Zambia and Zimbabwe will start building the 2,400 MW Batoka Gorge hydropower plant next year, a company jointly owned by the two governments said on Tuesday. The Batoka project involves construction of a dam, powerhouses, roads, transmission infrastructure and houses in both Zambia and Zimbabwe, the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) said in a statement. Feasibility studies … [Read more...]
Public invited to comment on Cape Town’s draft water strategy
The City of Cape Town’s Draft Water Strategy is open for public comments and recommendations. The metro explained that the primary purpose of this strategy is to ensure that city is more resilient to future droughts. The draft strategy outlines the City’s plan to ensure greater water security over the next 10 years and a move towards being a more water-sensitive city in … [Read more...]
Happy days when your rainwater tanks are full
During last summer's drought, the price of rainwater tanks shot up. Business was booming. You could see trucks full of tanks all over the place. Good for a green heart who’s been promoting rainwater harvesting forever. We reached for second hand tanks, reconditioned oil drums – looking for the best value for money. Then a newby arrived on the market. A portable tank, … [Read more...]
Can Cape Town turn water crisis into leading by example?
As Cape Town continues to experience the worst drought on record in South Africa, the city has the opportunity to implement solutions that will not only address this acute environmental shock, but also strengthen the fabric of the city overall. The city has less than 10% of its useable water remaining for all of its nearly 4 million residents, representing one of the lowest … [Read more...]
Cape storage dams have fallen to 35.7% of overall capacity
Combined water stored in the six main Cape dams fell to 35.7% of overall capacity (down from 36.9% last week). According to DWA figures published today, net outflows from the six main dams during this past week decreased to 10.4 Million cuM vs the prior week’s reported net outflow of 14.5 Million cuM. This implies a massive decrease in consumption, lower even that … [Read more...]
Working together to conserve water
This year, National Water Week takes place from Monday, 17 March until Sunday, 23 March 2014. The National Department of Water Affairs have released the following key messages. Water is a scarce resource – let us work together to conserve it! Water scarcity is a global challenge that effects many regions in the world with Southern Africa being the hardest hit. South … [Read more...]
CLIMATE CHANGE ROLLING IN: Part 1 – Now & going forward
Climate change is a global phenomenon whose impacts have emerged as one of the greatest challenges that humanity is facing today. Scientific evidence proves that climate change exacerbates the frequency of extreme weather events and natural disasters. According to an article in Nature, unpredictable weather events such as drought and floods "accounted for about 90% of the … [Read more...]
SA water challenge Part 2: Conflicts over water interests
The challenges with water as our life giving and most threatened resource, especially in Africa, continues to be one of our core focus areas of this year. In our last issue Green Times student Allen Tshautshau examined the scope of this crucial issue. In this article he analyses the conflicts arising from competition for water. The current water scarcity has induced … [Read more...]
Why wetlands matter
Many communities across Africa are directly dependent on wetlands for their survival, while wetlands provide indirect, but crucial services to many others. Yet despite this, these critical ecosystems are deteriorating and their capacity to provide goods and services is increasingly diminished as a result of human activities. With the signing of the Convention on Wetlands in … [Read more...]
Local Fish Threatened By Disease
The fish disease, Epizootic Ulceritic Syndrome or EUS for short, was recently diagnosed by researchers from the Aquaculture Research Division of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, in barbel from a farm dam near Stellenbosch. The disease is caused by a fungus that is originally from Southeast Asia but has been spread to many other parts of the world by the … [Read more...]
Dam will displace half a million people
In 2006, construction began on Gibe 3, a large new dam in Ethiopia. The problem is it threatens the land and livelihoods of 500,000 tribal people in southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya. The dam would destroy harvests and grazing lands along the river, and fisheries in Lake Turkana - the world`s largest desert lake - by ending the natural flood cycle of the Omo River. It … [Read more...]
Power & Greed – Fatal Marriage
Today, ten years ago I was in London, listening to Nelson Mandela, Kader Asmal, Achim Steiner, and Medha Patkar all talking about the promise of the World Commission on Dams – how it would change the world of dams and development, and how you could walk the tight-rope towards a future where the poor did not lose everything and the rich did not gain everything. I remember … [Read more...]
Eskom: Don’t Dam the Zambezi!
Friends of the Earth Mozambique sent an urgent letter to Brian Dames, Chief Executive Officer of Eskom, as well as to our president, Mr Jacob Zuma, and the president of Mozambique, Mr Armando Guebuza, to highlight the plea of people who depend of the natural frow of the Zambezi river and the vital river health for their livelihood and economy: This year is the 10th … [Read more...]
