but, unmanaged, it will disappear. Individuals will pump out what they like, communities will build their own dams, and people downstream, who depend on the water, will find they have nothing," said hydrologist Samuel Kunene of the Ministry of Natural Resources. But the benefits of the water law are being outweighed by poverty. Most small-scale farmers residing on communal Swazi Nation Land or 'king's land', administered by palace-appointed chiefs, are too poor to purchase irrigation machinery to help them draw their allotment of river water. As a result, most small landholders depend entirely on rainfall to nourish their crops, a situation ironically working to the advantage of water conservation, an official pointed out. Mthimkulu highlighted that the government would continue to stress the importance of water conservation by encouraging more people to use alternative sources of water, such as rain harvesting. For years Swazis have placed a barrel beneath the overhang of their roof to collect rainwater. Lemon-shaped concrete containers at the end of gutter pipes are a common sight in the Lubombo Region, and donor agencies have financed similar containers at lowveld schools and community centres. Ninety percent of the rural population still depend on boreholes, as the purity of the water is considered safe but, as more and more of them were drilled, diminishing aquifers were rapidly affecting the lifespan of boreholes.