By STANSLOUS NGOSA –
A FORTNIGHT ago, Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company (LWSC) announced that more than 25 boreholes have completely dried up, while the other 100 have very low levels and producing less than 50 per cent of the original capacity.
The huge borehole opposite Arcades Shopping Mall has been shut because it is contaminated with carbons from fuel as well as the one in George Township which has since been decommissioned.
An opaque brewery plant which has been set up next to a borehole has also contaminated the water near the boreholes.
These big boreholes supplied water to Olympia, Kalundu, Chudleigh residential areas and parts of Garden Township.
The drying up of the boreholes has led to erratic supply of water to the consumers compelling the water utility company to resort to massive water rationing.
The massive water rationing is expected to end when the rains start, but what if the country experiences a drought like in the past, especially with the changes in the climatic conditions due to various factors.
According to LWSC public relations manager, Topsy Sikalinda, the major reason boreholes are drying up includes change in the weather pattern but mostly human activity in the water recharge zones.
The boreholes are now drying up because some structures are built close to them and people having shared plots close to these facilities.
A recharge zone area, according to the Online Ecology Dictionary, is a land area into which water can infiltrate into an aquifer relatively easily and the infiltration replenishes the aquifer.
AN aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials, gravel, sand, or silt, from which groundwater can be extracted using a water well.
Encroachments on recharge zones, especially in Libala South and Chalala residential areas where new housing developments have taken place, has greatly affected the Lusaka groundwater aquifer.
This is evidenced by the drying up of individual household boreholes because it was previously reserved as recharge zone area.
What has happened is that some households have drilled several holes in their backyards in search of the commodity because the previous boreholes have dried up.
This is dangerous to both human beings and the environment because most drilling is done without conducting an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) or even consulting experts.
The original plan for Lusaka’s Libala South Zone was for water Recharge Zone for the ground water aquifer but the area has been developed thus affecting the water cycle.
“No development was originally supposed to be erected, even housing units on these areas, because they are recharging zones for water production in the water cycle but development has overtaken environmental conservation,” says Mr Sikalinda.
No human activities such as encroachments were previously allowed in order to allow as much water as possible to get to the ground but no piece of land has survived.
The underground water in the area is also heavily polluted because of the number of pit latrines which have been constructed by those still developing the properties.
The Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA), however, says it has continued cautioning developers and particularly the council on the importance of protecting ground water and water recharge zone areas.
ZEMA principal information officer, Irene Chipulu, said in response to a Press query that with the expansion of settlements taking place in Lusaka, the water supply is likely to worsen until some of the planned investments are undertaken quickly.
It is, however, difficult to understand why ZEMA, a regulator could allowed this situation when it has been mandated by an Act of Parliament to protect the environment.
The law also provides for prosecuting anybody found trespassing on prohibited land, therefore; it is hard to contemplate how the situation has reached such alarming levels.
Lusaka City Council assistant public relations manager, Brenda Katongola, said as far as the council was concerned, the EIAs are conducted before giving out land.
On the way forward, the LWSC would in the short term depend on the coming of the rain, hoping the drought does not hit this country whose 60 per cent surface area is covered by water bodies.
In the next two or three years, Mr Sikalinda says, boreholes will no longer remain a sustainable source of water; meaning another water treatment plant will have to be constructed to produce 50 million litres per day in Kafue to meet the demand.
This development would also require a new pipe line of 65 kilometres from Kafue to Lusaka to be done parallel to Kafue road.
“In the next five years or so, we have to do another plant with capacity of 600 million litres per day and a new line from Kafue to Lusaka, because it is projected that by 2035, the population for Lusaka will hit above five million people,” Mr Sikalinda said.
LWSC has, however, developed master plans for water and sanitation services which require an investment of more than U$ 4 billion in infrastructure development.
The Government has already sourced US$355 million dollars in grant from the American Government through the Millennium Challenge Corporation.
The money is meant for the implementation of priority areas of the Investment Master Plans through the Lusaka Water Supply, Sanitation and Drainage Project which will improve water and sanitation services in Lusaka city benefitting more than 1.2 million people.
Currently, the Government is negotiating for a $150 million new water treatment plant to be constructed through a cooperating partner which will produce about 50 million litres under the Kafue Bulk Project.
The negotiations have reached an advanced stage and once the deal is sealed, it will take about 24 months to complete a new water treatment plant in Kafue and a 65 kilometres water line from Kafue to Lusaka running parallel to the Kafue road.
The other huge project, the Lusaka Sanitation Project is underway which will see LWSC rehabilitate the Manchinchi Sewerage treatment plant and the Chunga Sewerage treatment plant.
Another water treatment plant with capacity of 600 million litres is being planned to a tune of $505 million to be possibly financed by the African Development Bank and JICA.
So, going by the response of both ZEMA and the LCC, it can be deduced that it is either the EIA was conducted but the recommendations were ignored or it was not done at all.
It is regrettable that regulators could underplay such a critical environmental issue when everything in life including the much desired development depends on sustainable environmental management.