Hydrological extremes are on the rise worldwide and are increasingly jeopardising water security. There is currently a prolonged extreme drought in Namibia, Mozambique, Botswana and Angola. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Science has been funding the WASA Programme on Water Security in Southern Africa (WASA) since this year, with the kick-off event now taking place in Stellenbosch (South Africa).
More than 100 researchers working in seven project consortia on topics such as early warn-ing systems, groundwater detection and wastewater treatment took part in the kick-off of the WASA programme, which was designed in close cooperation with local partner institutions.
The ‘Eco-Hydrology and Water Resources Management’ working group, led by Prof. Evers, is part of the programme with the project ‘Co-Design of a hydrometeorological information system for sustainable water resources management in southern Africa’ (Co-HYDIM-SA). The Co-HYDIM-SA project aims to develop a hydrometeorological early warning and information system to optimise the management of water resources and improve water security in southern Africa. In a transdisciplinary approach, the project consortium is working in the transboundary Cuvelei-Cunene catchment in Namibia and Angola and in the Limpopo catchment in Botswana.
The project focuses on the following innovative aspects, among others:
- Use of sub-seasonal to seasonal hydrometeorological forecasting capabilities to improve prediction capabilities,
- Linking hazard monitoring and forecasting with concrete risk mitigation measures,
- Demonstration of improved monitoring and early warning systems for key hydroclimatic components in two transboundary catchments
- Participatory multi-criteria vulnerability and risk analysis
The University of Bonn is leading the vulnerability and risk assessment component and development of management options of Co-HYDIM-SA.
Lead partner of the consortium is the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Further project partners are: International Centre for Water Resources and Global Change, Deutscher Wetterdienst, Goethe University Frankfurt, alitiq, Botswana University of Science and Technology, University of Namibia, Stellenbosch University Water Institute, Cuvelai Watercourse Commission.
The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Science (BMBF) for a period of 4 years.
