A five-year project to secure water supply and boost resilience in the Cuvelai and Kunene River basins has been launched.
Regional project coordinator Silvanus Uunona says the project aims to improve the management of water resources, especially the extremes caused by floods and droughts.
The project will cover the adjacent but unique transboundary Kunene and Cuvelai basins shared by Namibia and Angola.
These two river basins provide valuable goods and services to many communities who live along them, but also face a number of challenges, including frequent floods and droughts exacerbated by the impacts of climate change.
The project is called ‘Enhanced Water Security and Community Resilience in the Cuvelai and Kunene Transboundary River Basins’ (Cuvkun).
For the Kunene River Basin, the focus will be on the groundwork required for the sustainable development of the Kunene River, which has the potential for hydropower irrigation development.
This, says the project document, will be achieved through a basin-wide e-flows assessment, the modelling of water resources development and management, a detailed transboundary diagonistic analysis (TDA) and a long-term integrated water resources management (IWRM) plan.
“The IWRM will be informed by preliminary results from pilot demonstration project,” the document says.
As for the Cuvelai River Basin, which is beset by extreme drought and flood, the focus will be on an assessment of groundwater potential, flood management through food risk mapping, and the development of flood early warning systems and water harvesting.
“Both aspects will also feature in the proposed pilot demonstration projects,” it says.
The project document was signed in May last year by Namibia’s Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform and Angola’s energy and water ministry.
The project is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) with US$11 million, through the United Nations Development Programme, and started running in May 2024.
It will conclude in November 2029.
The project is implemented by the Global Water Partnership Southern Africa in partnership with the Cuvelai Water Commission.
The Cuvelai-Kunene River Basin is shared almost equally by Namibia and Angola with a total size of 173 000 km2.
It is home to a large number of people on both sides, mainly because of the presence of shallow groundwater and relatively fertile soil in many areas.
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