This book offers a close examination of water scarcity as a
developmental challenge facing member nations of the Southern African
Development Community (SADC), the interventions that have been
implemented to combat the situation and the challenges still
outstanding. The first chapter paints the backdrop of the water scarcity
problem, reviewing historical approaches from the 1992 Earth Summit in
Rio de Janeiro to the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable
Development (2002) to the United Nations Rio+20 Conference on
Sustainable Development (2012), and recapping principles and agreements
reached during and after these conferences. Chapter two examines the
Southern Africa region's efforts to combat water scarcity including
principles, policies and strategies and the responsibility of each
member to implement them. Written by the editor, J.P. Msangi, the
chapter describes Namibia's efforts to ensure management of scarce
water. Beyond enacting management and pollution control regulations and
raising public awareness, Namibia encourages research to ensure
attainment of the requirements of both the SADC Protocol and its own
water scarcity management laws. The next three chapters offer
Namibia-based case studies on impacts of pollution on water treatment;
on the effects of anthropogenic activities on water quality and on the
effects of water transfers from dams upstream of Von Bach dam. The final
chapter provides detailed summaries of the issues discussed in the book,
highlighting conclusions and offering recommendations. Combating Water
Scarcity in Southern Africa synthesizes issues pertinent to the SADC
countries as well as to other regions, and offers research that up to
now has not been conducted in Namibia.
