Urban water supply and demand management : a case study of Windhoek, Namibia

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Water is essential to life. Historically, water is often seen as an infinite resource resulting in little attention being given to the sustainable use of water. The importance of sustainable water resource management has only become one of the top priorities in the recent century. Arid or semi-arid regions, characterised by low annual rainfall, large amounts of evaporation, overall low moisture levels and extreme variations of temperature, often experiences water scarcity. However, there are a number of factors that affect the availability and quality of water and thus water scarcity is not limited to semi-arid regions. The usage of water has already increased by twice the amount of the rate of population increase and half of the global population could be facing water shortage by 2030. The majority of the earth's population resides in urban areas. Urbanisation and population growth is inevitable and therefore cities and municipal planners have to supply water to a constant growing society. Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM), thus forms an important part of spatial planning and every city needs to have some type of action plan for water supply and demand management. One of the cities in a developing world that has been facing water scarcity as a possible issue is Windhoek, the capital city of Namibia. Namibia, is the most arid country in Sub-Sahara Africa and experience drought on a regular basis. The population is expected to double within the next 20 years which means that the demand for water will increase as well. Despite the limited amount of water available Windhoek has, throughout its history, managed to expand and grow thus setting a good example for other cities, facing similar problems.Keywords and phrases: Arid-regions, Water Scarcity, Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM), Climate change, urban growth, Windhoek.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University