Stampriet Transboundary Aquifer System Project

Summary

The Stampriet Transboundary Aquifer System (STAS) is the only permanent and dependable water resource for the local population living in an area that covers 87,000 sq. kmkm2 from Central Namibia into Western Botswana and South Africa’s Northern Cape Province. Understanding and managing this precious groundwater resource sustainably is essential to achieving water security in the area, and thus, improving the quality of life of neighboring and resident communities. With this in mind, the Governments of Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, jointly with the UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme (UNESCO-IHP), started an in-depth multi-disciplinary assessment of the aquifer system in 2013 within the framework of the Governance of Groundwater Resources in Transboundary Aquifers (GGRETA) project funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). In order to consolidate the achieved technical results, these three Governments of Botswana, Namibia and South Africa decided to establish a Multi-Country Cooperation Mechanism (MCCM) for the joint governance and management of the STAS in August 2017, and nest it in ORASECOM’s Ground Water Hydrology Committee (GWHC). This is the first example of institutionalizing cooperation over a transboundary aquifer in Southern Africa.

The process that led to the establishment of the STAS MCCM is a breakthrough in many aspects. First, it is the first arrangement on transboundary aquifers since the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted in 2016. Prior to the decision of establishing this mechanism, out of the almost 600 transboundary aquifers that have been identified, only six formal and two informal agreements had been documented worldwide. Second, it is the first operational governance mechanism to be nested in a river basin organization, thus fully capturing the IWRM approach and directly contributing to the implementation of SDG Target 6.5 both at national and transboundary level (“By 2030, implement integrated water resource management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate”).

Project approach and main activities

The on-going cooperation over the STAS between the Department of Water Affairs of Botswana, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry of Namibia, and the Department of Water and Sanitation of South Africa arising from the GGRETA project, has yielded an in-depth assessment of the aquifer characteristics; including current and projected uses of groundwater, and likely future stress conditions under relevant factors.

The assessment initiated in 2013 was carried out by a team familiar with the area and composed of professionals from Botswana, Namibia and South Africa who met regularly in the form of regional meetings that were held on a rotational basis among the three countries sharing the STAS. Such meetings also included two stakeholder consultation meetings that counted with the participation of a broader audience (e.g. governments, regional organizations, farmers, NGOs,). Based on the data collected, analyzed and harmonized by national experts, a joint borehole database with information on more than 10 attributes on approximately 6000 boreholes was set up. This database is considered the cornerstone for the assessment as it allowed the preparation of more than 40 thematic maps providing information on groundwater levels, borehole yield, geochemistry and groundwater quality of the aquifer system. Maps have been uploaded and can be visualized in the ORASECOM WIS here. The GIS data can be accessed here, and from the ORASECOM GIS Server (Coming Soon!)