Windhoek’s Water Crisis Explained

The world is in a water crisis, with the United Nations reporting that “the world will only have 60% of the water it needs by 2030 without significant global policy change.”

Here in Namibia, Windhoek is also in a water crisis. However what are the facts when it comes to this crisis? With all the misinformation out there, MYD Earth sat down with Pierre van Rensburg, the Strategic Executive for Infrastructure, Water and Technical Services at the City of Windhoek, to find out where we stand, what is being done, what has to be done and what the worst case scenario could be.

What was uncovered is that is it going to take a collective effort for us to avoid a worst case scenario where water rations will become the ‘norm’ in Windhoek. This is avoidable but it means every person has to reduce their water usage immediately.

In short, we are using more water than we have and the fact that this has been going on for years is what got us into this situation.

On a global scale, the United Nations are reporting that, “Water use has been growing at more than twice the rate of population increase in the last century, and, although there is no global water scarcity as such, an increasing number of regions are chronically short of water.” Their report goes on to say that “Water scarcity is both a natural and a human-made phenomenon. There is enough freshwater on the planet for seven billion people but it is distributed unevenly and too much of it is wasted, polluted and unsustainably managed.”

In the interview with Pierre we heard what appropriate water usage is and how we can be part of the solution here in Namibia.

For the full MYD Earth Show with Pierre van Rensburg on Windhoek’s water crisis, take a listen here :

https://soundcloud.com/99fm/myd-earth-windhoeks-water-crisis

For the interview with Pierre van Rensburg on why the world wants to learn from Windhoek when it comes to water, take a look here : Why the World Wants to Learn From Windhoek