The Orange-Senqu River Basin.
This project recently secured a grant of approximately €2 million from the African Water Facility (AWF).
Project goals
Its main goal is to promote sustainable socio-economic growth in the basin riparian countries through climate resilient water resources development. The Orange Senqu River Basin Commission (ORASECOM) has led sustainable development initiatives of the Orange-Senqu River’s resources. ORASECOM facilitates the consultation and coordination between the riparian states to promote integrated water resources management and development within the basin. The project is said to foster enhanced sustainable water resources management of the basin, secure an increased number of investments based on better planning, which will allow more multipurpose projects to address the livelihood needs of communities living in rural and urban areas around the basin. ORASECOM explained that the objectives of the project are to prepare an optimised water resources investment strategy and plan and select a priority transboundary project to be prepared at feasibility level.
“Ensuring climate resilience will be key in planning and developing water infrastructure,” it said.
Basin presents water management challenges
The Orange-Senqu River basin originates in the highlands of Lesotho. It spans over 2,300 kilometres to its mouth, where it enters the Atlantic Ocean on the border of Namibia and South Africa. The river system is also one of the largest river basins in Africa. It encompasses all of Lesotho, and a significant portion of South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. The basin does however pose complex water management challenges for safeguarding future water security. The main issue here is managing key water resources as seen by the severe lack of rains which has resulted in a drought-stricken South Africa. “There are multiple challenges related to deteriorating environmental conditions and increasing competitive uses of a scarce water resource in the Orange-Senqu River basin,” Jean Michel Ossete, AWF’s acting coordinator said. “Tackling poverty alleviation and environmental preservation requires an integrated management of the water resource and the development of climate resilient infrastructure. The AWF project promotes these approaches.”
Orange-Senqu River basin economically impacts 19 million people
The Orange-Senqu River basin is economically vital to South Africa and Lesotho. The African Development Bank of Southern Africa said that the river basin contributes 26% to South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 100% to Lesotho’s GDP. The beneficiaries of the project amount to the 14 million people that live in the riparian communities in the basin, as well as the five million South Africans located outside the basin that benefit from its water resources through water transfer schemes. “The development of the basin’s water resources resilience to climate change will greatly improve livelihoods and engender sustainable socio-economic growth in the region,” Ossete said.
